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Bush to tout new immigration regulations

Nicole Gaouette
Los Angeles Times
Jun. 9, 2006 12:00 AM

WASHINGTON - With Congress still deadlocked over immigration reform, the Bush administration plans to announce new regulations today in a move to strengthen enforcement efforts designed to prevent the hiring of undocumented immigrants.

The new rules target the way companies deal with employees and their records. Lackluster implementation of laws on illegal hiring contributed to the failure of earlier immigration overhauls and, administration officials say, continues to undermine attempts to control illegal immigration.

President Bush has repeatedly urged Congress to create a worker verification system that is effective but easy for employers to use.

Both the Senate and House bills propose sweeping changes in work site enforcement, including hefty fines and criminal penalties for employers who hire undocumented workers.

The administration's new regulations take a more detailed approach, aiming to simplify procedures for employers and to close loopholes exploited by those who hire illegally. As federal regulations, they do not require passage by Congress.

"Anything we can do using our own existing authority, we ought to do," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. "What we can't do, we should work with Congress to accomplish."

One rule would target employers who receive notice from the Social Security Administration that an employee's Social Security data does not match information on record. It would require companies to investigate or face potential penalties.

Of the 250 million wage reports the administration receives each year, as many as 10 percent include names of employees that don't match their numbers. In many cases, the agency sends companies a letter alerting them to the mismatch, but there is no penalty if they fail to investigate.

Under the new rule, employers who follow up on letters would be protected from court action. If they do not and their workers turn out to be undocumented, their failure to act will be considered "evidence that can be used against them," Chertoff said. "Basically, there are no excuses anymore."

Business groups say that some companies do not take action because the letters are confusing. The letters ask companies to clear up the discrepancy, "but in that letter, as well, is an admonishment against taking any action against the employee based on the letter," said John Gay of the National Restaurant Association.

The new rule would formally require employers to make sure there is no paperwork error and then contact the employee. If the discrepancy remains, they would be expected to terminate employment, said Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke.

A second regulation would allow employers to retain employment records in electronic form, a step that Laura Reiff of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition said was welcome.

For companies with thousands of employees or a high turnover, the cost and storage space that paper records require can be a burden.

Gay and other business advocates said the regulations are a small but needed reform. "The administration has been, broadly speaking, trying to fix the broken immigration system and these two rules seem to be in that vein, to clarify the obligations of business and be reasonable in what is required of them," he said.