Judge puts No-Match Program on Hold

A federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order blocking implementation of the new  No-Match program regulations issued by DHS and SSA. The regulations were to take effect on September 14, 2007. They are delayed until at least October 1, 2007 when the next court hearing is scheduled.

The lawsuit was initiated by the ACLU and other plaintiffs including the AFL-CIO. A posting by Bill Leonard for SHRM summarizes the gist of the complaint and decision:

In the complaint, the ACLU stated that the DHS and SSA had overstepped their authority by attempting to use wage and tax information to enforce immigration law. U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney agreed and stated that there were serious questions whether the new regulations were authorized by law. The judge said that the federal government would suffer little inconvenience if enforcement of the rules were delayed.