Headlines

DHS to Step Up Immigration Efforts

New 'No Match' Rule on Horizon

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to turn up the heat this spring on employers that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. Fines for employing illegal immigrants will increase by an average of 25 percent and a new “no match” rule is on the horizon, according to a joint news conference held Feb. 22 by Michael Chertoff, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and Michael Mukasey, U.S. attorney general.

The higher fines, effective March 27, will be imposed on businesses that are “knowingly employing unauthorized foreign nationals” and “not complying with the requirements on employment eligibility verification forms,” according to the new rules. The maximum civil penalty for multiple violations will rise from $11,000 to $16,000.

Chertoff said that DHS is “very close to publishing our new no-match rule,” which would address concerns raised by a federal judge when he blocked the rule last fall on the basis of lawsuits that claimed the no-match rule was flawed in using the Social Security database as the basis for immigration enforcement.

The DHS also plans to issue a proposed rule requiring federal contractors to participate in E-Verify, an Internet-based system that enables companies to determine employment eligibility for new hires and validate Social Security numbers.

Read Remarks from Feb. 22 news conference