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November 28, 2006
Homeland Security Chair: Don't Act On False IDs In Workplace

The incoming chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, Bernie Thompson, has sent a letter to a major industrial uniform provider warning it not to terminate hundreds of employees who gave invalid Social Security numbers when hired. Cintas received the list of "no-match" employees from the Social Security Administration as a part of President Bush's efforts to get employers to help identify illegal immigrants, but the chair of the committee responsible for immigration matters threatens legal action if they do so:

A Mississippi Democrat in line to become chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee has warned the nation's largest uniform supplier it faces criminal charges if it follows a White House proposal to recheck workers with mismatched Social Security numbers and fire those who cannot resolve the discrepancy in 60 days.

Rep. Bennie Thompson said in a letter to Cintas Corp. it could be charged with "illegal activities in violation of state and federal law" if any of its 32,000 employees are terminated because they gave incorrect Social Security numbers to be hired.

"I am deeply troubled by Cintas' recent policy change regarding the Social Security Administration's 'no match' letters," Mr. Thompson said in the Nov. 2 letter. "It is my understanding that hundreds of Cintas' immigrant workers have received these letters. I am extremely concerned about any potentially discriminatory actions targeting this community."

In June, President Bush proposed new guidelines concerning "no-match" letters from the Social Security Administration, saying he wanted to make it easier for employers to verify workers' eligibility and continue to hold them accountable for those they hire.

Cintas did not plan to immediately terminate the employees anyway. They sent their own letter to the people identified by the SSA explaining that Cintas has an obligation to verify that all of their employees have a legal right to work in the US, and gave them 60 days to update their records. If the don't do so within that two-month period, then they face indefinite suspension.

It's difficult to comprehend the problem. Businesses have to have SSNs from new employees in order to verify their eligibility for employment. The SSA has the information available to double-check the information for accuracy. If it doesn't match, this employer has given them 60 days -- two months -- to correct their records. Only if the employees, identified by the SSA and not chosen at random, fails to comply do they get suspended as ineligible to work. That sounds like a rational and non-discriminatory system. The affected employees are a self-selecting group, having given incorrect information on their own to their employers, verified by the government.

Only a Democratic committee chair could turn that scenario into something that would "violate ... non-discriminatory provisions." Thompson acts as if Cintas has wanted nothing more than a government report that could force them to shut down their production, when in fact the entire strategy intends on forcing businesses to police themselves better so that they do not knowingly continue to employ illegal workers. Let's please recall that the hiring of illegal workers is illegal, both for the worker and for the employer. That's why all of us have to submit all that paperwork at the beginning of our employment. Doing a cross-check on that paperwork to identify bogus documentation -- otherwise known as forgery -- is not discriminatory, unless one considers criminals a protected class under EEOC regulations.

If anything, Cintas should get plaudits for its efforts to comply with federal regulations on labor. They have taken steps to show that they want to comply with immigration law rather than blithely ignore it. For some reason, and I suspect we know what it is, the Democrats want them to continue breaking the law. This gives us a pretty clear idea what the Democratic agenda on immigration "reform" will contain -- penalties for enforcement and a general amnesty, exactly the same as the 1986 debacle that led us to where we are today.

UPDATE: Just for the record, Cintas is a supplier to the federal government, with $625,000 in contracts for 2005.

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Posted by Ed Morrissey at November 28, 2006 5:17 AM

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A Mississippi Democrat in line to become chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee has warned the nation's largest uniform supplier it faces criminal charges if it follows a White House proposal to recheck workers with mismatched Social Securit... [Read More]

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