01/04/08 Don't ignore no-match letters

The US Government is planning on using no-match letters from the Social Security Administration to enforce laws on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. American Farm Bureau's Paul Schlegel says the government wants to make revisions and promises to come back with a new plan by March. SCHLEGEL "What's critical to understand for employers is that this rule has not been thrown out, it's still in the works." Schlegel says the current system has many problems. SCHLEGEL "We ought to make sure the system works correctly before we start using it as an enforcement mechanism and possibly don't think that farmers ought to be enforcement agents. The government has obligations under the law. They ought to live up to those obligations without expecting farmers do it for them." Schlegel is telling farmers and ranchers not to ignore a letter from Social Security saying that an employee's name doesn't match up with a Social Security number. SCHLEGEL "Harvest day is every day for dairy. So you need to keep your labor there. You need to have them. Its critical when you make these hiring and employment decisions that you are in conformity with the law." This being a presidential election year most Capitol Hill observers say Congress will do little if anything about immigration reform, leaving the issue for a new President and the next Congress. It's that kind of non-action and immigration raids last year in the Magic Valley that led Idaho dairymen to hire a lawyer and seek ways to protect producers and the people working for them. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott