NEWS ITEM

Court Rejects Bush Administration Motion for Expedited Schedule in Litigation Challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s “No Match” Regulation

Nationwide Preliminary Injunction Remains in Effect

December 5, 2008 -- The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California today rejected a request by the Department of Homeland Security to set an expedited schedule to consider the legality of a supplemental regulation concerning Social Security Administration “no-match” letters. The Department sought to implement the regulation before January 20, 2009, the last day of the Bush Administration. The district court’s ruling means that a nationwide preliminary injunction against the implementation of the no-match regulation will remain in effect until after President-Elect Obama takes office.

On October 15, 2007, the district court had entered a preliminary injunction against the “no-match” regulation. The new regulation would have required employees listed on Social Security Administration (SSA) no-match letters to resolve the discrepancies with SSA by a set deadline or face the loss of employment. The district court found that, because of the huge number of errors in the SSA database, implementation of the regulation would have led to the termination of tens of thousands of workers who are U.S. citizens or otherwise authorized to work. The district court also concluded that the plaintiffs had a likelihood of success on their challenge to the legality of the regulation.

Altshuler Berzon LLP represents the AFL-CIO and other labor organizations that challenged the regulation. The ACLU and the National Immigration Law Center also represent plaintiffs in the case.

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