by Grazia Salvemini
Thirty-three janitors will be reinstated to their jobs following a federal appeals judge’s ruling June 16 that there was no justifiable cause to have terminated them five years ago solely because their Social Security numbers did not match federal database information.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco acknowledged, “Though it seems reasonable to suspect some of the f red workers were undocumented,” the disparity was not enough to determine whether the employees were undocumented.
The Aramark Facility Services in Los Angeles fi red the employees in 2003 upon receiving “No-Match” letters indicating that 48 employees had inconsistent Social Security numbers.
The employees were given three days to clear up any discrepancies or obtain proof that they were applying for a new number. Fifteen employees did, and the other 33 were fi red within ten days.
The employees, who were defended by the Service Employees International Union, claimed they were fi red without just cause.
The court found that Aramark “has not established constructive knowledge of any immigration violations,” and moreover, should have given the 33 employees more time to produce the necessary documentation.
According to the National Immigration Law Center, 70 percent of the more than 17 million errors in the Social Security Administration database involve U.S.-born citizens.
The federal government is trying to implement a “No Match” rule to prevent the hiring of undocumented workers. A federal judge has blocked the rule from going into effect.
In other immigrant related news:
Arizona E-Verify law challenged in Appeals Court
by Patrick Palafox
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco began hearing June 12 arguments by civil rights and business groups protesting a law passed in Arizona that requires all businesses to comply with E-Verify.
The Legal Arizona Workers Act requires businesses to enroll in the E-Verify system, a voluntarily federal program to check the legal status of workers. Any business in the state that violates the law twice will be shut down.
The civil rights groups fighting against the law are the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona and the National Immigration Law Center. The business coalition was comprised of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business among others.
Omar Jadwat, a staff attorney with the ACLU, argued that regulating
immigration is a federal responsibility and that this law “invites chaos and confusion” to U.S. citizens, Latinos and legal workers. He expressed astonishment that the state would pass a law that threatens to shut down businesses given the economy’s “precarious” condition. Jadwat told Weekly Report that the Social Security Administration has opposed the expansion of the project because according to it, the E-Verify program encourages identity theft.
He said workers using a working number and name can get around E-Verify, which he added raises privacy concerns.
According to the Department of Homeland Security Web site, E-Verify is a voluntary program that links the DHS and Social Security Administration databases.
Employers access the validity of new hires’ social security numbers from their 1-9 forms and use the free service to check the new hires’ immigration status. Hispanic Link.
