The Dept. of Homeland Security filed a motion on Nov. 6 asking a federal district court to lift its preliminary injunction on the controversial no-match regulation now that its supplemental final rule has been published in the Federal Register. A hearing on the DHS request to vacate the injunction and for summary judgment has been scheduled for December 12.

The original rule proposed in June 2006 requires employers to follow up and resolve discrepancies after receiving a “no match letter” from the Social Security Administration about mismatches in name and social security number of a worker in employer reports and what is contained in the SSA’s database, or after receiving a “notice of suspect document” from DHS. If the discrepancy was not resolved, employers would be required to terminate individuals or face liability for employing unauthorized aliens. The final rule was published in August 2007 setting out safe harbor procedures for employers, but the rule was enjoined by federal court at the request of union and employer groups.

The supplemental rules do not change the safe harbor procedures, but instead clarify the position DHS would take if employers receive a no match letter and follow up, or fail to follow up on it.