Homeland Secretary Pushes for E-Verify

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has urged a U.S. federal court to lift an injunction on the so-called "no match" rule. The rule was one part of the Bush administration's stepped-up enforcement. To the fence and the ICE raids was to be added a requirement that employers fire all employees who names did not match the Social Security Administration's records. It would apply to all workers -- legal or illegal. Suit was brought by such immigrant advocates as the American Civil Liberties Union and business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This unusual alliance argued that the rule will catch in "no matches" citizens because of mistakes at SSA's records and would place an unfair burden on employers. The court agreed enough to place the "no match" in limbo. Now Chertoff wants it restored to join the other strategies which he claims have reduced, if not stopped, undocumented migration. (See LA Times article.)


. . . SHERIFF JOE'S NEW WOES
Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff in America", has been called to task by a federal judge. Whether he's the toughest sheriff or not, the court seems to thinks he's the meanest -- especially in handling prisoners in the county jail. He has been ordered to improve conditions -- health care, quality of food and living conditions. These issues antedate his headline-grabbing campaign against the immigrant. (See NY Times article.)