Homeland Security secretary to tweak rules to prevent hiring of people working illegally
By SUZANNE GAMBOA , Associated Press

Last update: October 23, 2008 - 2:55 PM

WASHINGTON - Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Thursday he'll try again to overcome a judge's objections to a proposal to force employers to get rid of workers whose Social Security numbers don't match their names.

The proposal has been stymied for months by a U.S. district judge in California who blocked the rule after several groups sued. Chertoff said his agency has addressed the judge's concerns with some additions to the proposal, including providing an analysis of the economic costs of the rule.

Chertoff said he expects continued opposition from the groups who sued, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

"Groups like the Chamber of Commerce have told us, they haven't been coy about it ... there are many businesses that rely on illegal migration in order to carry out their activities and it would hurt them if they had to carry out the rule," Chertoff said. "In my experience, making money is not a sufficient justification for violating the rule since most people break the rule in order to make money."

Angelo Amador, the chamber's director of immigration policy, dismissed Chertoff's comment, saying the need for illegal workers is not an argument in the lawsuit.

"The bottom line is this case has never been about illegal workers, it has been about the cost of a badly thought out rule and the cost on legitimate businesses following all the rules and complying with it," Amador said.

He said the department's own analysis, which it was forced to do after the judge blocked the rule, shows that 35,000 to 167,000 legitimate workers would not be able to work because of the rule.