Cross-Border Craziness

Adding fuel to controversy over federal efforts to crack down on undocumented immigrants and their employers, eight Ballco Manufacturing plant workers in Aurora, Ill., were allegedly fired Sept. 19 due to "no match" problems with their Social Security numbers, reports the Chicago Tribune, explaining that no-match letters "are notices sent by the Social Security Administration informing employers of discrepancies between a worker's stated identity information and the administration's records." The workers responded by protesting outside the plant, where they were joined Thursday and Friday by other workers, who were subsequently fired. The letters obligate employers either to fix a Social Security data discrepancy in 90 days or fire the worker.

"A federal judge in San Francisco has temporarily blocked the government from sending out the letters. ... The next hearing in the case is set for Oct. 1. Still, immigrant advocates say, the threat of beefed-up enforcement has caused some employers to overreact," the Tribune reports. For more "no match" news, see "Protest over firings leads to more at Aurora plant" and "Opposition to 'No Match' Letters Mounting," Sept. 21. For more immigration coverage, see austinchronicle.com/chronic.