Immigration Advocates Look To Challenge New Regulations

Immigrant advocates said Wednesday that they are weighing a variety of legal and legislative challenges to slow down or halt the Bush administration’s crackdown on illegal workers.

Laura Reiff, co-chairwoman of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, said her organization had sought support from Congress to block funding for the enforcement of the no-match rule, which would require employers to fire workers unable to clear up discrepancies between their Social Security numbers and government records.

“But with Congress being so gun-shy about opposing anything dealing with enforcement, we didn’t get very far,” Reiff said.

So Reiff, along with Monica Guizar, an attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, told immigration advocates on a conference call Wednesday that they were exploring other options.