Labor unions went to court Wednesday to block Bush administration rules designed to force employers to fire illegal workers, saying the regulations will sweep up innocent immigrants and U.S. citizens because of flaws in government record-keeping.The rules, set to take effect next week, "would place millions of U.S. citizens and (legal) noncitizens ... at risk of losing their jobs" because of government errors and employers' fears of prosecution, the AFL-CIO and its affiliates in San Francisco and Alameda County argued in a U.S. District Court lawsuit.
The unions asked a federal judge in San Francisco for a restraining order that would block the rules from taking effect before Tuesday, when federal officials are scheduled to mail the first warning letters to employers.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the rules Aug. 10 as a means of toughening the little-enforced 1986 law that subjects employers to criminal prosecution or civil penalties for knowingly employing illegal immigrants.
Read More
