The following is for informational purposes and is not legal advice. Please consult a qualified immigration lawyer regarding you unique situation.
According to an article that appeared on latimes.com: “No immigration agents descended on Overhill Farms, a major food-processing plant in Vernon. No one was arrested or deported. There were no frantic scenes of desperate workers fleeing la migra through the gritty streets of the industrial suburb southeast of downtown Los Angeles.”
Desk audits are an effective method that the federal and state departments of revenues use to collect taxes they believe are due. A desk audit is simply a letter stating how much the government believes is due with and envelope enclosed to send a check. When the amounts in controversy are small, taxpayers often just send a check rather than spend the time or money needed to argue the matter – regardless of whether they believe they actually owe the amount claimed. This brings us to the concept of “de facto deportation”.
Generally, employers who receive “no match” letters from the SSA should give the affected employees 30 days to remedy the situation and if the workers do not take action, they may be terminated. In the case referred to in the article, the no match informatiion apparently came as a result of an IRS audit. This is a smart way for the government to get undocumented aliens to leave the country if this is indeed their goal. Hopefully, Comprehensive Immigration Reform is in the cards and employers will be able to legally hire and retain the workers they need to run their businesses.
