The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) began its employer “no-match letter” program to help properly allocate the billions of dollars of contributions collected from workers with incorrectly filed Social Security numbers (SSNs). Under the program, SSA sends letters to employers every year that identify the Social Security numbers of employees who do not match names or numbers in SSA’s records.

Although they were not designed as a mechanism of immigration enforcement, employer no-match letters inadvertently have become de facto immigration enforcement tools. Employers have fired thousands of workers identified in no-match letters, assuming that they are undocumented immigrants. In addition, many workers identified in the letters have quit their jobs out of concern that immigration authorities may raid their workplace. Further evidence indicates that many employers have used the letters to undermine workers’ right to organize and to cut pay and benefits.

This study, conducted by the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago and immigrant rights organizations, assesses the wideranging impacts of SSA’s no-match letter program on local labor markets and immigration enforcement efforts.