Washington, D.C.— The Honorable Charles Breyer, the United States District Judge presiding over the Social Security no-match litigation, in which the American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA) is a co-plaintiff, has issued a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of the rule until the Court has the chance to fully examine all the issues. Judge Breyer, who issued the preliminary injunction, which is fairly rare, indicated that the plaintiffs have a high probability of succeeding on one or more of the four legal theories that underpin the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was brought as a reaction to a rule issued in August by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that would result in the Social Security Administration (SSA) mailing approximately 140,000 no-match letters pertaining to approximately 8 million employees. A group of unions and trade associations including ANLA sought a preliminary injunction against the rule on various grounds, including that the government violated the Regulatory Flexibility Act, which seeks to protect small business from overly burdensome regulation.

Asked about the practical effect of this injunction, Robert J. Dolibois, ANLA’s Executive Vice President, suggested that there may be an effort by the government to push for an expedited appeal. However, the no-match regulation is likely to remain in limbo for several months at least, until the court issues its final ruling. According to Dolibois, “While this is very good news, this is no time to sit down and rest.” He cautioned that the only solution to the broken immigration system is passage of legislation. If, for example, the court finds that the government violated the Regulatory Flexibility Act, it may be possible to complete the proper analysis in a matter of a few months. Dolibois states, “collectively we must redouble efforts to secure legislative reform. The primary near-term opportunities for the green industry are the H-2B return worker exemption, and AgJOBS.”