More than twenty five hundred marchers headed to Downtown Milwaukee October 12 to deliver a giant protest ‘No Match’ letter to the Social Security Administration (SSA).

Two days earlier, a San Francisco court had halted the mailing of 140,000 ‘No Match’ letters to businesses, which would have put 8 million workers under threat. The letters were to include a new rule from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Over the next few months, the court will hear arguments from both sides and decide whether to make this ban permanent.

However, the October 12 protest took issue not just with the DHS rule, but the process of sending the letter to the employer.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera, explained: “Regardless of the intentions of the Social Security Administration, their ‘No Match’ letters have become a leading cause of worker harassment and abuse. Time and time again, sending ‘No Match’ letters to employers has led to rights being flouted, whether it’s from companies looking for a way to undermine pay demands or union organizing, or from businesses reacting in confusion or panic to a list of names with queries against them.”

The letter delivered by marchers poked fun at the wording of a real No Match letter. It also made a serious point: the system of sending letters to employers should be stopped; it is not just a waste of resources, it leads to discrimination and firings.