Illegal workers often give false Social Security numbers to qualify for a job, and the expected regulations would give employers a certain amount of time to resolve discrepancies between workers’ information and Social Security Administration records.

Such crackdowns are a good idea, in theory, because hiring illegal immigrants is, in fact, illegal, and many companies and industries are currently getting away with hiring illegal immigrants for wages well below the national minimum wage. The potential regulations only require employers to fire illegal workers.

This may leave millions of people in the U.S. unemployed, since nothing is said about possible deportation. Many illegal immigrants have worked and lived in the U.S. for years – they pay taxes, work hard, have families or send money to families abroad, and generally contribute to society.

When the rules were proposed last year, they received criticism from both employers, who would be faced with more work and potentially mass layoffs, and workers groups, who said the rules would harm all workers, increase the possibility for discrimination and racism, and give employers a chance to repress workers’ rights, according to The New York Times.

Hiring illegal workers is illegal and shouldn’t happen. However, illegal immigration is a reality in the U.S., and attempting to fire 6 million people isn’t a viable option and won’t solve the problem of illegal immigration. Some have speculated these rulings will not keep illegal immigrants out of the workforce but will merely send them to apply at other businesses with the same false documents, and the market for forged documents will likely grow.

The ruling also would create a logistical headache for the Social Security Administration, which expects an influx in requests from employers trying to clarify a worker’s information, and for the employers themselves, who will have to send queries to the agency and possibly meet with employees to clarify work information.

Immigration into the U.S. won’t stop until conditions in a person’s home country are fair and livable. Simply firing millions of illegal workers in the U.S. won’t stop immigration at the source. If anything, it will only leave many people unemployed and hopeless, while feeding an ever-growing racism against anyone who appears to be Latin American.