In the 101-page opinion issued Tuesday, Williams said evidence developed during the litigation showed that the farm employed numerous workers who provided names and Social Security numbers that did not match Social Security Administration records.
“This Court ordered the SSA to verify the SSNs of all disclosed NuStar Farms employees,” Williams said. “Of those employees who NuStar plaintiffs employed on or before September 30, 2018, 243 of 319 employees’ names, dates of birth, and SSNs did not match SSA records.”
Williams also said there was testimony and evidence that the farm was warned about such mismatches, accepted expired credentials and did not properly complete forms designed to verify that workers were authorized to work in the U.S.
Williams, a Trump appointee, also said that NuStar had never taken advantage of the federal government’s e-Verify program, which was designed to establish workers’ eligibility. In a deposition, Nunes claimed e-Verify didn’t work and was discriminatory, though in a 2019 Fox News interview, he lauded the program.
“It’s worked really, really well,” he said at the time. “And that means, if everybody was certified by the government that everybody working for you is, in fact, here on a legal permit, that in the long run is great.”
Well, it works great if you use it. Which Nunes’ family apparently didn’t.
The lawsuit was originally dismissed in 2020, but it was reinstated after Lizza tweeted the story out again in 2019. At the time, an 8th Circuit panel decided the tweet might be tantamount to republishing the story. The latest decision isn’t necessarily the end of the line for this suit, though. Nunes could still appeal the ruling to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.
After being contacted by Politico, Steven Biss, the attorney representing Nunes and his family’s farm, did not respond for comment.
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The past week seems to have packed in a month’s worth of news. Markos and Kerry tackle it all, from Joe Biden’s big announcement to Tucker Carlson’s early retirement from Fox News.
