The Social Security Administration says a federal judge’s ruling last week suspending a crackdown on employers who hire illegal immigrants could cause a major disruption in its processing of millions of routine retirement and disability claims.

In papers filed late Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, David A. Rust, an acting Social Security deputy commissioner, said a vast bureaucratic logjam would result unless the agency was allowed this month to mail about 141,000 already-prepared letters advising employers of discrepancies between workers’ Social Security information and agency records. Government lawyers said any delay in the mailing — or any requirement that the mailing be revised — would cause “significant harm” to the agency and “interfere with its ability to carry out its core functions.”

The plea came after the judge, Maxine M. Chesney of federal court in San Francisco, issued a ruling Friday temporarily barring the Social Security agency from sending the mailings, known as “no-match” letters. The latest letters, which refer to the records of more than eight million workers, include a Department of Homeland Security notice advising employers about new rules to follow after receiving them. If the workers in question cannot show within 90 days that they have valid Social Security numbers, employers must fire them or risk prosecution.

In her ruling, Judge Chesney temporarily halted the new rules from taking effect and set a hearing for Oct. 1. The government asked in its new filing that the hearing be moved up to Sept. 19. On Thursday the plaintiffs opposed the change, and the judge denied the government’s request.