Illegal Immigration, the Hidden Issue: Identity Theft

There's a hidden issue to the illegal immigration debate that not many people consider. But it is recently coming to light as it becomes more and more of a problem. Many people argue on behalf of the illegal immigrants with such statements as, "They only want to make a better life for themselves" or "They take jobs that Americans don't want". Well the first statement may be true, and for that I will never look down upon anyone. As for the second argument, it has been my experience that as jobs become more and more scarce, people might be surprised at what jobs Americans will take, as higher paying jobs are being outsourced, the cost of living keeps going up, and it is difficult to even find jobs at entry level. However there is a larger issue than job availability, one that affects every individual citizen and their children. The issue that has so far been silent is that of identity theft. Illegal immigrants need identification, Social Security Numbers, Driver's Licenses, Birth Certificates, in order to find work, or to purchase vehicles. And they get these things... from you, from me, from our children.

According to the Center for Immigration Studies, in 2002 the Census Bureau indicated that an estimated 8.7 million people were residing in the U.S. illegally. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has estimated that approximately 40 percent of illegal immigrants are visa over stayers while 60 percent crossed our borders without permission. And because in order to find work you have to prove legal citizenship, this prompts illegal immigrants to obtain authentic documents fraudulently, exploiting loopholes in the already overworked system. It is easy for someone to read the obituaries and birth announcements to obtain the name and birth date of a person, in order to obtain a birth certificate. It is also not difficult to forge or obtain a valid replacement Social Security Card. Often times children are targeted because use of their Social Security Numbers can go undetected for up to 18 years. This makes applying for a student loan or looking to purchase a vehicle an interesting adventure to someone who should have no credit history, but does. Recently the Welfare office in Utah ran a search, and matched their records of children receiving welfare with a database of workers paying local and state taxes. These correlations allowed them match 1,800 minor victims.

Many Americans are currently sharing their Social Security Numbers with Illegal immigrants and are unaware of it until something goes wrong. One person was denied a job at Target when they found out there was already someone currently working for the chain using their Social Security number. In Margaret Harrison's case, she was denied unemployment because records indicated she was employed on a farm in West Virginia. She was not able to prove her circumstances until she received a fraudulently obtained debit card with the impostor's photograph on it in the mail. In other cases people do not find out something is wrong until debt collectors for unpaid bills or unpaid taxes track down the original owner of the SSN.

Many identity theft victims do not even know their identity has been stolen? Why? Well the fact of the matter is there is no way to find out if there are other names tied to your Social Security Number, or addresses, or places of employment. Where illegal immigrants pay out income tax and Social Security, the extra payment does not show up on a person's annual Social Security Statement, but instead when a name does not match a social security number, the earnings are put into the Earnings Suspense File. The same goes for Income Taxes paid. In 1984 it became required to show a social security card for employers to verify. Since then almost $500 billion in wages has ended up in that file.

At this point the only institutions privy to the information tied to your SSN are the IRS and the Credit Bureaus. Lenders, for instance Car Dealerships buy this information to assess the risk in extending a line of credit to a consumer. These institutions say that often there are countless examples of consumers who have multiple names tied to their SSN, but these lending institutions are prevented from warning the consumers because of Privacy regulations. It would be possible for the credit bureaus to make consumers aware when their SSN is in use by someone else, but they do not. Three years ago Social Security sent letters informing employers of employees using the wrong SSN to file their taxes, workers quit fearful of a pending deportation notice, and Immigrations Rights Movements threw protests. Social Security withdrew their letters.

This is an issue that demands resolution. People have a right to know who is using their identity and their credit. People have a right to know information that directly impacts them or their children, especially when it comes to their identity. The illegal immigration issue has no simple or easy solutions, but one thing that might bring undocumented workers out of the shadows would be a means of finding out activities that are linked to our own SSN's.