Thread: Stealing ID's now OK.. but only if you're an illegal

Illegal immigrants steal identities to get jobs

By Jennie Rodriguez
Record Staff Writer
November 26, 2006 6:00 AM

STOCKTON - Ruben, a roofer living in Stockton, knew using a Social Security number that didn't belong to him was against the law.

He knew using it was a gamble that could get him deported to Mexico. And, if that happened, it could mean he might never be allowed to return.

It was a risk he was willing to take two years ago, as he worked in the United States illegally under an alias.

"Because they asked me for a Social Security number at work or they wouldn't pay me," said Ruben, speaking on the condition that his last name not be revealed. (Ruben is now a legal U.S. resident).

When most people think of identity fraud, checkbooks and credit cards come to mind. But a Social Security number or a birth certificate are equally, if not more, valuable to someone not able to work legally in the United States.

"They really have no alternative," said Fernanda Pereira, an immigration attorney with Meath & Pereira Attorneys & Counselors in Stockton.

Ruben's past situation is not unique. There are an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States. San Joaquin County is home to about 42,000 migrant workers, legal and illegal.

Undocumented workers find identities in different ways. Some by drawing Social Security numbers out of the air.

Some by borrowing identities from family members or friends. Some by buying forged documents on the streets or from coyotes - people smugglers.

The identities they adopt sometimes are those of actual people; others are complete fabrications.

Numbers don't add up

Discrepancies often are discovered when employees' federal tax forms are submitted by employers to the Social Security Administration. The Social Security Administration matches names with Social Security numbers before forwarding them to the Internal Revenue Service.

Of 231 million Wage and Tax Statements (W2s) filed by employers during tax year 2004, 8 million did not match. (This figure is not exclusive to identity fraud. It also includes numbers that did not match for different reasons, such as name changes).

Californians owned 29 percent of those mismatches, the greatest number of any state.

"It is identity fraud," said Beth Givens, director of Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a San Diego-based nonprofit organization that helps consumers with privacy rights issues.

People have been denied public assistance because IRS records showed they had income that they didn't know about, said Givens.

One of Givens' clients found her identity was being used by someone else when she received a phone call from the California Franchise Tax Board regarding unclaimed income. A Hispanic woman had been running a day care since 2004 using the woman's Social Security number.

"I don't know if you can protect yourself," said Givens. "There are so many ways that an imposter can get your Social Security number."

Workers with fake documents aren't free from consequences.

"You find out the papers are real when you start having problems," said Jose, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity.

A number of documents on the black market are of criminals, said Pereira. And, therefore, those using the identities sometimes are mistaken as the criminal subjects by police.

Also, the main consequence after deportation is that the worker might not ever be eligible to apply for legal residency.

In the eyes of the law they "may be unable to satisfy the standards of good moral character that is required," said Pereira.

Jose, a disabled U.S. citizen with a long criminal record, allows his undocumented friends to use his identity to work from time to time in exchange for filing the taxes and keeping the tax return.

Mixed message

There is a difference between how illegal immigrant workers use the identities and those who use them for profit, said Angel Picon, a community activist and past president of League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

"The intent is so they can work to provide for their family," said Picon.

For example, Ruben, 41, has sent money to his five children in Mexico since 2001.

"We don't dedicate ourselves to stealing - at least I don't. But, there is no other way to work here," said Ruben.

Ruben said he never filed an income tax return during that time for fear of getting caught, even though taxes were deducted from his payroll check.

While it's illegal for undocumented immigrants to work in the United States, they are allowed to file federal taxes with an Individual Tax Payer Identification number (ITIN), instead of a Social Security number, provided by the Internal Revenue Service.

It's a confusing message, said Picon.

"You have a system for the workers to pay taxes, but you also have a system where employers who hire them are breaking the law," said Picon.

In 2005, 1.6 million ITIN applications, along with 1.4 million tax filings, were submitted to the Internal Revenue Service.

The number of returns tied to ITINs is up 40 percent since 2004, according to a testimony earlier this year by IRS commissioner Mark W. Everson before the House Ways and Means Committee.

Employer responsibility

It's an employer's responsibility to file the correct paperwork.

The IRS can impose penalties on an employer, ranging from $50 to $250, for each W2 or 1099 that excludes or has an incorrect Social Security number, unless the employer demonstrates due diligence in attempting to fix the problem.

Also, the Department of Homeland Security in June introduced the Safe Harbor Procedures for Employers Who Receive a No-Match Letter, a proposal that will tighten requirements and increase liability for employers.

"I think the government should work with an employer. I'm not sure penalties are the best way to do it," said Mark Wilbur, general manager of Roland Construction in Stockton. About 35 percent of the company's employees are Latino.

Wilbur checks a job candidate's Social Security number against records available at the Social Security Administration's website (www.socialsecurity.gov/bso/bsowelcome.htm). If the number doesn't match, they ask the candidate to straighten the issue out at the Social Security Administration office.

"If they can't, we don't hire them," said Wilbur, further explaining there is no way to adequately remit Social Security and Medicare taxes without the correct Social Security number.

In San Joaquin County, there is a demand for cheap labor, said community activist Picon.

Some employers bypass labor laws by hiring illegal workers to minimize their costs, said Fernanda Pereira, an immigration attorney with Meath & Pereira Attorneys & Counselors in Stockton.

"Our agriculture business relies on this work force," said Mark Martinez, chief executive officer of the San Joaquin County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

He said that on many local farms and orchards, crops are going unharvested, as they've experienced a decline in the migrant work force.

"Realistically, not many people are willing to work the fields. It's back breaking and pays less than to be desired."

Many mismatched tax forms indicate the workers are low wage earners. About 75 percent of them make less than $10,000 per year.

In an IRS analysis of a sample of employers that had a high percentage in mismatch W2s, 57 percent fell into three business categories: agriculture, temporary employment and janitorial.

"Some people might say 'get rid of these people. Send them back to Mexico,' " said Picon.

The reality, he said, is the workers contribute significantly to the U.S. economy.

Contact reporter Jennie Rodriguez at (209) 546-8265 or jrodriguez@recordnet.com



Protect yourself

• Don't throw it away. Check your Personal Earnings Benefit Statement from the Social Security Administration. This free report shows all income earned under a social security number. Everyone gets one annually by mail three months before their birthday.

• Check your credit report. Free annual credit reports are available at www.annualcreditreport.com.

• If you are the victim, take action. File a police report; notify the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service; put a fraud alert on your credit report. Help is available at www.privacyrights.org. An individual may be impersonating you to purchase a car, get an apartment or get other documentation.

Source: Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

For example, Ruben, 41, has sent money to his five children in Mexico since 2001.

Isn't it ironic that they have children they can't afford and then have to leave them to come here and break the law. The Catholic Church is totally to blame for this irresponsible behavior for not teaching proper birth control. They are responsible for a large percentage of all the poverty and hence the illegal immigration. The "sin" is birthing children into poverty and a social system that dooms them to failure. The church takes advantage of these people's lack of education and they follow the priests like little puppies. It's disgraceful!

It is sad to think that if an American commits identity theft they get into alot more trouble for it. They will go nto jail and then have difficulty getting a job and most will not get fake ID again. Illegals on the other hand will get their buts thrown out of the countyr only to come back and reoffend just like Elivra.

"They really have no alternative," said Fernanda Pereira, an immigration attorney with Meath & Pereira Attorneys & Counselors in Stockton.

Let's see, here are some alternatives:

1. Stay in your own country and make it better.

2. Get a vasectomy.

3. Apply for a legal visa.


....can you think of any others?

"They really have no alternative," said Fernanda Pereira, an immigration attorney with Meath & Pereira Attorneys & Counselors in Stockton.

Why is the Bar association allowing people that say it's OK to commit crimes to practice law?

johnaloi,

So right, if they had not committed the first crime of illegal immigration, then there would be no other crimes taking place. One crime leads to anther and that is exactly why they are unwelcome. Crime, crime and more crime.

Dixie

There is a difference between how illegal immigrant workers use the identities and those who use them for profit, said Angel Picon, a community activist and past president of League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

Isnt ID theft a federal crime, a felony? Isnt crossing into the US Illegally acrime? Isnt tax fraud a crime?

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The Catholic Church is totally to blame for this irresponsible behavior for not teaching proper birth control.

Oh come on. Children just don't appear in women's wombs by magic. It takes an act of sexual intercourse to get pregnant! I guess you missed that day in school. The Catholic Church teaches that begetting children which you can't support is sinful.

The church is hypocritical and it is not only the Catholic Church. You don't have to look farther than the case with Elvira and her son. He was born out of wedlock. She is also breaking not only American law but some of the 10 Commandments as well. Criminals love to hide behind religion. Just look at the Catholic church and the Italian mafia. I guess it makes it ok to kill some in the churches eyes as long as you go to confession and throw some big bucks in the collection plate on Sunday.
That is why I believe in God but not the church.

Originally Posted by artclam

The Catholic Church is totally to blame for this irresponsible behavior for not teaching proper birth control.

Oh come on. Children just don't appear in women's wombs by magic. It takes an act of sexual intercourse to get pregnant! I guess you missed that day in school. The Catholic Church teaches that begetting children which you can't support is sinful.

Are you sure about that? Most of the specifically Catholic nations have higher poverty rates and higher birth rates than do neighboring Protestant nations.