Thread: Database Would Track Illegals

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Database would track illegals
Labor, firms wonder if U.S. up to the task

By LILLY ROCKWELL
lrockwell@coxnews.com
Published on: 03/13/06

Washington — The Senate Judiciary Committee is poised this week to approve creation of a new national database of names and Social Security numbers designed to stop illegal immigrants from using counterfeit documents.

As it wrestles with a massive immigration reform bill, the panel is drafting a system for verifying Social Security numbers based on a 10-year-old pilot program.

Legislation to be considered Wednesday and Thursday by committee members would change what types of documents can be accepted by employers and how Social Security numbers are checked by the federal government.

If approved by Congress and signed into law, the system could be up and running in five years, and employers caught hiring illegal immigrants would face stiff criminal and civil penalties.

Business and labor groups said they are concerned about the ability of the federal bureaucracy to handle the task of checking the status of millions of U.S. workers.

"I have very strong doubts the federal government is up to the task of being able to administer a program of this magnitude," said Eliseo Medina, international vice president of the Service Employees International Union. "I don't think the technology and the ability to enforce such a thing exists."

Powerful business groups such as the National Restaurant Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said they also have doubts that such a large-scale system could be run without inaccuracies.

"We don't want to be in a position, a few years down the line, of verifying our workers, but when we do, the system gives us back bad data or the system is broken," said John Gay, a senior vice president of the National Restaurant Association.

At issue is what to do with the nation's nearly 12 million illegal immigrants. Congress is in the throes of a heated debate over immigration reform, and the Judiciary Committee is considering legislation by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) that would enhance border security while providing an avenue for legal employment for illegal immigrants already in the U.S.

The explosive issue has divided congressional Republicans. Some are pushing border security, while others want a guest worker program but are at odds over whether that should include a path to citizenship.

A House immigration bill passed in December takes an enforcement-only approach, authorizing a Social Security verification system that would go a step further by requiring employers to check potential hires and current employees in six years.

Immigrant groups have criticized the worker program put forward by Specter because it would not allow illegal immigrants legally working to become citizens, and would not substantially increase the number of work visas available.

The Specter proposal is facing a dozen amendments just on the system to check Social Security numbers. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) wants to safeguard worker data from identity thieves and allow workers to view and correct documents the Social Security Administration keeps in its database. Other senators, such as Rep. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), want employers to face even higher penalties.

The pilot program, created in 1996, checks Social Security numbers at 5,000 employers. Bill Strassberger, a spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said about 90 percent of employees' Social Security numbers have checked out.

This, in my opinion is just another way of tracking Citizens. Just like the passports, hey lets secure the borders by making the Citizens jump threw hoops.