Thread: Employers struggle to validate identification documentation

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Published Sunday, November 19, 2006

Employers struggle to validate identification documentation

A D V E R T I S E M E N T
By Jan Biles
The Capital-Journal
Greg Van Etten, owner of Labor Pros, said he sees Hispanic immigrant workers come into his company's offices in Topeka, Olathe and Kansas City, Kan., every day hunting jobs.

They come in, fill out application forms and show two forms of identification-- typically a Social Security card and a driver's license -- to prove they are eligible to be hired under U.S. law. Labor Pros employees don't ask applicants if the identification documents are real or falsified.

"We are not the INS," he said, referring to the agency now known as Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Nancy Slabaugh, area manager of Lawrence-based Manpower, agrees. That job services agency also requires applicants to submit two forms of identification, but it doesn't try to prove their validity.

"Who can determine if (the documents) are fake or not? We accept them as being authentic," Slabaugh said, adding that, unless they question each potential hire, singling out Hispanic-looking or Spanish-speaking applicants would be discriminatory.

When a person fills out an application at Labor Pros, the individual becomes an employee of Labor Pros, which then tries to match the applicant's skills with available full- and part-time jobs in the area, Van Etten said.

Those who speak English and Spanish oftentimes are looking for permanent secretarial and office administration jobs, he said. Those with fewer skills may be matched with temporary jobs at warehouses, construction companies and hotels.

Van Etten said the largest employers in Topeka who use Labor Pros' services are Wal-Mart, Reser's, Payless and Frito-Lay.

When a job is done, Labor Pros pays the worker with a check and sends required paperwork to the Social Security Administration, as it does with all other employees, he said.

Labor Pros considers each hire to be legal unless the Social Security Administration notifies the company that the name of the worker doesn't jibe with their identification documents. Once they find out the hire is an undocumented worker, employment is terminated.

"They have to be legal to work for us," he said.

Van Etten said the company has on occasion received notification that a worker's documentation was false. At that point, he said, they suggest the worker take steps to get the proper paperwork and then come back to the office once that is done.

Van Etten said many undocumented, non-English-speaking workers don't understand the process involved in getting hired legally in the United States.

"They just want to work," he said.

Breaking the law

While some companies try to follow the rules to hire immigrant workers legally, others try to skirt the law. On Aug. 30, a Wichita company, its owner and a manager pleaded guilty to knowingly hiring illegal aliens and agreed to pay $210,000 in fines.

Sentenced Monday during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Wesley E. Brown were Bob Eisel Powder Coatings Inc.; Bob Eisel, owner and president; and Kenric "Butch" Steinert, general manager, all of Wichita, according to U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren's office in Wichita.

Charges against co-defendant Troy Hook, a company foreman from Clearwater, were dismissed as part of a deferred prosecution agreement.

Brown assessed the following fines: $175,000 for the company, $25,000 for Eisel and $10,000 for Steinert. The defendants also will serve three years of supervised probation.

The defendants each pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement on an I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form that fraudulently stated employee Francisco Javier Avila-Garcia had provided genuine documents qualifying him to be employed.

A 28-count indictment filed in August charged that since 1997 the company routinely employed undocumented foreign nationals, primarily from Mexico, knowing they were providing false identification documents.

Jim Cross, public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said it's the first case he knows of where the U.S. Attorney's Office charged an employer with knowingly hiring illegal aliens.

"To be employed in Kansas, you need a Social Security card," Cross said. "If you are in this country illegally, you don't have one."

Melgren said the Wichita company singled itself out for criminal prosecution by deliberately trying to dodge federal laws requiring workers to submit documents verifying their right to work in the United States.

"Increasing resources at the border is only one part of the drive to reverse the tide of illegal immigration," he said at the time of the plea agreement. "Here in the interior of the United States, we're focusing on employers who systemically violate the laws against hiring illegal aliens. Everyone in Kansas should be aware this enforcement effort is ongoing."

In their pleas, the defendants admitted:

• In 2002, the company received notification from the Social Security Administration that employees were working under Social Security numbers that hadn't been assigned to them or were being used by more than one person.

• Eisel, Steinert and Hook notified employees of the problem and directed them to obtain different numbers if they wanted to continue working at the Wichita company.

• Avila-Garcia helped employees to obtain false documents.

• Once the false documents were obtained, the company created paperwork terminating the employees using the old names and then rehired them again under new names. The employees filled out new paperwork, including employment applications, I-9 verifications and W-4 Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificates.

• With Eisel's knowledge, Steinert completed and signed employer certification documents, indicating the documents were genuine and, to the best of his knowledge, the workers were eligible to work in the United States.

Authenticating employees

Tyson Foods Inc., a Springdale, Ark.,-based company that employs 6,200 people in Kansas, and Reser's Fine Foods in Topeka, which has about 700 employees, both use the Basic Pilot Program to determine the authenticity of Social Security numbers provided by new employees.

The Basic Pilot Program is a voluntary, online service available to all U.S. employers to verify the employment eligibility of new hires. The employer enters the employee's full name, date of birth, Social Security number and the type of documents the employee presented to establish his or her identity and work authorization, such as a driver's license, Social Security card, U.S. passport or green card.

The data is transmitted to the Social Security Administration. If the name and Social Security number match records, the employer receives a message that the person is authorized to work.

If the Social Security Administration can't verify the person's work authorization, the Department of Homeland Security steps in to track down that information. If the Social Security number and name don't match, the employer receives a message to refer the employee to the Social Security Administration to clear up the problem.

In either case where the employee is referred to Homeland Security or the Social Security Administration, the employer is notified within 10 days that work authorization is or isn't confirmed. In the latter case, the employer must terminate the employee.

Tyson, the world's largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef and pork, has processing plants in Emporia, Holcomb, Hutchinson and South Hutchinson and a distribution center in Olathe. Reser's, which has 15 plants nationwide, produces Mexican foods, fresh potato and salad products, entrees, side dishes, mashed potatoes and other items.

"Tyson Foods has zero tolerance for employing people who are not authorized to work in the U.S.," said Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson. "We use all available tools provided by the U.S. government to help verify the documents of the people we hire.

"We train our hiring managers on proper employment documentation procedure and work to increase their awareness of identification and documentation fraud. We regularly audit our hiring process, including work authorization documents and also use an independent, outside company, which conducts its own audit of our hiring practices."

Once Tyson receives an identity complaint, Mickelson said, the company initiates an investigation and the person who is thought to be undocumented is given a chance to verify his or her status. If the investigation reveals the employee is using a false identity, employment is terminated.

He said Tyson has never been fined for hiring illegal workers.

Luis Fernandez, human resources manager for Reser's, said the Topeka company uses the Basic Pilot Program in a similar way to determine if a newly hired worker has provided false identification.

"We follow the law if we find out there is false documentation," he said. "If employers are doing something illegal, they need to face the consequences."

But while it may help verify Social Security numbers, Mickelson said the Basic Pilot Program has limitations.

"It does not currently help us in cases of identity fraud when an individual assumes someone else's name by using their Social Security number," he said. "This is another reason we support efforts to reform immigration law. If the government is going to continue to place employers in the role of policing who has proper work documentation, then it should give companies more tools to do the job."

Five men recently were convicted of using false documents to get work at the National Beef packing plant in Liberal, in southwest Kansas.

On Nov. 6, Pastor Trujillo, 23, a Mexican national, and Guatemalan citizen Lorenzo Lucas, 26, were sentenced to 13 months in federal prison and will be deported after serving their sentences, according to an Associated Press report.

Earlier, Pedro Ciprian-Perez, 28, also from Guatemala, and Jorge Dorado-Ayala, 24, and Miguel Banuelos-Chavez, 23, both illegal aliens from Mexico, received the same 13-month prison and deportation sentences.

Once deported, the men are barred from returning to the United States legally.

"Foreign nationals who use false documents to work in the United States should expect to go to prison, then will be deported," U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren said in a news release on Nov. 6 . "We know this situation is widespread, and we will continue to identify and prosecute these cases."

The five men were indicted June 15 following an investigation by Immigration and Citizenship Enforcement and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General that started with a citizen tip identifying at least 20 people who provided false documents to secure employment at National Beef, the Associated Press reported.

Mickelson said the Basic Pilot Program also doesn't alert employers to the expiration dates of identifying documents or work visas.

Carl Rusnok, director of communications of Immigration and Custom Enforcement's central region, said he knows of no tracking system in place to identify those whose visas have expired.

"Someone doesn't go looking for them," Rusnok said.

If a person with an expired visa has an encounter with law enforcement and it is determined he or she has overextended their time, Rusnok said, the illegal worker will be placed in custody and the deportation process will begin.

Mickelson said Tyson notifies employees at 120-, 90-, 60- and 30-day intervals that their documents will expire but doesn't provide any assistance with immigration services.

Fernandez said immigrant workers sometimes don't understand that their visas can expire -- or may have already expired -- and keep working.

"It's a communication problem," he said. "It's government policy, but the employer should have some accountability on that."

A call for more restriction

While there are federal laws in place that prohibit the hiring of illegal aliens, some people across the nation don't think that is enough.

So far, about a dozen cities -- from Pennsylvania to California -- have passed ordinances punishing business owners and landlords who help illegal immigrants in any way. An ordinance approved by the Hazleton, Pa., City Council that went into effect on Nov. 1 denies business permits to companies that give illegal immigrants jobs and imposes fines on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants, The Associated Press reported.

Ed Hayes, of Overland Park, director of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of Kansas, said he backs communities that are passing ordinances to punish those who hire illegals. He said he knows of no Kansas town that has passed an ordinance dealing with illegal aliens.

"I wish I did," Hayes said. "We'd be cheerleading them all the way."

Hayes said he has a sample petition that he would like Kansas residents to sign and then send to their local government officials. The petition asks for an ordinance to be passed that would:

• Deny approval or renewal of a business permit, city contracts or grants to any business aiding or hiring illegal aliens and fine them if they do so.

• Prohibit renting or leasing real or personal property to illegal aliens and fine landlords who knowingly do so.

• Stop providing goods and services, other than emergency lifesaving services, to anyone who can't show proof of being a U.S. citizen and the locality of residence.

• Declare English the official language of the city and require all city business forms, documents, signage and electronic communication devices be conducted or written in English only.

"The problem, as we see it, is that the city officials aren't taking any positive actions to evict illegal aliens from our city or to penalize those who harbor them either directly or indirectly with housing and jobs," the petition states.

"Employers ought to be fined," Hayes said. "They are putting Americans out of work."

But Bob Wetmore, president of Dodge City Area Chamber of Commerce, said such ordinances aren't necessary.

"You don't have to pass local legislation because it's against the law now in the United States" to hire illegals, he said. "The process is in place. It's a matter of enforcement."

Jan Biles can be reached at (785) 295-1292 or jan.biles@cjonline.com.

But Bob Wetmore, president of Dodge City Area Chamber of Commerce, said such ordinances aren't necessary.

"You don't have to pass local legislation because it's against the law now in the United States" to hire illegals, he said. "The process is in place. It's a matter of enforcement."

I agree it's a matter of enforcement, but the entire federal govt. lacks the will to enforce our immigrations laws ( led by Bush ), consequently local ordinances are being explored.

If I heard Lou Dobbs correctly, he recently mentioned President Bush signed an executive order which prevents the SSA from fully sharing information with Homeland Security which would enable a more aggressive enforcement. Perhaps someone else heard this or has knowlege of this order and can post it ?