Salt lake Tribune Editorial

Illegal workers: Proposed crackdown raises questions
Tribune Editorial
Article Last Updated: 08/09/2007 06:59:56 PM MDT
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_6586074

Word is that the feds are going to crack down on illegal immigration by forcing employers to fire workers who present false or stolen Social Security numbers. Businesses that don't comply would face steep fines.
Good. The law should be enforced. Illegal immigration depresses wages for legal workers and allows dishonest employers to exploit undocumented workers who have no legal recourse.
But we have a couple of questions.
Who will harvest U.S. crops?
According to some farm groups, up to 70 percent of field workers are illegal immigrants. We don't see legal workers lining up to hoe beets or pick fruit.
Second, what about the Social Security database? It's only good at matching names with numbers and the information in it is often outdated, according to a 2005 study by the General Accountability Office.
If many more employers begin to use the Basic Pilot Program, the Department of Homeland Security's system to verify Social Security numbers, it probably will crash.
We're all for enforcing the law. But to be fair about it, the government needs a reliable system for employers to verify Social Security numbers, and as far as we can tell, there isn't one.
As things stand today, the Social Security Administration issues letters to employers if more than 10 workers' names and numbers do not match.

Under Homeland Security's stepped-up enforcement plan, employers reportedly would have up to 90 days to sort out discrepancies between the identity information provided by workers and Social Security's records.
If documents can't be squared, businesses would have to fire workers or face heavy fines.
The immigration reform bill that died in the U.S. Senate in June promised tamper-resistant Social Security cards and a better verification system. But opponents killed the bill, arguing that its provisions for allowing guest workers and a path to legal residence for illegal immigrants already in the country amounted to an amnesty for law-breakers that would only make matters worse.
Unfortunately, in the wake of the bill's defeat, the nation still is left with easily forged documents and no sure way to verify them.
And without a guest program for agricultural workers, no one can say where that labor force will come from. Legally, that is.