Thread: Waukegan:ID theft twist hurts legal Hispanics, then released

I just got this article on my google alerts -did a search. As a Waukeganite I find it outrageous. After the illegal aliens are caught and serve there time they are released...



ID theft twist: Law hurts legal Hispanics now
Social Security match rule means crooks take names, too

May 4, 2008

BY MARK BROWN Sun-Times Columnist

During his last three years as a Waukegan police detective, Tom Granger has specialized in enforcing the laws related to identity theft.

It's a specialty that puts Granger on the front line of our immigration problems -- and sometimes must leave him wondering whether he's really more an expert in the law of unintended consequences.


For instance, can you guess one of the main outcomes of our federal government's effort to crack down on employers by requiring workers to provide real Social Security numbers?

As Granger explains, instead of supplying employers with fake numbers that were either made up or intentionally nonexistent, as used to be the norm, now illegal immigrants are more likely to take somebody else's actual Social Security number.

And what do you think has been the effect of cracking down further by making sure a job applicant's name matches the Social Security number provided?

Now, illegal immigrants are more likely than ever to take the name, too, compounding the problem, he says.

And now that these individuals need to convincingly pass themselves off using this fake name, who do you think are the most common victims of identity theft?

In a community such as Waukegan, where nearly all the illegal immigrants are Hispanic, nearly all the victims also are Hispanics who are either U.S. citizens or otherwise legally documented.
Many victims are Puerto Rican

Many victims are Puerto Rican, although there also has been evidence of some Puerto Rico residents selling their Social Security numbers to illegal immigrants, Granger says.
[red]
"Over the last five years, it's just got out of control," says Granger, an 18-year veteran of the Waukegan department.[/red]

I ran across Granger because he investigated the identity-theft case I wrote about last month involving a Countryside woman caught in a bureaucratic snafu when her Social Security number was used by an illegal immigrant. The longer we talked, the more I realized Granger had some insights worth sharing, so we sat down for an interview last week.

For those familiar with my decidedly liberal views on immigration reform (I say let 'em stay), don't take that out on Granger. He related his stories in a dispassionate, Sgt. Joe Friday, just-the-facts-Ma'am style. I'm not sure where he stands, but I think a person could use his information to argue either side of the debate.

Granger sees 25 to 30 cases of identity theft a month. He estimates 80 percent of those are employment-related, meaning somebody has used another person's Social Security number to get a job. Nearly all those situations involve illegal immigrants from Mexico or Central America.

The cases usually come to Granger's attention when the real holder of the Social Security number goes to the police after getting a letter from the IRS demanding they pay taxes on the money earned from some job they never held. He helps victims from Waukegan and victims from other places whose identities have been stolen by somebody living or working in the Waukegan area.

Thieves serve little jail time

Where illegal immigrants are involved, Granger says he rarely sees cases in which the person stealing the identity for work has gone a step further and used it to defraud creditors or for other monetary gain, but he does get some of those.

[red]He had one case of a couple who used their stolen identities to get jobs that paid a combined $80,000 a year, then obtained public aid benefits while claiming their illegal status left them unable to work.[/red]

But even when the Social Security number is used only for work, it can still cause serious problems.

"If you talk to any of these victims, they'll consider it a heinous crime after what they go through," he says.

Granger recently helped a junior college student from Texas whose bank account was frozen for weeks and his wages garnished while he fought to prove someone had been illegally using his identity in Waukegan. Granger found the man using the Social Security number, arrested him and straightened things out with the IRS.

Those he arrests usually "sit in jail two to three months and then get an order of time served," he says. If he quarrels with that outcome, he doesn't let on.

"Most of them are just trying to support their families," he says.

[red]But Granger believes that when his arrestees are released, they go back out and buy a new identity -- and the process starts all over again -- which does frustrate him.[/red]

"We're reactive," he says. "When a victim is had, we try to pick up the pieces."

http://www.suntimes.com/news/brown/9307 ... 04.article

And what do you think has been the effect of cracking down further by making sure a job applicant's name matches the Social Security number provided?

Now, illegal immigrants are more likely than ever to take the name, too, compounding the problem, he says




I'm sp glad the writer admits to being pro-illegal.....it was abundantly clear.

Yes, hispanics ARE the frequent victims of identity theft....as we found out when my husband became a victim.

It is, however, patently UNTRUE that this is mainly the result of the crackdown on illegals.

What it is mainly the result of is illegals needing legitimate social security numbers to, not only, work but also rent, obtain licenses, benefits, loans, mortgages, credit cards, rental cars, etc. With everything these days checked out, gone are the days when they could squeak by most of the time using made up numbers. They also don't get very far if the names and numbers don't match either so it behooves them to buy the whole set.

It doesn't stop just at citizens or legal immigrants either. These people will steal the names and numbers belonging to......hold on to your hat and don't stand up FedUp.........their own children, nieces, nephews, or whatever. Parents think nothing of "lending" or even selling, their anchors' personal information to family, friends, or co-workers.

If that's what being of superior morals and values is all about, I'll do without it.