Thread: Phony Social Security digits targeted by feds

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Phony Social Security digits targeted by feds
New verification process proposed

By JULIA MALONE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/10/06
Washington — Employers who get notice that a worker's Social Security number appears to be incorrect must resolve the legal status of the employee within 60 days, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Friday in proposed new regulations.

Under the draft rules, employers who respond by contacting the government and verifying credentials would be given "safe harbor" from prosecution for "knowingly" hiring illegal workers.

"Most businesses want to do the right thing when it comes to employing legal workers," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in remarks announcing the proposed enforcement policy. "These new regulations will give U.S. businesses the necessary tools to increase the likelihood that they are employing workers consistent with our laws."

The regulation would apply only to employers who have received letters from the Social Security Administration warning them that certain employee numbers do not match names in the Social Security records. After these letters arrive, employers would be expected to begin trying to validate the number within 14 days by correcting any clerical errors, obtaining additional photo identification of the particular employee, and using Social Security's telephone verification service.

It is unclear how many companies or workers could be affected by the new rules. The Homeland Security Department's announcement noted that of the 250 million wage reports the Social Security Administration gets each year, as many as 10 percent belong to workers whose names do not correspond to their Social Security numbers. Some of the discrepancies are because of misprints, name changes and other causes, but many are believed to be linked to bogus or borrowed numbers used by illegal immigrants.

Even so, the Social Security Administration testified to Congress last year that it sends "no-match" letters only to a limited number of firms that have filed many apparently false identification numbers.

Moreover, employers have often ignored those letters. The regulations, which would go into effect after a 60-day comment period, would require them to act. If they are unable to verify that the worker in question is legally in the United States, the employer would be required to fire that worker or face possible prosecution.

At the same time, the proposal warns employers to treat all "no-match" cases the same way because "if they do not do so, they may violate applicable anti-discrimination laws."

The new rules also let employers use computers to file and record their I-9 hiring forms, required to establish immigration status for each new worker. The change is aimed at simplifying record-keeping and making it easier for officials to verify data, the Homeland Security Department said.

Major business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, declined Friday to weigh in on the new policies.

Mike Donohue, spokesman for the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said his group wanted to study the proposals further.

Lindsay Mabry, spokeswoman for Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), said staff members were studying the changes. "We do feel that any steps that can be taken to ensure that employers have the tools to ensure that the workers they hire are legal is a good thing," she said. "We still have a long way to go."

At the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that favors tighter immigration policies, Executive Director Mark Krikorian hailed the rules: "Great. Why didn't they think of this five years ago?"

Illegal aliens are masters of fraud...they will lie, deceive and do what ever they feel justified in doing as this is the way they functioned in their home country...usually Mexico. What can you expect from people who have piss poor education and their mode of survival revolves around being a con artist? They are great actors who present an image of being knowledgeable, but when it gets down to it, most have the knowledge of only doing a laborer's work. And the children they produce don't fare well even in American schools simply because their parents are of a certain stock.