Thread: Late-breaking letters: End the Social Security number theft

Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Late-breaking letters: End the Social Security number theft by illegals
Letters to the editor for Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 4, 2007

It really got me steamed to see the Register editorial knocking President George W. Bush's latest plan to crackdown on illegal labor using improper Social Security numbers ["A crackdown on labor," Local Sept. 3]. First of all you left out the word "illegal" in the title. Second, this stance is inconsistent with your previous calls for Bush to simply enforce the laws we already have on the books. Now when Bush finally gets off his duff and does something positive on the issue the Register thinks it is not a good idea. How would you like it if one of these illegals were using your Social Security number?

Your arguments against Bush's plan simply do not hold water. First you say that if illegals are bumped from a job for using erroneous Social Security numbers, they "will begin a cycle of musical chairs, moving from employer to employer until the next no-match letter arrives." With this sort of logic we should never go after any repeat offenders because they are only going to commit another crime in the future. Doesn't that logic sound faulty to you? Your point actually makes the case that we ought to grab these offenders by the collar, while we know where they are, and export them back to Mexico where they belong so that can't inevitably repeat their Social Security fraud.

You also say that as many as 12.7 million native-born U.S. citizens will be negatively affected because they have erroneous records down at the Social Security office. I don't know where you get these numbers but, assuming you are correct, isn't it about time that these folks got their paperwork in order? I don't see how it could be a bad thing for our government to finally get its act together and cleanup its erroneous Social Security files.

If these "citizens" are actually here legally then they have nothing to worry about. Don't they want to get their proper tax credits? If their labor is in such demand they shouldn't have any trouble maintaining employment once their records get squared away. Every other law-abiding citizen has the same responsibility to see that their taxes are properly filed and their paperwork is in order, so we are not asking any more than is required of everybody else. Thus, I really do not see where the Register is coming from on this issue, unless maybe you might be losing some of your cheap labor force in the process.

Randall Berry of Anaheim



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Political correctness must have addled your brains. The Register actually opposes cracking down on people who use others' Social Security numbers?

The misuse of these numbers is a form of identity theft. Have you forgotten that many of the numbers belong to real people whose lives are being messed with?

Whether workers are legal, illegal or extraterrestrial, they have no right to steal these numbers.

Jackie Hyman of Brea

http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/secur ... labor-bush

Great points by Mr. Berry and Ms. Hyman, and shame on the OC Register for opposing these long-overdue, common sense measures.