Aliens with Aliases

Identity Theft, Document Fraud and Illegal Employment

The Rocky Mountain Foundation has been informed that a forthcoming Center for Immigration Studies report examines the phenomenon of illegal immigration-related document fraud and identity theft, which is committed primarily for the purpose of employment.  In it, Ronald W. Mortensen, Ph. D and former Foreign Service Officer, debunks three common misconceptions:  illegal aliens are “undocumented;” the transgressions committed by illegal aliens to obtain jobs are minor; and illegal alien document fraud and identity theft are victimless crimes.  The paper discusses how some community leaders rationalize these crimes, contributing to a deterioration of the respect for laws in our nation.  A variety of remedies are presented, including more widespread mandatory electronic verification of work status (E-Verify and the Social Security Number Verification Service), which would prevent a very large share of this type of fraud, and immigrant outreach programs to explain the ramifications and risks of committing document fraud and identity theft. 

The findings include:

·         Illegal immigrants are not “undocumented.”  Illegal aliens have numerous fraudulent documents such as counterfeit Social Security cards, forged driver’s licenses, fake “green cards,” and phony birth certificates.  Experts suggest that approximately 75% of working-age illegal aliens use fraudulent Social Security cards to obtain employment.

·         98% of Social Security number theft involves people who use their own names with the stolen number, according to a Social Security Administration official.  The federal E-Verify program, now mandated in only 13 states, can detect this fraud, so more widespread use would help curb this problem.  Universal mandatory use of E-Verify would also stop virtually 100% of child identity theft.  Only two percent of SSN-related identity theft is said to involve perpetrators assuming another’s entire identity, which E-Verify cannot as easily detect. 

·         Illegal immigration and high levels of identity theft go hand-in-hand.  States with the highest incident of identity theft also have high levels of job-related identity theft (Arizona 39%, Texas 24%, New Mexico 19%, California 17%, Colorado 17%, and Nevada 15%).  Seven of the ten states with the highest number of illegal aliens per capita are among the top ten states for identity theft (Arizona, California, Texas, Florida, Colorado, Georgia, and New York).

·         Children are prime targets of illegal-alien-driven identity theft.  In Arizona, it is estimated that over one million children are victims of identity theft.  In Utah, 1,626 companies were found to be paying wages to the Social Security numbers of children on public assistance under the age of 13. These individuals suffer very real and very serious consequences in their lives.

·         Illegal immigrants who use fraudulent documents and/or identity theft to obtain employment or other benefits are committing serious offenses, and are not “law abiding”.  These acts are felonies.

·         Illegal employment enables illegal aliens to continue to send billions of dollars annually to their home countries rather than spending it in the U.S. and helping stimulate the American economy.  In October 2008 alone, a total of $2.4 billion was transferred to Mexico.

·         Corruption is a serious problem in the home countries of most illegal aliens.  Our society’s tolerance of it in the context of immigration erodes respect for the rule of law in immigrant communities and overall and paves the way for additional criminal activity and increased corruption throughout society.

·         Political, civic, religious, business, education, and media leaders support illegal aliens who commit identity theft while ignoring their victims.  These leaders blame Americans for “forcing” illegal aliens to commit document fraud and identity theft and make victims out of illegal aliens who are convicted of these crimes.  No similar concern is expressed for the American men, women, and children who are the actual victims of illegal alien identity theft.

·         The Social Security Administration and Internal Revenue Service facilitate illegal immigrant-driven identity theft.  For example, the Social Security Administration assigns Social Security numbers that are being used illegally to newborn infants.  The IRS demands that victims of identity theft pay taxes on wages earned by illegal aliens using their stolen Social Security numbers while taking no action to stop the identity theft.

·         State and local governments should take steps to address this problem by adopting tougher laws and devoting more resources to prosecution and public outreach to supplement federal efforts.  While the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is making an effort by targeting large document fraud rings and the most egregious employers, their resources are limited and stretched across multiple priorities.  In 2007, such cases represented only seven percent of the total ICE caseload.

·         Employers can ensure that they have a legal workforce by using a combination of the federal government’s E-Verify and Social Security Number Verification Service systems and by signing up for the federal government’s IMAGE program or privately conducted audits.