Identity Theft and Illegal Aliens

If you are a resident of the state of Arizona, you already are familiar with the E-Verify program. At the beginning of this year (2008), Arizona adopted a law requiring all employers to verify the employment eligibility of new employees. This goes beyond the mandatory (in all states) I-9 and now requires the use of E-Verify. Many other states are watching with interest to what is happening in Arizona in consequence of requiring the use of E-Verify.

One consequence is a significant drop in the number of ineligible workers applying for employment, as one might imagine.

Before the Form I-9 and E-Verify, illegal workers wanting to secure employment had been able to supply completely bogus information on employment application. After the introduction of the Form I-9, many began to respond to the challenge that the I-9 form represented by stealing the identities of legitimate workers (name, address, social security number, etc.).

The reason for the identity theft is that the federal government checked the I-9 forms and required employers to fire workers who were not authorized to work (name and social security numbers did not match the existing records). The solution for the illegal workers seemed to be to assume the identity (use the name and social security number of someone who would be authorized to work in the US). This frequently required the illegal worker to purchase forged identity documents so that they would be able to cash/deposit the payroll checks.

Now that Arizona has raised the bar with respect to verification of eligibility, the illegal workers have either moved to another state where employment is more easily obtained or have become more sophisticated in their identity theft / impersonation.

Arizona law enforcement has made several arrests of individuals involved in the production of counterfeit identity documents (U.S. Social Security cards, U.S. Permanent Resident cards, etc.). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed a program (Real-ID) to improve the quality (and reduce the likelihood of forgery) of identity documents.

However, and quite curiously, Arizona and several other states have passed laws requiring non-compliance with the Real-ID program. It is not certain at this point what the final outcome will be for Real-ID (full adoption, partial adoption, or abandonment).

While the debate continues, illegal workers will continue to acquire forged documents and obtain employment. In order to do so, the identities of legitimate workers have been, and will continue to be stolen.