Why US immigration crackdown is stalled

Mismatched Social Security numbers led to illegal workers – but also legal ones, critics say.

from the October 16, 2007 edition

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"Will it be disruptive to the economy? To some degree sure it will. Will it cripple it? No," says Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C. "Employers have known for a long time that this was coming."

Advocates of the DHS plan contend that some 90 percent of the 8 million mismatches from the 2006 filings involve illegal immigrants.

Opponents of the DHS plan point out that that 90-percent estimate is unproven. The SSA itself admits that there are 17.8 million inconsistencies in its database, and opponents say it's impossible to determine the legal status of people with discrepancies. They argue that millions of legal citizens and residents could be unjustly fired if their employer receives a no-match letter. Among those at risk: Women who have been married and changed their names and legal residents whose paperwork is making its way through the federal immigration system. These critics note that the SSA doesn't have access to files containing a worker's immigration authorization or status. A 2003 University of Illinois study of the "no match" letter found: "Thirty-four percent of workers who were fired reported that their employer failed to grant them an opportunity to correct their SSN" – Social Security number – even though the SSA's "no match" letter states clearly that it is not an automatic indication that an employee is illegal. Some employers also used the letters indiscriminately against workers who complained of unsafe working conditions or wage-law violations.

"It causes significant instability in local labor markets," says Nik Theodore, director of the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago and coauthor of the report.

Moreover, the structure of the federal government makes it difficult to use Social Security numbers as immigration-enforcement tools, say opponents of the DHS plan. For instance, the Internal Revenue System will give individual tax identification numbers to people who are filing to become legal residents – even if they're not yet. Many immigration lawyers encourage their clients to pay taxes each year so as not to run afoul of tax laws.

"Under tax law, regardless of immigration status, you're required to pay taxes," says James O'Malley, an immigration expert in New York. "And the IRS has been very accommodating in that they'll accept the tax return without a proper Social Security number and they will accept a check."

Enrique, who asked that his real name not be used, has applied for legal status. In the meantime, he has been paying taxes for seven years. The reason, he adds, is to "make it a bit easier to get that green card down the road."

The Social Security number he uses: 000-000-000. He knows he'll never get the retirement benefits he's currently paying for, but sees the taxes he pays now as a kind of penalty for his decision to work here before being granted legal status.

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