About those ID cards & illegal immigration

[murphymom]

Sounds to me like a bunch of useless blather unless they institute some reporting requirements. And if they do, there are going to be some major issues regarding rights to privacy, etc.

Right now all an employer is required to do to verify eligibility is have a new hire fill out an I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification and show 1 or 2 pieces of identification from a list of approved IDs. However, the form ISN'T FILED WITH ANY GOVERNMENT AGENCY! The employer just has to retain it for 3 years or 1 year after employment is terminated, whichever is longer.

Here's a link to the form:

www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/files/i-9.pdf

So, for all practical purposes, an employer could accept an ID written in crayon on a cocktail napkin and get away with it if nobody is going to verify it.

Any accountants or personnel folks out there - at what point would an individual's non-eligibility to work show up in the federal system? It seems to me that it could go until W-2's are due to be issued, and even then, if the employee was employed under a name and SS# that was valid in the system (even if it wasn't theirs) couldn't they get away with it?

[greenbriar]

1. check this out

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1197917

[JuniperLea]

2. No tax returns filed on bad SS#

Dead people routinely have income tax paid in their name. My brother had income reported on his SS# in a state where he has never lived.

Goes back to the government every time. No follow up. No checks and balances. No oversight. Same ol'.

[murphymom]

3. For the record

I think some of the problems with this national ID thing are potentially more dangerous than the problem of people working here without documentation. I've been listening to some reporting on NPR lately about the incredible wait times and the torn up families that have resulted from our (legal) immigration policies. Plus, I've been a little sickened by some of the self-rightous sense of entitlement that some (including quite a few DUers) have exhibited about illegal immigrants working here. Face it, most of us are US citizens because we had the good fortune to be born here, not because we did anything to deserve it and I can't begrudge anyone the chance to have a better life.

For those that are screeching "but they're ILLEEEEGAL! , lots of things are illegal. It's illegal to shoot your neighbor in the head. It's also illegal to leave your car in a parking space after the meter expires. Are they crimes of the same magnitude and do they deserve the same punishment? I don't think so.