FAQ – Child ID Theft

FAQ – Child ID Theft

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

ILLEGAL ALIEN DRIVEN CHILD ID THEFT

• Why don’t you use the term “undocumented” for people who are in the United State illegally?

Individuals who are in the United States illegally are not undocumented, therefore, the term does not apply unless it is qualified to read “legally undocumented.” Illegal aliens have multiple illegally obtained documents that allow them to work and to obtain benefits that they are not entitled to receive. These documents include unlawfully obtained Social Security cards, forged green cards, fraudulent passports, bogus driver’s licenses, etc. This is widely acknowledged by employers, by the advocates of illegal aliens and by illegal aliens themselves including Jose Antonio Vargas, an illegal alien who is also a Pulitzer Prize winning Journalist.

• Is it true that the vast majority of illegal aliens have committed multiple felonies in order to get jobs?

Yes. Illegal aliens routinely commit multiple felonies in order to get jobs. These felonies include forgery, Social Security fraud, perjury on I-9 forms, and identity theft. Thus, the myth of the “otherwise law-abiding” illegal alien is just that, a myth.

In fact, as reported by the New York Times and echoed by the ACLU, the Actuary of the Social Security Administration estimates that three-quarters (75%) of illegal alien workers use a fraudulently obtained or doctored Social Security number to pay income and payroll taxes. The pro-illegal alien National Immigration Law Center (NILC) also agrees that illegal aliens routinely use fraudulently obtained Social Security numbers in order to obtain jobs and pay taxes as does the libertarian Reason Foundation and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

Using a fraudulently obtained Social Security number is a violation of the Social Security Act. It is a felony punishable to up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Thus, 75% of illegal aliens are committing felonies – not just civil violations as so frequently stated.

In addition, illegal aliens using forged Social Security numbers, green cards and other documents face forgery charges, yet another felony. They perjure themselves when completing I-9 forms, still another felony and when the Social Security numbers they are using belong to other Americans they commit identity theft under state laws. These crimes can carry penalties of up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

• How do we know that American children are victims of identity theft?

According to the Federal Trade Commission which tracks identity theft, youth experience higher rates of identity theft than do individuals over 60 years old. A Carnegie Mellon CyLab survey found that 10% of children had their Social Security numbers being used by someone else and that they are 51 times more likely to be victims of identity theft than are adults.

Illegal aliens who are using American children’s Social Security numbers for employment purposes commit most of the child identity theft. For example, a joint investigation conducted by the Social Security Administration, the Utah Attorney General’s office and Utah Workforce Services, revealed that an estimated 50,000 Utah kids had their SSNs being used almost exclusively by illegal aliens in 2005 in order to obtain jobs. By 2013, that number had increased to an estimated 80,000.

• Why are children’s Social Security numbers so highly prized by illegal aliens?

Illegal aliens prefer Social Security numbers that either haven’t been issued or belong to children since they can use these numbers for many years without being detected.

When a Social Security number that has not been officially issued starts being used for employment purposes, the Social Security Administration and IRS ignore the violation of law. Therefore, the person using it has nothing to fear. In addition, even though both the Social Security Administration and the IRS know that the number is being used unlawfully, it is not removed from the database of unissued numbers and nothing is done to the person using it.

Thus, when parents apply for a Social Security number for their newborn child, a number currently used by an illegal alien may be assigned to their child complete with the illegal alien’s credit history, arrest records, medical history, wages and everything else that is attached to that number.

If an unused Social Security number is not available, the next best option is to obtain a child’s number since no one checks the child’s credit history and children do not normally file income tax returns. Thus, the person using a child’s number runs a much lower risk of being caught by the owner of the number than had she used an adult’s number.

• How is a child harmed if an adult uses her Social Security number?

According to former Utah Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff who is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Immigration Forum (NIF), “Identity thieves are no respecters of age. They will steal your children’s identity, ruin their credit and hurt them in ways never thought possible before the kids even graduate from grade school. Children are vulnerable even if parents do everything right.”

Children whose Social Security numbers are used by adults can literally see their dreams and very futures destroyed. They have their credit ruined. Arrest records are attached to their names. Their medical records are corrupted with life threatening consequences. They are held accountable for unpaid taxes on money earned by others and they are even denied federal means tested benefits such as Medicaid when wages are credited to their Social Security numbers.

• What would those advocating legalization of people unlawfully in the U.S. do for American children who are victims of illegal alien identity theft?

Nothing! In fact, under the Senate’s bill, the illegal aliens are given new Social Security numbers and virtual amnesty from their felonies. At the same time, the innocent American kids and their families receive absolutely no help from their government to undo the damage done by the very illegal aliens that the government has rewarded with legal status and amnesty.

The Senate immigration reform bill provides absolutely no help for American families to recover their children’s identities nor does it provide any restitution for these innocent American children. The Senate does, however, fine any government employee who advises a family that their child’s identity has been stolen or reports the crime to the appropriate authorities $10,000. This is amnesty pure and simple.

• How much does it cost to recover a child’s identity when it has been used by an illegal alien for employment and other purposes?

Stopping the identity theft and recovering a child’s identity is an extremely time consuming and costly process. For example, a Utah court recently granted the mother of a child who had his Social Security number used for employment and other purposes $2,500 in restitution to cover the costs she incurred while trying to stop an illegal alien from using her child’s Social Security number and to recover his identity. This followed a guilty plea by the illegal alien to two felony forgery counts and one felony identity theft charge.

• Doesn’t the IRS and Social Security Administration tell the parents that their children’s Social Security numbers are being used for employment purposes?

No. In fact, just the contrary. The IRS and Social Security Administration actually protect the illegal aliens using American children’s Social Security numbers and both agencies routinely refuse to provide any information or other assistance to the victims once the misuse is discovered.

• What role do employers play in facilitating illegal alien driven, child identity theft?

Employers who refuse to use E-Verify invite illegal aliens to use fraudulent documents and stolen identities. For example, 1,626 Utah employers were found to be paying wages to the Social Security numbers of Utah Children under age 13. The Senate’s Immigration bill has no provision to hold employers who facilitated child identity theft accountable. In fact, it fines any government employee who reports the employer of an illegal alien $10,000.

• What about children brought to the United States illegally, the DREAMERs?

Many of these children who are now adults have held jobs where a Social Security number is required such as working in a fast food restaurant, in construction, etc. If they have fraudulently obtained and/or used a Social Security number or any other document to get those jobs, they have committed Social Security fraud and forgery (felonies). If they have perjured themselves on an I-9 form, they have committed still another felony and if the Social Security numbers being used belong to American citizens or legal residents, they have committed yet another felony under state laws. They should be held accountable for these felonies and be required to pay a substantial fine and to make restitution to the victims.

• Why do you use the term “amnesty?”

When illegal aliens are not held accountable for child identity theft, given new Social Security numbers them, that is amnesty. In addition, when employers are not held accountable for hiring illegal aliens and protected from disclosure of their crimes by a $10,000 fine to anyone reporting them, that is also and a clean record and protected from disclosure of their crimes by a $10,000 fine to anyone reporting amnesty. For a detailed analysis of the amnesties included in the Senate bill see “Immigration Reform” Equals Amnesty for Illegal Aliens and Their Employers.