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All the companies have to do is verify the legal right to work in this country. They can use the SSN listed on the W4 filled out by the employee. Verify that the SSN is valid for the name given. This should not require a massive background check. If there are not systems in place today to handle this trivial detail, we should create it. It is a far better solution than ignoring the problem or trying to forciblly deport 12 million people.

Ghads, wouldn't it be nice if an employer could simply pick up the phone, enter in the social security number, and get back the name assigned to the number as well as the legal status?

Oh, bugger - there's a hole in that. One legal gives out his number to others to use. Yes, Jose is legal to work in this country - he's just working at 12,000 different places. To make something like that actually work, you're almost back to a national ID card.

Ironic that the average bus pass is harder to copy than a social security card.

[To make something like that actually work, you're almost back to a national ID card.]

Hardly a national id card. Reporting of the SSN is already required by the government to work. Also known is the age and sex associated with that number. As for 12,000 people using the same id, it sure would be easy for the government to locate and round up the offenders. Oh, some might get by with using someone else's id, but there are easy ways to halt the massive use of a single SSN.

Again, I am not making a proposal here. I am making suggestions. If you find holes in my logic, think about them. Maybe you will find a way to fill them. It certainly is better than throwing our hands into the air and saying it can't be done.