Posted on 03/25/2005 8:46:21 AM PST by txdoda
Editor's Note: While President Bush talks about immigration reform, but makes no promises, those here legally face hard choices when their less-fortunate compatriots ask for help.
SAN JOSE, Calif.--I was glad to hear that President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox met yesterday to discuss immigration, and that Bush is pushing for a guest worker program and amnesty for illegal immigrants. But immigration reform has been stalled for years in Washington, and no one was making any promises that things would actually change.
In the meantime, some of us who are in this country legally, but have immigrant roots, are finding the issue landing right in our own laps.
A few years ago someone asked me if his friend could use my social security number to work. I was mad. How could he ask me about such a sensitive subject over the phone! On the other hand, how could I say no?
"Well, I don't know anything if you do use it," I said, and hung up.
I hadn't thought of it since, until a few weeks ago when this same friend dropped off some tax returns to me. They had my name and social security number on them, and he thought maybe I could get the tax refund.
I carelessly left the documents on the kitchen table for my dad to find. He looked them over and said, "You never worked at this store. Who is this?"
"My other me," I said, trying to act like I had no clue.
"Well, you better fix this right away. It can mess you up."
I still haven't filed my own tax return, but I don't plan on using the "other me's" returns, even if later I have some complication for not filing. At the same time, I don't think it is such a bad thing that I let a stranger use my identity.
Why not give up my number to someone who is just searching for work in a country that needs her here but isn't willing to admit it? Half of my family are recent immigrants, and some didn't take official measures to get here, but they have made their lives here, raised families here, and have to live with the constant worry that they are going to be found out and deported. Those of us who do have our legal situation in place wish we could do more for those who have been here for years and have no legal status.
A new report says that there are now 10.3 million undocumented workers in the United States, more than half of them from Mexico. I have never believed that immigrants take U.S. citizens' jobs. They take the jobs that "Americans" think they are overqualified and underpaid for. Undocumented workers have an urgency about work. They don't have the luxury of waiting around until someone offers them more than $12 an hour.
At my job, I work with people who are obviously using someone else's identity -- the business constantly gets notices about certain people's social security numbers needing to be checked. A lot of those people move on quickly, but others have remained, and I know they don't have other options besides working long hours and clocking as much overtime as they can.
One of my co-workers is 19 and works more than full time. I know he would love to do more than work a service job, but getting an education is a challenge because of his immigration status.
People like my co-worker and my "other me" have such a messed-up deal that I don't know how much it helps to lend them a social. Having no documentation means working hard and paying taxes that they will never see come back to them as benefits. And it only helps for a job; it's not like a free pass in the country.
My alter ego will still have to live outside the system, using someone else's numerical identity so that her own identity isn't revealed. If it were discovered that she'd committed the crime of working hard at a low-wage job, there would be no hesitation about deporting her, regardless of all she has done and contributed.
The United States should focus less on trying to catch people like her, who are just trying to make a living, and be more concerned about restoring the dignity to work, by creating jobs with living wages that allow people to do more than just survive.
PNS contributor Elizabeth Rodriguez, 24, is a writer for www.siliconvalleydebug.org, the voice of young workers, writers and artists in Silicon Valley and a PNS project. Her name has been changed for her protection.
DUH !!.....because it's a FEDERAL CRIME.
Only a few companies, in the scheme of things, have signed up for this verification service. Most must want the option of hiring illegals and saying, "geez, sorry, we didn't know. It ought to be mandatory to use this free service.
Every time I write this people think this is a good thing. It's not enough. Not nearly enough.
The real problem here is that crooks can get your SSN from other things besides Bank Statements and Social Security Checks. Apparently, a lot of other companies generate your account numbers using your SSN. If anyone knows the formulas, then anyone can steal SSNs from utility bills.
Moral of the story- Shred or burn anything that has even a chance of having snesitive data on it.
BTW, some group of folks got busted a few weeks back for stealing SSNs by decoding APS Bills in Arizona, for those of you enjoying the Grand Canyon State in my company.
Have you contacted your Congressman about the problems you're having?
>>DUH !!.....because it's a FEDERAL CRIME.<<
So is sneaking across the border but not too many prosecutors worry about that.
Damn she's bold when demanding that the USA fix its system so illegal aliens can make more money. I must just be a stupid ol' white male using outdated logic when I thought it was up to the country of origin to be up to snuff economically.
This author is actually very lucky. I've read of a situation where someone's SSN was used for several jobs that the thief didn't have taxes withheld from. So, come April 15 of every year, the poor guy whose SSN was used has to pay taxes on income he never earned!
Yes, this is just another problem that arises with Bush's appeasement policy. I'm sure we will encounter many more that we haven't thought of yet. I spent last night scraping my 'W' stickers off of my car and donating money to the Minutemen because I'm so mad at what Bush said yesterday at his meeting with his best friend, Fox!
Hmm. Never thought about this before. The feds are no help if someone is using your SSN, so they must not care.
Wonder if I can auction it off on EBay?
raise the visibility of Ethnic Media as a major information source for California's 17 million(**) Ethnic American residents and the changing American landscape;
How's that for obtuse?
Venturing a guess, I'd believe we're all "ethnic." Their discernment given this article seems to be whether one is a "resident" or a "citizen." (**) Census quickfacts gives the 2003 California population a 35,484,453 estimate. The "American" part is just thrown in there like so much camouflage. I just loves divisive "diversity."
Yep, the arrogance of the illegal immigrant lobby never ceases to amaze me.
Michael Savage said something profound the other night which could be thrown right back at them. If the object of America's immigration policy is to give our businesses as cheap of workers as possible and provide the maximum number of people the opportunity to live in America, then we could replace $4/hour illegal Latinos who demand social services in Spanish with $2/hour illegal Chinese or Laotians who wouldn't demand social services at all.
I know for a fact it is prevelant.
At work, we were doing pre-employment testing for a local warehouse company. One non english speaking fellow, handed me his "social security" card along with his "photo ID".
His photo ID was questional at best, saying he was in his 40's (the kid looked barely a day over 20...wished I knew his secret.../sarcasm)
and his Social # (first 3 digits) noted he was born in Michigan.
I am seriously considering changing my career to investigate identity fraud. It's so blatant around here, it's sickening.
One Reporter's Opinion--Abuse of the 14th Amendment
Best argument yet - from a ninety-plus guy...
Bush Decries "Vigilantes," For Reasonable Immigration Policy(W Calls Minutemen "Vigilantes")
Conservatives Split in Debate on Curbing Illegal Immigration
The immigration debate pits one core GOP constituency (law-and-order conservatives) against another (business interests that rely on immigrant labor). One camp wants to tighten borders and deport people who are here illegally; the other seeks to bring illegal workers out of the shadows and acknowledge their growing economic importance.
Mexico accused of abusing its illegals
Mr. Kyl said Mr. Fox's "pre-emptive threats" to file lawsuits on behalf of those crossing the border unlawfully "is hardly helpful, since it presumes that illegal aliens have more of a right to break American law than American citizens have to peacefully assist authorities in enforcing it." "Since when are 'Neighborhood Watch' citizens 'vigilantes'?" Mr. Tancredo asked. "President Fox thinks we should tear down the fence that keeps illegal aliens out? Then why doesn't he put up a welcome sign on his southern border with Guatemala instead of using his military to keep poor Guatemalans out? Such hypocrisy about borders defies historic parallel."
Immigration Reform Drive Set for April
Illegal immigration is the No. 1 threat to our national security, allowing attacks from foreign sources and eroding the underpinnings of American society. It is a crime of gradual, exponential damage. Each illegal that steps over our border is just one more straw on the proverbial camel's back. Slowly, the influx of illegals has grown to unmanageable levels, depleting our economic resources, destroying institutions and straining our society to the point of breaking. Yet Congress has failed to act to secure our borders, enforce our laws and protect our sovereignty...a grass-roots citizens' lobbying movement is taking on legislators...hundreds of talk show listeners are converging on the nation's capital from April 23-28 for "Hold Their Feet to the Fire – A National Drive for Immigration Reform." These citizen lobbyists are paying their own way to Washington to lobby for immigration reform...Illegal immigration has reached devastating proportions. Our children are paying the price in impacted schools. Overcome by millions of dollars in unpaid medical bills, hospitals and emergency rooms across the country are closing. Tuberculosis, virtually eradicated in the United States by 1983, is again on the rise as people carrying the disease bypass the health requirements of legal immigration. Annually, illegals cost Arizona taxpayers $1.3 billion and California taxpayers a whopping $10.5 billion. And these numbers are escalating rapidly, while states like California buckle under the financial strain...Leaders in Washington have forgotten that immigrating to the United States is a privilege, not a right. Their obligation is to the citizens of the United States, not illegal aliens.
Trafficking modern-day slavery
What a sad indigtment on our society that this relabled sin is still pervasive.
WESTCHESTER PERV-ALIEN ROUNDUP
A team of ICE agents swept through Yonkers, White Plains, New Rochelle, Mount Kisco and Peekskill arresting the sex fiends, including 19 as they reported to probation officers for offenses including rape, sodomy, sexual abuse and assault. Silly me, thinking that the problem's solved by just cutting off their...
NJ: Feds arrest members of violent MS-13 Gang
After running out of spray paint I decided to move to a less invaded area. After a black neighbor stood up for them and threatened me with violence for their sake I saw the graffitti on the wall.
Latin American and Caribbean emigrants sent to their countries $45.8 billion in 2004
Before you know it we're talking about real money - gone forever.
Bush to push for more lenient immigration laws
92 responses when the FROBLs show up.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1369039/posts
...the tunnel is not unlike the 15 others found during the 1990s, built by drug cartels. But everything in the world after Sept. 11, 2001, has taken on a different hue. Today tunnels like this one are where the failures of drug policy, border control and immigration reform meet ever-pressing issues of national security.
Mexican State Issues 'How To' on Border Jumping
The state of Yucatan has issued a new 87-page handbook that tells people how to get across the U.S. border illegally. The guide, which has an accompanying DVD, contains a section on how to apply for a lawful visa but the remaining 50-plus pages are filled with instructions about how to safely sneak into the United States, then blend in.
Bush Unveils New North American Pact
...relations are strained by the Bush administration's anger over a high Mexican tax on soft drinks made with high fructose corn syrup. Whussup widdat? If anything screams Communism it's the replacement of sugar with crappy fructose syrup. I'm still screaming about how the ruined Jolt!
Fox Astray on Immigration(I say it's time for Mexico to take off the American "training wheels!")
"No country that is proud of itself should build walls ... it doesn't make any sense," Fox said. As a Mexican-American born on this side of the Rio Grande, it makes sense to me. A country has the right to protect its borders...My beef with right-wing elements in Congress is that they tend to be hard on illegal immigrants but soft on those who hire them.
A Debate That Cannot Be Ignored (Is immigration good for NC?)
Good SC FReepers site the real obstacles to reform (corruption, lobbyists, etc)
Letter to Presidents Bush and Fox Demanding Immigration Reform
This letter suggests logical action on: Family Reunification, Earned Access to Legalization, Border Safety and Protection, Enhanced Temporary Worker Program, Civil Liberties, and Immigrant Student Adjustment.
Mr. Fox's elephant at the summit
Human flesh has become Mexico's No. 1 export. Mr. Fox wants an open border to enable desperate Mexicans, eager to pursue the dream of a better life and who have given up on their native land, to disappear into America. This is pretty much how it is already, but Mr. Fox wants to erase it officially. Mr. Bush, who is fluent in the bordello Spanish popular in Texas, must be ready when he meets Mr. Fox and Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada to tell the Mexican president — politely, of course — where to get off. The subject of dumping Mexicans on the American doorstep to relieve pressure on the Mexican government is not on the agenda of the continental summit, but it's always on Vicente Fox's mind. Immigration will be the elephant in Laura's parlor.
Irate judge throws book at smuggler; 7 1/2 -year prison term stuns immigration aide
Seething over what he saw as a lackluster acknowledgment of a serious crime, a judge sentenced a former federal immigration inspector yesterday to 7 1/2 years in prison for smuggling at least 100 illegal aliens past airport security checkpoints in Newark and Baltimore.
Insults from south of the border
Today, President Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and Mexican President Vicente Fox will meet in Crawford, Texas, for a summit that is not expected to deal with immigration. That is disappointing, especially since Mr. Fox in recent days downplayed the possibility that al Qaeda terrorists could cross into the United States from Mexico, ridiculed the San Diego border fence to curb illegal crossings and vowed to stamp out Arizona's Project Minuteman. Most troublesome was Mr. Fox's dismissal of worries about al Qaeda crossing the border.
After rereading the "Letter to Bush on Reform" I'm convinced it's purpose is Bush's own: disenfranchishesment of citizens for the benefit of illegal aliens. Slick, but no sale. They should all be encouraged to move home by having their legitimacy put on the heads of their employers.
For months I have been posting info on the SSA and IRS employer "no match" letters.
Those are letters that go out annually to employers who submit W-2 earnings data on ten or more employees using bogus SSN's. Mostly agriculture, hotels and restaurants, and low-skill service companies get the letters.
The immigrant "rights" industry goes ballistic over those letters and the 9 1/2 million employee "no match" letters that go to employees using bogus SSNs. The letters bend over backward to be polite and "understanding" warning employers not to take action against the employees, I believe.
The SSA tries everything to make the SSNs match the master files. As a last resort the W-2 data go into the Earnings Suspense File (ESF) -- some 250 million earnings documents are stored there as of a couple years ago. The ESF started exploding in the late 1990s and the "big bang" continues.
At least one article was posted (w/thread) reporting the same info.
Each tax year the SSA sends out app. 130,000 "no match" letters to employers who had ten or more employees who used bogus SSN's.
We know who the employers are. No one cares. Period.
Only one Freeper has responded and he questioned the accuracy of my information.
I search for, "no match" letter employer. Would Mr. google lie? Maybe he did, but how? I misunderstood? Fine, but how?
We don't need shiny new laws for government and business to ignore, is my take on this. We got the laws. We need action.
Thanks for keeping us up to date, NRT.
The woman in the article is foolish, if in fact the story is true. MSM has been known to lie to further their agenda. How stupid is it to let someone use your identity???
I've been on the Terri threads all week, but haven't posted much. There is a correlation between her murder and the inability for the government to protect our national borders. The tie-in is corrupt government. Freepers can dig like no one else can, and what they have found in Florida is sickening.
Let's see, America can liberate whole countries, but they can't prevent a woman from being murdered here? We can topple dictatorships overseas, but we can't stop illegals from coming across our own borders? DCF(and all its manifestations) has the power to remove homeschooled children from their homes just because they're being homeschooled...but can't seem to properly investigate 15 years of abuse complaints, when they concern Terri.
It is astounding that Michael Schiavo has broken hundreds of guardianship rules, and will most likely get away with it. Freepers have uncovered reams of evidence tying him with the local police department. I couldn't understand why the Schindlers police report following Terri's "collapse" was never investigated. Here's why: Michael Schiavo's gf of 10 years, Jodi Centonze. Her mother worked for the Sheriff's Dept. for many years. MS and Jodi met through her. MS, upon completing nursing school, was given a job as a nurse in the jail. Mrs. Centonze was friendly with the former Sheriff, now a representative. His last name is Rice. He's pals with Judge Greer. The judge and MS's attorney, Felos, have long standing connections through that Hospice's board of directors. There is a lot of money to be made, and they'll stop at nothing to get their dirty mitts on it.
The stench coming from Florida is putrid. Look it up for yourselves. You'll be shocked. That hospice has commited Medicare fraud to the tune of approximately 14 billion dollars. Our government on all levels has become so corrupt, that I don't see how we can have safe borders and control of who comes here currently. Drag a dollar through Washington DC, and prepare to get trampled.
My prayers will be with the Minutemen, as they do the job no one else is willing to do. A bright light needs to be shined in all the dark corners of our government. May God protect them, and arm them with strength and wisdom.
Wishing you all a blessed and joyous Easter.
Ever since our last city council meeting vote to close our illegal alien job center, the newspaper has been heavy with commentary about how valuable this "resource" is to local contractors who claim it's "safer" than picking up "workers" off street corners and in front of 7-11s. What's galling is that these business owners feel entirely secure and justified in having their names and lousy business ethics posted in print (though the paper identifies some others only as "activists"). I would say it is "safer" for them to pick up their illegal workers at the city site because the city is complicit by providing the center and, as such, the authorities are not likely to do any follow up to ensure the contractors identify their "day laborers" as eligible to work in this country. And the "workers" claim, should the city go ahead with the closure, they'll just go back to taking over the local park making it all but unuseable for it's intended purpose. When and if that occurs, I think the entire block should be surrounded by so many ICE "fun buses" to provide immediate escort to the border.
Your black neighbor sounds like he has a Patty Hearst complex and is identifying with his captors!
Thanks for posting the links. I had only been to a few of them.
Seems to me, more pressure needs to be put on employers. They are one of the main reasons the illegals come.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.