Time and again it would appear that those who are provided with leadership positions believe that they themselves are above the laws that they administer or even promulgate. You could sum this wacky philosophy up by the phrase, “Do as I say – not as I do!”
The news report that I linked below appears in the Washington Times and leaves me absolutely dumfounded!
The idea that the government agency that shares responsibility for running the E-Verify program would, itself, often not use E-Verify to determine the eligibility of its own employees to be gainfully employed in the United States leaves me nearly speechless (those who know me well, know that only the removal of my vocal chords would leave me completely speechless!)
There are a number of reasons why the use of E-Verify is so important.
First and foremost, the purpose of E-Verify is to assist employers in determining that a newly hired employee is, in fact, legally authorized to work in the United States. The use of E-Verify can also help to weed out those who use stolen Social Security Numbers. This is important to not only prevent illegal aliens from taking jobs in the United States but can have the additional benefit of identifying those who may have devised false identities in an effort to conceal their true identities, possibly because they have criminal histories they are trying to conceal or for other nefarious reasons.
Considering the issue of the Employer Sanctions program under which those who are alleged to have intentionally hired illegal aliens, the sanctions (punishment) can range from fines to criminal prosecution. If you read the M-274 Employers Handbook issued by the Department of Homeland Security’s USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) you can see how the burden of the employer sanctions laws rest on the shoulders of employers who are not identity document experts.
Furthermore, the handbook and the actual Form I-9 which all new employees are required to fill out and have signed off by their employers, warns the employer of the potential for violating civil rights laws if the employer should even ask to see any additional documents once the new employee provides any documents the employee decides to show his new employer provided that the documents are enumerated in the M-274 Employers Handbook or the I-9.
You can download that handbook at: USCIS (PDF) You can download the Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification)
Stop and consider what this means.
According to Title 8, Section 1304(e) of the United States Code, which is part of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) every alien present in the United States is required to carry proof of “Alien Registration.” For a resident alien, this proof is provided by the Alien Registration Card (the so-called “Green Card”).
According to the Form I-9 and the M-274 an alien who provides his new employer with his green card need not provide any other documentation in order to be qualified to work provided that the employer is reasonably convinced that the card is authentic and relates to the employee.
However, according to the law, a new employee can simply provide a driver’s license and Social Security card and tell the employer what his Alien Registration File Number is. If the employer is concerned about the potential for hiring an illegal alien and asks the new employee to bring in his Green Card in the next day or two, just to make sure all is okay – that simple request would represent a violation of his new employee’s rights!
This is the case even if the employee furnished his new boss with a driver’s license from the other side of the country! Put yourself in the place of a well intentioned employer. You just hired someone who appears to be ideal for the job you need done. Let’s make believe you have your factory in New York City and the new employee provides you with a driver’s license from Alaska and his Social Security card. He tells you what his Alien Number is but does not show you his Green Card. You have never seen a license from Alaska before and out of an abundance of caution, you ask to see some additional documentation.
If your new employee wants to play hardball, he can hire an attorney and sue you for a civil rights violation! If he complains to the Office of the Special Counsel of the United States Department of Justice, that agency may also opt to punish you!
Yet, if ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) conducts an I-9 audit of your company and determines you have hired illegal aliens who furnished you with counterfeit Green Cards or counterfeit documents, you may be fined or even criminally prosecuted. Meanwhile, the E-Verify program which is designed to help make it less likely that a new employee is not really authorized to work in the United States is optional and there have been members of Congress who have voted to kill this program!
In point of fact, the time is long overdue for E-Verify to be made mandatory for all employers.
There are a number of members of the United States Congress who have voted against the E-Verify program that represents a significant step in the right direction to help prevent illegal aliens from securing illegal employment in the United States- and now we have information that a federal agency is failing to use this important program as a matter of routine as well!
With identity theft often being described as being the fastest growing “white collar” crime in the United States, you would think that a government agency, the Social Security Administration, that plays an integral role in creating new identities for people when Social Security Numbers are issued- or in assisting those who seek to steal someone else’s identity by learning what Social Security Number relates to what name and date of birth, would be extremely cautious about the employees they hire!
The creation of false identities represents a threat to the safety and security of our citizens and a threat to national security. The creation of false identities serves as the means by which criminals an terrorists manage to embed themselves or “hide in plain sight.”
The use of E-Verify by the Social Security Administration would therefore assist in enhancing the integrity of the agency by helping to screen their new hires to help make certain that the people who they hire are who they claim to be.
I have often said that you can easily discern a “good guy” from a “bad guy.” A “good guy” gets up in the morning and goes through his stuff to figure out what he wants to wear – a “bad guy” gets up in the morning and goes through his stuff to figure out who he wants to be!
While there are businesses that seek excuses for not using E-Verify, and often complain about accuracy issues, the reality is that the system is extremely accurate and when, on those extremely rare instances an error is made, there is a simple way for employers and employees to resolve these issues quickly.
By the way, you may not know this, but if an employer receives information that one or more of his employees is actually an illegal alien, that employer may not use E-Verify to check on that previously hired employee! They can go to the Social Security Administration and ask them to make certain that the Social Security Numbers for all of that company’s employees match, but they cannot ask to only have the numbers relating to the questionable employees checked!
The advice I would provide to the “leaders” of the Social Security Administration is the same advice I would give to our nation’s “leaders” in Congress and within the administration:
Lead by example!
My goal in writing this and other commentaries is to point out our nation’s many failings before more victims pay the ultimate price for the incompetence and ineptitude of our government.
The first step in problem-solving is to first identify the problems and vulnerabilities and then devise strategies to overcome them.
Any politician who refuses to work to secure our borders and create an immigration system that has integrity is either corrupt or too dumb to keep his (her) job. Any politician, irrespective of party affiliation who favors Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the outrageous betrayal that this would represent given the national security implications that this program would have, should be shown the door at the next election!
If you find yourself to be in agreement with this commentary, I ask that you forward it to as many of your friends and family members as possible and encourage them to do the same.
Later this year, each and every member of the House of Representatives is up for reelection. Later this year more than one third of the members of the United States Senate will have to face their constituents. They need to be reminded that they work for us, We the People!
However, the practice of good citizenship does not end in the voting booth, it only begins there. The large scale apathy demonstrated by citizens of this nation has emboldened elected representatives to all but ignore the needs of the average American citizen in a quest for massive campaign funds and the promises of votes to be ostensibly delivered by special interest groups. There is much that we cannot do but there is one thing that We the People absolutely must do- we must stop sitting on the sidelines!
The collective failure of We the People to get involved in make our concerns known to our politicians have nearly made the concerns of the great majority of the citizens of this nation all but irrelevant to the politicians.I implore you to get involved!
Any American who has lost his job certainly has enough time on his (her) hands to get involved!
Any American who fears the loss of his job must make effective use of his spare time to make certain he keeps his job! (Remember, the job save may be your own!) If this situation concerns you or especially if it angers you, I ask you to call your Senators and Congressional “Representative. This is not only your right- it is your obligation! You need to politely but pointedly, demand to know what they are doing to protect our nation. You need to ask them how they are protecting you and your families. You can also forward this commentary to them and ask them to watch the 60 Minutes report that served as the basis for my commentary. All I ask is that you make it clear to our politicians that we are not as dumb as they hope we are! We live in a perilous world and in a perilous era. The survival of our nation and the lives of our citizens hang in the balance This is neither a Conservative issue, nor is it a Liberal issue – simply stated, this is most certainly an AMERICAN issue! You are either part of the solution or you are a part of the problem! Democracy is not a spectator sport! Lead, follow or get out of the way!
Social Security rarely uses E-Verify by Stephen Dinan
