Update: State governments are getting the message. The federal government is a too-powerful, pork-laden bureaucracy with little accountability. It certainly doesn’t help matters that the White House is sending mixed signals with a strong “war on terror” mantra and weak border and interior enforcement efforts. Talk, as they say, is cheap.
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Big government is expensive, wasteful, and inefficient, and most social programs are vulnerable to fraud and abuse. That’s my off-the-cuff opinion, and I’m sure many intelligent people would agree.
I stumbled upon a story in the Washington Times about a recent audit report issued by the Office of the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration, Employers With The Most Wage Items In The NonWork Alien File (PDF).
Since 2003, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has issued “nonwork” Social Security numbers (SSN) to foreigners who aren’t allowed to work in the United States but need to collect welfare(?). According to the audit report, a nonwork SSN card indicates on its face that the holder may not use the card for employment purposes.
Each year the SSA is required to send the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a NonWork Alien File (NWALIEN), which contains names, address, amounts earned, etc., of people working under nonwork SSNs. For the audit, the Inspector General randomly selected 275 noncitizens who worked for 100 employers that reported the most wage items in the NWALIEN. Sixty-one percent were not authorized to work in the U.S. The rest were incorrectly classified as noncitizens working under nonwork SSNs. Their records had not been updated to reflect a change in status.
The employers with the highest percentage of illegal aliens — I mean noncitizens — working without authorization were staffing (employment agencies), hotel and services, and health care services.
Employers either ignore the nonwork designation on the SSNs, see it and don’t care, or illegal aliens don’t present the cards when hired for a job. Incidentally, the Privacy Act prohibits the SSA from telling employers which of its employees are working under nonwork SSNs! Government agencies are not coordinating their efforts to combat fraud.
According to the audit report, noncitizens working under nonwork SSNs is “widespread.” Mind the bureaucratese:
Unauthorized work by noncitizens weakens SSN integrity and may require that the agency pay benefits to these individuals. In addition, noncitizens who work without DHS authorization could affect homeland security because they may obtain employment in sensitive areas. To help ensure the integrity of SSA’s records and the accuracy of the NWALIEN file, we believe the Agency should consider informing numberholders it has recorded their wages under a nonwork SSN. In addition, to reduce the number of noncitizens who work without authorization, we believe SSA should consider examining its interpretation of existing disclosure laws and, if necessary, seek legislative authority that would allow the Agency to disclose nonwork status to employers. We also believe the Agency should encourage employers who file large numbers or percentages of wage statements with nonwork SSNs to use the Basic Pilot when hiring new employees. For example, we believe the Agency should consider coordinating with employer associations and participating in conferences to discuss steps employers can take to reduce unauthorized work by noncitizens.
Emphases added. Employer verification systems are already in place, but employers apparently don’t have much use for them. This is one reason why I said big government is inefficient. (Also see Internet-Based Pilot Program).
As you know, Congress is attempting to “reform” our immigration laws. The Federation for American Immigration Reform has done a great job summarizing the differences bewteen the House of Representative’s and Senate’s versions of the immigration bills (PDF), and I encourage you to check out the chart.
Here’s a common sense solution to SSN fraud: Why not bar foreigners from collecting welfare? That way, they won’t need a “nonwork SSN.” Also, if foreigners are not allowed to work in the U.S. and have no means of support, send them back to their home countries. Just a few ideas…
The current “immigration†problem has been in the making for at least 20 years, with the complicity of federal and local governments, business owners, hiring managers, and private citizens too cheap to hire legal aliens and citizens. It won’t be solved overnight, but a little common sense, as the cliché goes…
I will keep you updated about our homeland security mess with frequent reports. I must warn you about my bias, though. Pro-America sentiment will be sprinkled throughout. 
Addendum: I predict that if George Bush’s amnesty-for-illegal-aliens plan succeeds, the “privatize Social Security” movement will re-emerge from its slumber.
{ 9 comments }
La Shawn,
This is the type of stuff that makes the average American’s head feel like it’s going to explode!
Why are aliens allowed to immigrate to this country only to immediately go onto welfare in a system that they have never put a penny into?
Even worse, why are different departments of the same government forbidden to exchange information that could reduce waste and fraud? That’s just crazy, but typical of the Federal Government.
Why would an able-bodied alien who is desirous to work, be they legal or illegal, be issued a Non Work Social Security Number? Why are illegals issued a social security number at all, of any type? Why can’t we even bother to ask if they are here legally when they apply for an SSN?
Of course many illegals don’t bother with trying to get an SSN. They just make one up when necessary, or use the same one that one of their friends is using.
Why are aliens allowed to immigrate to this country only to immediately go onto welfare in a system that they have never put a penny into?
Why would an able-bodied alien who is desirous to work, be they legal or illegal, be issued a Non Work Social Security Number?
These are the million dollar questions. What is the point of a non-work Social Security Number as opposed to a non-work visa? Is it because you can’t get welfare with a visa? In that case, what’s the point of giving welfare to someone not allowed to work? Since it seems that they are going to be employed anyway, it the whole notion of non-work visas is seemingly a government game.
I was watching a commercial today for some kind of “it only takes one voice” program, basically encouraging people to hug and stand up for the downtrodden. It was a white guy in a suit at a restaraunt. He was sitting there, looked up at his latin american (presumably) waiter, and holds up his sandwich “Hey! I asked for whole wheat, EL WHEAT-O?” and then a white server comes up, apologizes and takes his sandwich to correct the mistake. The customer leans over and jokes to another customer “Hey if you’re going to serve people in this country you should learn to speak the language” and the young man who he spoke to looked at him indignantly and said “No, I don’t know what you mean” and then it went “One voice could make a difference”….
I am the first to admit the guy was a schmuck, and rude and you ought not be rude to the people who handle your food, but come on now. What is so wrong about expecting someone who works here (especially in CUSTOMER SERVICE) to speak english. It made me sick, this is the most twisted thing since I saw Captain America and realized they implied there were people who enjoyed dumping toxic waste. “Wheee! I’m killing EVERYTHING!” Yeah, how about no? There’s my rant for the day. As if there’s ever just one.
Here’s another vote for privatizing the SSA. I could invest in things that make money and things people need. Unfortunately, some bunch of idiots would invest in tofu farms and when they go curds up moan and complain until the federal govt bailed them out anyway.
Captain PLANET! I like Captain America, Captain Planet gives me a headache. Sorry, thinking elsewhere at the end of that post.
When my wife went to apply for a Social Security number at the local office (she is a legal immigrant), the local Social Security Administration office refused to give it to her. This was before she had received her “green card”, although she had a valid stamp and A-number in her passport that we repeatedly showed to them. We wound up having to go to the regional office in San Antonio to get her SSN.
You cannot convince me that illegal immigrants (and the politicians and journalists who either look the other way or encourage this) are not scamming the system for their own benefit.
My wife is an attorney who practices immigration law. I brought this up to her and she says that those non-work social security numbers are not supposed to able to be used for social benefits. She says that they are almost strictly for the benefit of getting identification and drivers licenses. She says that they originally used to stamp them as non-working, but that for some reason that don’t consistently do this. She says that non-citizen social security numbers are very apparent in that the the numbering style is quite different from a normal social security number. Employers should see this and should check the status, but employers don’t check. That is why when the status changes and the immigrant can legally work, the employer’s records don’t reflect this. They simply don’t check.
people use SSN’s for all sorts of things besides social security and welfare. I was issued an ssn card that said ‘not valid for employment’ when I was young. That was because i was not yet a citizen. It was never a bar to employment once I became a green card holder.
that being said, privatization won’t fly.
Social security has really been vexing me too recently. i’ve posted a few suggestions on an RP blog you may be interested in viewing. Click on the link. I’d welcome some sensible comment.
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