Posted on 12/01/2003 9:03:51 PM PST by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
A government effort to distribute hundreds of billions of dollars of unallocated Social Security contributions is instead pushing many immigrants out of jobs, according to immigrant-rights groups. Furthermore, it isn’t solving the problem of where the money should end up. The Social Security Administration is trying to distribute money from its "Earnings Suspense File," comprising contributions that can’t be matched up with a proper Social Security number. That file mushroomed in the 1990s, fueled by a fast-growing work force of illegal immigrants using fake Social Security numbers to get jobs. By the end of the 2000 tax year, the file contained $374 billion.
In 1994, the agency began sending out "no match" letters warning employers that they had incorrect Social Security numbers on the payroll and should straighten out their files. Last year, the agency sent about 950,000 letters, each listing as many as 500 bad numbers. But according to a report by the University of Illinois at Chicago and several immigrants-rights groups, the agency has had little success in identifying owners of the misallocated funds. The suspense file has kept growing, by $30 billion in 1998, $40 billion in 1999 and $50 billion in 2000.
Instead, the report said, many employers have simply fired the workers targeted by a no-match letter. In other cases, unauthorized workers have quit after learning of the letters—fearful that immigration authorities are after them. Perhaps realizing the limited impact of its efforts, the Social Security Administration plans to reduce the number of no-match letters issued this year to 130,000. It is using a few other initiatives to help allocated the funds that have been piling up, but the problem is unlikely to be resolved without enactment of some kind of legislation allowing illegal immigrants to gain access to their Social Security contributions. "They must know that the information will never be corrected until they give us valid Social Security numbers," said one illegal immigrant quoted in the report.
Congress, meanwhile, hopes to make it easier for employers to check workers’ status. Last week, the House passed a bill to give employers access to a federal database to vet workers’ Social Security numbers and verify they are legally authorized to work at the time they are hired. The bill has passed the Senate. But the no-match letters are taking a toll. For instance, this past spring candle maker PartyLite of Batavia, Ill., a unit of Blyth, Inc. of Greenwich, Conn., received a letter from the SSA noting that 97 Social Security numbers out of the company’s 240-strong payroll didn’t match agency records. A Blyth spokeswoman said about 80 didn’t correct the mismatch and were terminated. "Thankfully it wasn’t at the most busy time of the year," the spokeswoman said.
The University of Illinois-led study, which surveyed nearly 1,000 workers targeted by no-match letters, found that more than half of the employers responded by firing the workers involved. Marielena Hincapie of the National Immigration Law Center, a co-author of the report, said the new verification system passed by the House will be as bad as the no-match letters, pushing workers out of jobs. The study said the Social Security Administration’s efforts also haven’t helped reduce illegal immigration. There about 5.3 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. urban labor force, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a Washington think tank. The University of Illinois-led report noted that workers fired after being targeted by a no-match letter are either rehired by the same employer, sometimes at a lower wage, or find a job elsewhere.
Mark Lassiter, a Social Security spokesman, said that "our sole intent is to correct the reporting process. …We are not an enforcement agency." The SSA has added wording to its no-match letters to warn that they shouldn’t be used to take adverse action against employees. "Doing so could, in fact, violate state and federal law and subject you to legal consequences," the letters note. The Social Security Administration’s tactics put businesses in a tough spot, prohibiting them from knowingly employing illegal immigrants and warning them not to discriminate against employees based on a no-match letter. Businesses often end up losing experienced workers they would rather keep. "Receiving a no-match letter is a cause for significant duress for many employers that contact us, " said Mike Flynn, executive director of Su Casa, a community organization in Cincinnati.
If 950,000 letters were sent out with an average of, say, 20 individuals per letter not matching up...you would have 19 MILLION individuals suspected as illegal immigrants...and the number is, in my opinion, double that. If ONE company had more than 30% of its work force not matching up (Blyth and PartyLite of Batavia, Illinois) then that is probably the norm at many such companies. It was at the one I worked at in Tennessee. About 60% of our workforce was illegal aliens. Also, if one were to chart the increase in the Suspense File size as mentioned in the article...it is skyrocketing up because of the INCREASING number of illegal aliens coming in.
Companies are doing this on purpose to make a quick buck; the government knows this is going and and does NOTHING about it. What a joke. And, to boot, no wonder the University of Illinois led this study. Can anyone guess why? Duh. It is beyond my comprehension why this massive invasion of our country, economy, society, etc. is being allowed to take place except for pure greed and desire for power by those who would be supported by such a demographic. If these illegal immigrants are allowed to have "valid Social Security" numbers then citizenship will suddenly be worthless. And, if nothing is done and soon, it will NEVER be corrected.
The Social Security Administration is well aware of the scope of the problem, but will not cooperate with other agencies to find a resolution. They are being told to be noncooperative by politicians who hope to profit by all of this and they have to respond as the politicians involved are VERY powerful. What a sad situation to have to watch in helpless rage.
They are not in the business of common sense and doing the right/correct thing.
What a JOKE!
Maybe one of the ways to set up a guest worker program is that the workers pay into SS, but have no claim on future benefits. "Unfair!" scream the libs and RATs, but if the choice is to pay an extra tax in the US or be unemployed at home I bet a zillion would sign up tomorrow.
One of the reasons the Feds don't try very hard at the border is that illegals who work with false SS numbers have taxes withheld, but never file for a refund. The Feds pick up quite a bit of extra money this way.
Of course, the illegals fight back by trying to work for cash.
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