llegal-immigrant crackdown looms
By Nicole Gaouette
Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — With the failure of immigration legislation in Congress this year, federal officials are planning a new crackdown on illegal immigrants that would force businesses to fire them or face stiff penalties. But the effort also could cause serious headaches for millions of U.S. citizens.
In the coming days, the Department of Homeland Security is expected to issue a rule outlining how businesses must respond when they receive notice that there are discrepancies in a worker’s tax records.
Many businesses simply ignore such notices now. Under the new rules, employees would have a limited time to contact the Social Security Administration to correct the information, or face termination.
The rule would transfer more responsibility for enforcement to companies — part of a Homeland Security effort to break through the complacency that some officials say the corporate world has about illegal workers.
The initiative follows warnings by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that his department would toughen enforcement if efforts to overhaul the flawed immigration system failed. The discrepancies detected in Social Security employment records can sometimes flag illegal workers on the job.
However, the planned crackdown has provoked concern because many of the errors are benign: misspellings or incorrect birthdates in records of citizens or legal immigrants. There are errors in the records of an estimated 12.7 million U.S. citizens alone, and workers rushing to correct these discrepancies could swamp Social Security offices, much as new travel regulations have paralyzed government passport facilities this year.
And businesses are complaining about bearing the burden of enforcing a flawed immigration system.
For the entire article go to www.latimes.com
Corra has been warning its clients for sometime that a crackdown on undocumented or illegal workers is imminent, and now it looks like its time has come. While Corra takes no stance, one way or the other, on the prickly immigration issue, you can rest assured that hiring undocumented workers is about to get a whole lot more expensive.
Companies of all sizes will whine and groan, but at the end of the day the law is the law and the different agencies will enforce it as they so choose. Stricter enforcement will certainly yield harsher penalties, and businesses who hire undocumented workers will find themselves facing finds, suspensions and even the prospect of having their business licenses revoked.
If you haven’t conducted background searches on your workers, Corra suggests that now is the time to do so. We suggest a Social Security Trace, which will help validate the number and determine if it legally belongs to your candidate. The criminal search is a must, and if they drive for you a Motor vehicle Driver’s report is necessary. Some of Corra’s clients also request a wants and warrants search, for fear your prospect may be picked up the day he shows for work.
So do yourself a favor. You will be saving money in the short and long run by running background checks. Check them out before you hire.
