Illegal Immigration News

Today's Illegal Immigration News Wednesday, May 2, 2012 FRAUD BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS DESTROYING CHILDREN’S LIVES Elton Gallegly wrote an excellent opinion piece for the Ventura County Stardetailing just how devastating illegal immigration is for the future of America’s young citizens through fraud and identity theft. Citing a recent Pew Hispanic Center study, forty percent of illegal immigrants are visa overstays who come from around the world and that percentage will only continue to rise just as illegal immigrants need for fraudulent documents to obtain employment will continue to rise. Gallegly also argues that border security is not enough to combat the victimization of our children. Ronald Mortensen, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, testified at a congressional hearing earlier this month, "The use of fraudulent documents for employment authorization and child identity theft go hand in hand because adults can use children's Social Security numbers for years without being detected.” He also pointed out that document fraud is “not a victimless crime.” For example, Jennifer Andrushko’s 3-year-old son had his identity stolen by an illegal immigrant, who then used it to fraudulently obtain work and run up unpaid medical bills, including for care at an OB/GYN’s office! But it gets worse – the Social Security Administration issued Andrushko’s son at  birth a Social Security number that had already been used for years by an illegal  immigrant AND the illegal immigrant who created the fake Social Security  number – corrupting this newborn’s credit, medical history, work history and  potential for being denied future benefits – was arrested and placed on an  immigration hold and yet released TWICE. She runs free while the innocent  little boy has a criminal record. As Gallegly wrote, this is not an isolated case. The Social Security Administration actuary estimates that 75 percent of illegal immigrants – roughly 9 million individuals – obtain and use a fraudulent Social Security number.  Children are 51 times more likely to be victims of identity theft than adults, according to a Carnegie Mellon CyLab survey, because the illegal use of their Social Security numbers can go unnoticed for many years. As Mortenson noted, "E-Verify can help dramatically reduce job-related, child identity theft because an employer using the system in good faith cannot legally enter a child's date of birth when the employee is obviously an adult." FARM FINED $1M FOR REHIRING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FOLLOWING FEDERAL AUDIT U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez on Tuesday fined Duvall, WA-based HerbCo International Inc. $1 million for firing, then rehiring illegal immigrants following a federal audit. The Seattle Times reports three company officials, including CEO Ted Andrews, pleaded guilty to mis- demeanor charges. HerbCo fired nearly 90 illegal immigrants following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement audit, but then rehired some of the workers, paid them cash and asked them to work at night when production began to drop. ICE learned of the rehiring scheme after being tipped off by an HerbCo employee who sent them photos of cash-filled envelopes. Should you wish to boycott this company, a list of their farms and products can be found here:http://www.herbco.net/.