September 2007 Archives
More than 8 million names of workers in the
Some people feel these mismatches are from illegal workers using fraudulent social security cards to qualify for legal employment in the
Despite sending out 140,000 no-match letters each year to employers, the Social Security Administration receives little follow-up to rectify this mismatch. In fact, more than $500 billion dollars of wage earnings came from individuals whose work names did not match. Some numbers were being used more than once in different states.
In order to get a no-match letter, an employer must have 10 or more employees whose social security numbers do not match the legal name assigned to the social security number.
The Department of Homeland Security plans to penalize
Of the 3 million illegal immigrants in
The expected result might replace the Gold Rush of 1849 as there will be a rush for vast opportunities for many Americans. There will be hundreds of restaurants, hotels, laundry shops, landscaping, construction, and cleaning services searching for legal workers.
But how many Americans will show up day after day to do the work? I suspect not many.
The idea is to end illegal immigration and illegal hiring practices - not deflate the economy.
Without a work visa program, who will fill 2 million jobs in
Immigration into the
The idea is run as quick and far as possible toward the finish line when the announcer turns around and calls out Green Light. Then after a few seconds, the announcer says Red Light and quickly turns back around to see who is still moving. Reaching the finish line by following the rules is declared the winner.
Though the
The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) made it against the law to knowingly hire or recruit illegal immigrants. It also required employers to complete the I-9 Employment Verification Form for every new employee to ensure proper worker documentation and immigration status were presented at the time of hire. Lastly, all illegal immigrants who entered the
Two decades later, employers rarely admit to knowingly hire an illegal immigrant. In fact, in almost every hire, workers presented the proper identification for gainful employment.
Now, how in the world are over 7 million people--almost 5 percent of the U.S. labor force--now classified as unauthorized workers?
A fake or stolen identification card did the trick.
In short, an eleventh hour Congressional change to the 1986 IRCA bill exempted businesses by intentionally including a simple word "knowingly" into the bill to differentiate the act of knowing and not knowing a much needed worker is illegal or not.
The major problem is not everyone can play Red Light, Green Light. Someone must be the enforcing mechanism. In a fair and competitive game, players may even help the announcer enforce the rules of the game by pointing at other players who continued running during the Red Light signal.
Poor employment laws are a magnet for illegal workers.
With more than two decades of a poorly designed game of Red Light, Green Light, many Americans want to see work opportunities offered to law abiding workers while others are penalized or disqualified for not following the rules of the game.
It is time for the
