Identity Fraud by Illegal Aliens Ignored by the Federal Government

Summary

Federal authorities estimate that more than one million people in the United States, many of them illegal aliens, are using Social Security numbers belonging to someone else. However, government agencies choose to look the other way, allowing Americans, including young children, to be victimized by identity thieves.

This week, Ben Weingarten joins Parsing Immigration Policy to talk about a report on ID theft he co-authored for RealClearInvestigations.com, where he is deputy editor. Weingarten discusses with Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies and host of the podcast, various steps the federal government can take to address this widespread fraud.

The Earnings Suspense File is an accounting tally kept by the Social Security Administration of wages reported on W-2 forms, where the information does not match the SSA’s records. Weingarten said some of these mismatches are legitimate, such as in the case of a name change, but the tenfold increase in the total wages recorded in the file is in large part due to the explosion of the number of illegal aliens in the U.S., many of whom are working on the books with SSNs that are not their own.

Weingarten says, “Government agencies not only know that there is a substantial amount of identity fraud going on in the workplace, but they want to turn the other way on it. They believe they have an incentive to turn the other way on it.” Federal officials, including members of Congress, Weingarten says, argue that this identity theft is actually beneficial because illegal immigrants contribute to federal tax revenue. Meanwhile, they ignore the American citizens – typically Hispanics or children, or both – who are victims of this identity fraud by illegal aliens.

In his closing commentary, host Mark Krikorian calls attention to the increased number of illegal aliens dying at the border since President Biden entered the White House. The Biden administration’s lack of consistent enforcement, which Krikorian calls “open-ish borders”, has invited illegal immigration and enticed illegal entrants to take foolish, often deadly, risks.

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Guest

Ben Weingarten is the Deputy Editor of RealClearPolitics.com.

Related

Willful Blindness: Feds Ignore Illegal Alien ID Theft Plaguing Americans as U.S. Coffers Fill

Drowning Deaths and Rescues Reveal the Ignored Perils of Biden’s Border Policies

IRS and Congress Ignore Job-Related Felonies – as Long as They Are Committed by Illegal Aliens

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Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".