Comments on: New DHS chief promises employers will be punished for illegal immigration

By: Innkeeper

Innkeeper — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:32:31 +0000

We do not pay empoyees under the table and efforts to hire non hispanics have been disappointing. Aid programs have created an environment where employees simply won’t show for 8 bucks an hour. The hispanics are reliable and hard working – but fake ID’s are so common and so easily attainable. We are located in a heavily populated hispanic community and they commonly don’t have car insurance or valid drivers licenses. Jay walking is a major problem, as is littering. I just want everyone to obey the law equally or face the same consequences. It appears to me that only those with money belts are being held accountable. Offenders are released, get a new ID with a different name and face no consequences what so ever. It appears to me that it is not about inforcing the law, but about revenue collection!

By: John

John — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:58:16 +0000

Susan,
I agree with you 100%. I work in a Protein Conversion Facility,(Rendering Plant). At times it is so difficult to find people willing to work in an environment such as ours is. The majority of our employees are Hispanic. We do the best we can to make sure that everyone we hire is legal to work in this country.

By: joan

joan — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:40:50 +0000

Love the scanner idea. Furnish us with it, we’ll do it ! I work very hard to verify anyone who comes through my office. We train our people on what to look for. WE go on line and check thorugh Social Security. It would be wonderful to be furnished with these scanners so we feel 100% positive on the results.

By: Angel M

Angel M — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:41:42 +0000

The tools are available: DHS has scanners that when you swipe the permanent resident card/passport, it verifies the document. If the government “really” wanted to they would supply all businesses with this technology.
Problem is that right now we can not as for certain documents, just what the new hire provides , which is almost always a fake ID and SS card, which are the easiest documents to forge.
Think about it, the SS card is the most valuable document to all of us and it is just printed on a piece of construction paper.

By: Angel M

Angel M — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:41:23 +0000

The tools are available: DHS has scanners that when you swipe the permanent resident card/passport, it verifies the document. If the government “really” wanted to they woyld supply all businesses with this technology.
Problem is that right now we can not as for certain documents, just what the new hire provides , which is almost always a fake ID and SS card, which are the easiest documents to forge.
Think about it, the SS card is the most valuable document to all of us and it is just printed on a piece of construction paper.

By: hambym

hambym — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:20:30 +0000

E-Verify does work.

I believe those who oppose it are either too lazy to key in the data and do any referrals, or afraid of losing the “I filled out the paperwork” (I-9) argument while employing illegal immigrants.

By: DD

DD — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:03:16 +0000

Yes, the I-9 system is the tool we are told to use in order to verify the person’s eligibility to work. However, the whole system is flawed. I agree that those who disregard the I-9 altogether should be punished. Reading between the lines of Napolitano’s statement, I get the feeling that she is planning to go after everyone, including those who are using the I-9’s. There are plenty of ways the Government could get better control of this situation without blaming business. All they would have to do is check the database. They could set up a national picture recognition software program that would catch people at the DMV. They could check SS #’s against their known database and flag them. In this age of having instant information at your fingertips, when they can and do monitor phone messages, emails, internet usage and every other form of communication, how can they claim to not have the ability to identify illegals?

As far as I’m concerned, when I check ID’s and I-9’s, I am obeying the laws in their current form. If they want me to do more, then give me the tools to do so.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:17:25 +0000

Angel, you are correct about e-verify and SHRM has an excellent stance on this. But I think many are missing the point here. This is not about whether or not we HR folks are bouncers or not, checking ID’s to see if they are real. The real problem is that many businesses are completely ignoring the I9 or e-verify process – they are not filling out ANY documentation because they know they can get cheaper labor by paying cash to employees WITHOUT paying payroll taxes. Illegal immigrants don’t perpetuate that problem, business owners do.

And oddly enough, the practice of “paying under the table” has been going on for years in American business culture. No one seemed to mind until illegal immigrants were the recipients of the money.

By: Angel M

Angel M — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:13:27 +0000

I have said many times, I-9’s and E-verify does not work if the person completing the forms does not know how to identify an false document.

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:52:33 +0000

Absolutely, Ed. Identity theft has never been OK.