Gone are the days when illegal immigrant workers are ignored by the government. Since its 2003 realignment within the Department of Homeland Security, the new version of INS is ICE, or the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, and it has made major changes.
Last year, the changes were noted locally when ICE was involved in felony counts against the owner of Star Packaging here in Wisconsin. Other cases involved a Milwaukee landscaping company where an illegal immigrant purchased an identity from an employment agency, and the recent closings of two Asian restaurants, one in West Bend and one in Fond du Lac.
ICE is changing its approach to handling illegal workers, not only focusing on huge companies, but now on small companies. Instead of a slap-on-the-hands approach of its predecessor INS, ICE has taken the approach of working with other agencies and filing criminal cases against not only illegal immigrants, but also company owners, management and human resource personnel.
Charges include fraud, aggravated identity theft, tax issues, conspiracy charges and aiding and abetting charges.
This new approach has affected Wisconsin businesses individually, bringing harsh criticism by some and praise from others. Illegal immigration has become a political hot-button in the public arena.
The ideas and actions of people coming to this country to find work and a better life have made this country great. But there is a proper process to enter the country in a legitimate fashion, which some people ignore. While it’s hard to find fault in a person wanting to better their station in life, doing so without regard to our laws and anyone they may damage via identity theft in the process isn’t acceptable.
The people on one end of the spectrum want open borders and amnesty for everyone here today. They argue we cannot survive without the additional workers or that everyone deserves to come to our country. On the other end of the spectrum are those who want anyone here illegally ousted. They argue that this allows terrorists and criminals access to our country. They argue those who come here illegally burden our schools, hospitals and generous public benefits systems.
Whatever your perspective on the issue, the problem of immigration needs to be addressed.
When someone is here illegally but wants to work, they have a choice – work where no one asks questions or use falsified paperwork. While their intention may not be to damage the person or people they impact by stealing identities, the consequences for the victims and the country are high.
Those consequences vary in intensity and duration, but no one can argue that having your identity stolen is an experience they’d like others to have. Some of the experiences of the victims of identity theft include:
• Finding out that you cannot get employment because you already work there. Happened to a woman who applied for a job at Target. When she investigated, she found that she worked 37 other jobs as well, but never got those paychecks.
• Having the IRS charge you taxes for money you didn’t earn. One man got a $60,000 tax bill for money he didn’t earn, let alone was he able to pay.
• Discovering during a routine traffic stop by local police, that there was a warrant out for your arrest. One man in Janesville has been arrested multiple times for drug crimes he did not commit. Others have found everything from prostitution charges to felonies to murder committed in their name.
• Learning that you had an operation from a huge medical bill. One man got a collection notice from a billing agency for a hospital near Denver, Colo. The hospital wanted payment for surgery totaling $41,188.
Stealing and selling identities has become an underground network, much like illegal drug trafficking. ICE officials have thus adapted and changed their approach and where possible, worked with other federal as well as state and local agencies to apprehend not only illegal immigrants, but also those companies who hire them.
In particular, companies who exploit workers for additional monetary gain, those who act with impunity and have no regard for the laws, those who actively recruit, house and transport illegals and those who help criminal aliens.
In nearly all of the ICE raids in 2007, officials prosecuted not only the illegal workers, but also company owners and personnel. In most of those raids with significant numbers of workers detained, a portion of those arrested had other outstanding criminal activity aside from illegally working.
In Wisconsin, our own attorney general has issued guidance on how local law enforcement is handled, and the legislature has entertained bills associated with adding to our current immigration laws, as other states such as Arizona have stepped up their own laws.
While the political hot potato of illegal immigration will be ultimately decided by our politicians and judges, we must remember that those who use false identities and those who help them are not just trying to help someone get a job. Identity theft is a serious crime that impacts its victims for years, not just creating serious financial damage, but also damaging their reputation and good names.
