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On December 12, 2006 Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested or detained over
1,200 workers suspected to be illegal immigrants who
acquired jobs by stealing the identities and Social
Security numbers of United States citizens. Raids
were made at Swift and Co. plants in six locations
nationwide: Marshalltown, IA; Worthington, MN;
Grand Island, NE; Cactus, TX; and Hyrum, Utah.
Officials are calling this the “largest crackdown at a
single employer in American history.”
One immigration agent said they were there on a
search warrant as part of an ongoing investigation
into Swift and Co. that started several months before
the incident. Officials insisted the main focus of the
raids and arrests was to enforce immigration law, but
the investigation is primarily centered on identity
theft and its victims. Sam Rovit, CEO and President
of Swift, says that Swift has never “condoned the
employment of unauthorized employees, and has
never knowingly hired any.” Last month’s raids could
cost the company up to $30 million, Swift officials
said on Thursday, January 4, 2007.
Due to these recent raids, there is growing concern
among employers about how to make sure their new
hires are legal. Swift was using the federal
government’s Basic Pilot system, which cross-checks
the Social Security numbers and birth dates of
employees with other information through the
Department of Homeland Security. Questions are
being raised about how effective it is for catching
identity theft schemes. Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff recently called on Congress to make
some changes to the Basic Pilot system that would
allow for information sharing between the Social
Security Administration and Homeland Security.
What methods are employers currently taking to
ensure legality in hiring?
- Some are using the federal government’s
Basic Pilot system,
- the Social Security Administration’s Business
Services Online (BSO)
(http://www.socialsecurity.gov/bso/bsowelcome.htm)
,
- Social Security Administration by phone (up
to 5 SSNs at a time) 1-800-722-6270
- And Social Security Verification searches
like those offered by USABackgroundsearch.
com,
which include information such as if the SSN has
been issued yet, the owner is deceased, or if it is in a
valid range.
Sources: www.KCCI.com,
www.greeleytrib.com,
www.fortcollinsweekly.com
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