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Illegal Immigration - Identity Theft - Letters to Public Officials

To date, CitizensForTaxFairness.org has requested Governor Huntsman, the Davis County School District and the Davis County Commission to help prevent identity theft and to ensure that taxpayer funds are not used to employ illegal immigrants.

Copies of letters sent to each entity can be found below. A representative for Governor Huntsman responded that there would be no changes to existing policy. Letters were delivered to the Davis County Commission and Davis School District on June 1. No response has been received.

May 8, 2006

Dear Governor Huntsman:

CitizensForTaxFairness.org is a voluntary, grassroots citizens group. A key element of our mission is to ensure that taxpayer funds are used only for legitimate purposes.

Like you, we want to ensure that our tax monies are not used by the state to hire illegal immigrants or to contract with firms that use illegal immigrant labor. We also do not want state economic development incentives to support companies that hire illegal immigrants.

Perhaps even more importantly, like you, we want to ensure that taxpayer funds and economic development incentives never contribute to identity theft – a felony – that occurs when illegal immigrants use Social Security numbers belonging to Utah’s men, women and children in order to obtain employment.

Therefore, we respectfully request that you do the following immediately:

Require state human resources officials to verify the employment eligibility and Social Security numbers of each new direct and contract hire. This can be done by using the U.S. government’s Basic Pilot program. This should not pose any problem since, it is our understanding, that a number of state agencies currently use the Immigration Status Verification for Benefit Issuing Agencies (SAVE) program. The SAVE Program enables federal, state, and local government agencies and licensing bureaus to obtain immigration status information they need in order to determine a non-citizen applicant's eligibility for many public benefits. The SAVE program also administers employment verification pilot programs that enable employers to quickly and easily verify the work authorization of their newly hired employees. (Information on SAVE and the Basic Pilot can be found at: http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/services/SAVE.htm#one).

Require anyone contracting with the state of Utah to utilize the Basic Pilot Program or the services of a private sector reporting agency that verifies employment eligibility and Social Security numbers as a pre-requisite to obtaining taxpayer funded work. Failure to verify employment must result in cancellation of the contract with penalties.

Require that all recipients of state economic development incentives utilize the federal government’s Basic Pilot Program or enter into an agreement with a private sector firm to verify employment eligibility and Social Security numbers of each and every new hire. Furthermore, the agreement should contain a provision requiring the recipient of taxpayer or other state provided incentives to immediately repay the total value of any incentives previously received and to forfeit all future incentives if the recipient fails to verify employment eligibility and Social Security numbers.

Require the state, its contractors and recipients of state economic incentives to refer anyone using a Social Security number or other document that does not belong to them to the appropriate law enforcement officials for prosecution.

These steps are needed at this time, because as reported by the Salt Lake tribune recently, ID theft is the No. 1 runaway U.S. crime. A major driver of this crime that, according to Assistant Utah Attorney General Richard Hamp, impacted 5% of Utah citizens in 2000, are illegal immigrants who need Social Security numbers in order to obtain jobs. All too often the victims of these identity thieves are Utah’s children. In fact, in a 2005 press release, the Utah Attorney General’s office stated that,

“five people have been charged---and hundreds more may be charged----with stealing and forging social security numbers belonging to [Utah] children….The ongoing investigation has uncovered an alarming new crime spree involving illegal aliens and identities stolen from victims under the age of 12.” (emphasis added)

Attorney General Shurtleff told the public that:

"Identity thieves are no respecters of age. They will steal your children's ID, ruin their credit and hurt them in ways never thought possible before they can graduate from grade school. Children are vulnerable even if parents do everything right." http://attorneygeneral.utah.gov/PrRel/prjuly152005.htm

Child identity theft was the subject of a KSL-TV report that received national attention on NBC nightly news. As reported by KSL-TV: http://real.ksl.com/video/slc/0/75/7596.ram

He became her, and when no one would undo the mess, they called us. Could what happen to this two-year old, happen to your child?

To an identity thief, they're the perfect victims, a child too young to check their credit. This is an investigation into how a two-year-old girl became a 38-year old man.

Arrested! Felony Charges! Booked in jail. Our investigation closed. Where it begins exposes a growing problem for parents of young children.

Camber Lybbert, Tyler's Mother: "She's basically got two loans out on her social security number. And I believe a credit card out, she's got 15-thousand dollars in debt."

On paper, two-year old Tyler Lybbert doesn't exist, 38-year old Jose Tinoco does. During our three month investigation, we watched Tinoco go about life in Orem. Meanwhile, in Draper, a mom fell deeper into her daughter's identity theft.

Camber Lybbert: "He's registered everything to her number, so he's pretty much become her without the name. "

The theory is that little Tyler was born into ID theft, her number randomly made up before she was conceived. ID thieves play the odds. Half of all social security numbers haven't been issued. They make one up and put it to use. Later, a newborn is assigned that number and inherits the debt and red tape.

At a recent symposium on identity theft, Utah State Representative Julie Fisher told those in attendance about how her son’s credit was damaged by an identity thief – a certain Alberto Gonazles.

These are not isolated incidents and Utah Assistant Attorney General Richard Hamp stated that 90% of the cases of identity theft he prosecutes involve illegal immigrants.

As reported in the May 3, 2006, Salt Lake Tribune:

According to Ronald Ingleby, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General in Utah, real Social Security numbers and accounts are being created, or purloined, by undocumented workers to circumvent employers' efforts to certify their legality. http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_3778628

In addition, Mr. Ingleby said that ninety-eight percent of Social Security-related ID theft cases involve people who use their own names but use someone else’s Social Security number. Mr. Ingleby further stated that millions of Social Security numbers are being used by illegal immigrants.

It is imperative that your Administration acts decisively to protect Utahns from this Social Security number only identity theft. If a person who steals a Social Security number cannot use it to find a job with the state, its contractors or the recipients of economic development incentives because the state requires employment verification that protects all of Utah’s men, women and children from identity theft.

We appreciate your willingness to implement employment verification safeguards and to set the example for all other employers in the state of Utah. Of course, should the state fail to verify employment or to require that those benefiting from taxpayer funds do likewise, your administration will be in the unenviable position of allowing taxpayer funds and other incentives to be used to subsidize illegal immigration and to encourage and facilitate the theft of your fellow citizens’ identities.

We thank you in advance for protecting all Utahns including our children and grandchildren from identity theft and for ensuring that taxpayer funds and state provided economic development incentives are never used to facilitate or encourage the employment of illegal immigrants.

Sincerely,

Ronald W. Mortensen

Co-Founder, CitizensForTaxFairness.org

Hugh Williams

Co-Founder, CitizensForTaxFairness.org

June 1, 2006

Superintendent Bryan Bowles, Ph.D.

Davis School District

Farmington, Utah 84025

(Hand Delivered)

Dear Superintendent Bowles:

CitizensForTaxFairness.org is a voluntary, South Davis County grassroots citizens group. A key element of our mission is to ensure that taxpayer funds are used only for legitimate purposes.

Like you, we want to ensure that our tax monies are not used to hire illegal immigrants or to contract with firms that use illegal immigrant labor.

Perhaps even more importantly, like you, we want to ensure that taxpayer funds never contribute to identity theft – a felony – that occurs when illegal immigrants use Social Security numbers belonging to Utah’s men, women and children in order to obtain employment.

Therefore, we respectfully request that you do the following immediately:

Require district human resources officials to verify the employment eligibility and Social Security numbers of each new direct and contract hire. This can be done by using either the U.S. government’s Basic Pilot program or the services of a private firm such as Western Reporting or Reliable Screening. Use of the Basic Pilot program should not pose any undue hardship since across the country 6,200 employers currently use it. In addition, it is our understanding, that a number of Utah state agencies currently use the Immigration Status Verification for Benefit Issuing Agencies (SAVE) program. The SAVE Program enables federal, state, and local government agencies and licensing bureaus to obtain immigration status information they need in order to determine a non-citizen applicant's eligibility for many public benefits. The SAVE program also administers employment verification pilot programs that enable employers to quickly and easily verify the work authorization of their newly hired employees. (Information on SAVE and the Basic Pilot can be found at: http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/services/SAVE.htm#one).

Require anyone contracting with the school district or receiving funding from the district to utilize either the Basic Pilot Program or the services of a private sector reporting agency such as Western Reporting or Reliable Screening to verify employment eligibility and Social Security numbers as a pre-requisite to obtaining taxpayer funds. Failure to verify employment eligibility and Social Security numbers must result in cancellation of the contract and funding with penalties.

Require the district, its contractors and recipients of district funds to refer anyone using a Social Security number or other document that does not belong to them to the appropriate law enforcement officials for prosecution.