As a potential parting gift for the next administration, President
Bush is attempting to revive a stalled crackdown on businesses that hire
illegal immigrants.
If the federal court agrees, the government could begin mailing notices to as many as 140,000 businesses regarding suspect Social Security numbers used by an estimated 8.7 million employees. Businesses will either work to correct these discrepancies, in the case of legal workers, or be forced to fire illegal workers within a 90 day time period.
Critics of this plan state that the Bush administration has failed to take into account the potential cost of this plan to small businesses, including the severe penalty of subjecting businesses to criminal liability for first time offenses.
I happened to work for a manufacturing company that received a letter from the Immigration services indicating that a number of Social Security numbers did not match. As a result, this business, which had no idea it employed so many illegal employees, lost over 400 employees within a two week time span.
Operations ceased to a minimum; morale dipped and the company struggled to make ends meet. Now, many would say that the company had a responsibility to ensure that they were hiring legal employees, but let's be fair here...anybody can get a fake social security card. Just walk down Times Square in New York City. Fake social security cards are everywhere! The federal system is so backlogged, that an employee could submit a fake social security card and remain "under the radar" for years!
Critics of the Bush Administration argue that it is unfair to unload this type of mess onto a new administration that will already have to deal with the economic crisis on opening day. I agree to some extent, but let's be real...the issue of illegal employees is the pink elephant in the room that no one wants to touch. Sooner or later, something concrete will have to be done to curb this issue of illegal employees.
