The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is trying to come with a new system that would make it harder for illegal immigrants to fake legal working status, reports The Washington Post.
Currently, employers can check workers’ legal status using E-Verify (which, as of Monday, allows individuals in the District of Columbia, Virginia, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and Mississippi to check their own employment eligibility status before applying to jobs, as part of a pilot program, according to DHS). But according to the Post, illegal immigrants skirt the system by using fake or stolen Social Security numbers. Thus, the department is contemplating using a credit rating giant, such as Equifax, to make it especially difficult to prove legal identity.
From the Post:
If workers had to use the verification systems in place to apply for a mortgage or a bank account, they would not only have to present a Social Security number to an employer, but also answer questions about their personal history and financial background to establish their identity.
[…]
Alejandro Mayorkas, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the government planned to use the initiative to evaluate how the third-party verification system worked, with a view to making the tool available to employers.
Private identification systems might reduce Social Security number fraud, but Mayorkas said he has concerns about how the federal government would deal with errors in third-party databases.
The plan is still in the beginning stages and might need congressional approval.
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