Illegal immigration is a major source of identity theft

Smithfield Foods, the focus of two ICE workplace enforcement raids last year, has joined the voluntary “ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers” (IMAGE) program which requires businesses to enroll in E-Verify.

Businesses joining the program will be deemed “IMAGE Certified,” a distinction that the Department of Homeland Security hopes will become “an industry standard.” Success in the effort, it believes, will help turn off the “jobs magnet” and reduce illegal immigration.

Dick Poulson, an executive vice president of Smithfield Foods, said that once the raids occurred, “We saw the writing on the wall. We think we’ve taken steps to protect our employees by hopefully checking credentials and seeing that we’re not vulnerable to people stealing identities.”

He raises an issue not mentioned often enough: in addition to undercutting wages and undermining the rule of law, illegal immigration also creates incentives for identity theft. Every year, countless numbers of Americans have their Social Security numbers stolen and their credit damaged by illegal aliens.

Identity Theft 911 estimates that in the illegal-immigrant heavy state of Arizona, 1.57 million people – a quarter of the state’s population – have been victims of identity theft over the last six years. A serious commitment to the enforcement of immigration law is necessary if we are serious about keeping identity theft in check.