Let's say that the "Utah" plan passes constitutional muster in the courts...and is adopted by several other states the problem is how to deal with discovered identity theft issues. The Utah bill does not address this, and many feel that identity thieves may get a pass and avoid jail time as a result of this new guest worker program.
But let's examine the following scenario. Joe came into the US undocumented. Works a minimum wage job. Decided that he does not wish to fear deportation any long. Applies for the guest work program and comes up with the 2500 to pay the fine for crossing our borders illegally. During the criminal background check, it is discovered that Joe is actually using the Social Security Number of a deceased individual. He never used this number to apply for credit. Never purchased a home or a car with it. Just used the number to work around the system. How will a situation like this be handled.
How will it look when Joe is arrested and put in jail for identity theft when he was just trying to beat the system and never ruined anyone's good name? The easy answer is to put Joe in jail anyway...he did the crime and he should do the time as well. Does Joe then get deported when his jail sentence is over?
One can not simply give Joe a pass either. That will not go over well should the public find out.
Dealing with the identity theft that goes along with illegal immigration is the pit fall of the Utah plan, and something that probably can not be overlooked. It would be better to do all that we can to stem the problem before the guest worker program goes into effect. It will be something that Congress will need to address at the Federal Level and something that the individual states will need to address as well. This is something that State and Federal officials will need to work together on to resolve.
But one thing is possible. Credit will reports will confirm whether or not Joe is telling the truth...that the card was only used for identification purposes and was never used to obtain credit. It is also likely that Joe did not get his fraudulent social security number by himself. If he can prove that he did not use his stolen identification to gain credit--that he did no harm to the stolen good name and he can help bring down the ring that gave him is identification, maybe a slap on the wrist is appropriate. Otherwise, it would be best to take care of all of the identity theft issues before the guest worker program goes into effect.
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