Illegal immigrant workers often have fake IDs, advocate says

Carolyn Hileman* | February 27, 2007

MIDDLEBURY — Vermont farmers knowingly take fake identification documents when hiring illegal Mexican immigrants, but have no authority to challenge the papers’ veracity, an advocate for migrant workers says. “They have fake IDs,” said Cheryl Mitchell of the Addison County Migrant Workers Coalition. “The reality is that everyone knows these folks are undocumented.” Immigration experts say fake Social Security cards and other documents are routinely sold in immigrant neighborhoods along the U.S.-Mexican border, often using made up or stolen Social Security numbers. The result is that farmers pay the employer’s share of Social Security taxes, even though their employees won’t be able to collect benefits when they retire, Mitchell said.

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