Documentation, Deportation, and Social Security Fraud

Immigration laws and policies have been in the news quite a bit over the last few weeks. The new Administration has been very vocal about deportation (removal), so we want to discuss a particular issue that non-citizens may face: using fraudulent documentation in order to get work here in the U.S.

Back in 2009, the Center for Immigrant Studies released an article titled “Illegal, but Not Undocumented.” In that piece, they reported that about 75% of immigrants who used alternative means to come to the United States use fraudulent Social Security Numbers in order to be eligible to work in this country. Things have not changed much in recent years, either. KWBU.com reported in 2015 that millions of immigrants use fake SSNs to file their taxes every year and that the IRS is fully aware of it.

The use of a fraudulent SSN is a felony, and any non-citizen caught using one could be deported immediately. However, under a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, it used to be that the federal government must be able to prove that the immigrant knew he or she was using a fraudulent Social Security Number; otherwise, that person could not be held accountable for committing a crime.

This may no longer be the case. The new Administration has changed the definition of a “criminal alien” to include “anyone who has engaged in ‘fraud of willful misrepresentation in connection with any official matter of application before a governmental agency,’ a category that included anyone who has used a false Social Security number to obtain a job” as well as “anyone who has crossed the border illegally… [and] anyone who has abused any public benefits program,” according to the New York Times. The change is already being implemented: a woman in Phoenix, Arizona is now facing removal from the country because she used a fraudulent SSN eight years ago, to obtain work.

The order can also affect people who have not actually been charged with a crime – merely suspected of one.

The most important thing you can do if you are a non-citizen charged with a crime is to contact a Nashville Immigration Lawyer like Perry A. Craft immediately. The laws may be changing, but you still have rights. To speak with an experienced immigration criminal defense attorney from the Law Office of Perry A. Craft, please call 615-953-3808, or fill out our contact form.