Undocumented Pinoy workers in US face more hurdles

WASHINGTON – Filipinos planning to come to the United States as tourists and overstay to seek employment may have to rethink their plans if a proposal to strengthen worker identity checks here comes into effect.

The federal government is exploring the possibility of using a major credit rating agency to verify the identity of US workers, a move that could make it far more difficult for undocumented immigrants to get jobs using stolen Social Security numbers.

The plan by the Department of Homeland Security is still preliminary and would probably require congressional approval, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The government already allows employers to check the legal status of employees using a system known as E-verify, but hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants beat the system by using bogus or stolen Social Security numbers.

E-Verify is an Internet-based system that compares information from an employee’s Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to data from US Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration records to confirm employment eligibility.

US law requires companies to employ only individuals who may legally work in the United States – either US citizens, or foreign citizens who have the necessary authorization.