U.S. Attorneys declined to prosecute illegal aliens accused of using the Social Security numbers of dead people in order to work.
That finding is contained in a footnote in a recent audit released by the Social Security Administration’s office of the inspector general.
“In three cases, [the Social Security Administration’s Office of Investigators] confirmed that illegal aliens were using deceased numberholders’ names and SSNs to work,” the footnote reads. “But U.S. Attorneys in Arizona, Florida, and South Carolina declined prosecution.”
The fraudulent use of a Social Security number is a federal felony. The same is true for illegal aliens applying for work in the U.S.
Overall, the audit found over 6.5 million Social Security numbers for people over the age of 112 with no death records listed in a database called the Numident. Administration files were clearly not being updated properly, the inspector general determined, as it is believed that only a few hundred people 112 years or older are still alive in the U.S.
Some of the numbers were fraudulently used to open bank accounts, the audit found. Others were used by illegal immigrants seeking work.
Between 2008 and 2011, “employers made 4,024 E-Verify inquiries using 3,873 SSNs belonging to numberholders born before June 16, 1901,” the inspector general reported.
E-Verify is the system the Department of Homeland Security uses to ensure that immigrants are allowed to work legally in the U.S.
“These inquiries indicate individuals’ attempts to use the SSNs to apply for work,” the report reads.
The audit found that 34 deceased individuals’ numbers were being misused by individuals for work purposes.
And of those cases of fraudulent use mentioned in the audit, U.S. Attorneys, for some unknown reason, declined to press charges.
The report cited cases in South Carolina and Arizona.
One numberholder born in 1896 filed a “life claim” in 1958, at the age of 62. There were no earnings records for that numberholder from 1963 through 2006. But in 2007 and following years, an employer in South Carolina reporting paying wages ranging from $11,450 to $27,694 to someone using that number.
The case in Arizona was similar. A numberholder born in 1886 filed a “life claim” in 1953. No earnings were reported on that number from between 1956 and 2007. But between 2008 and 2012, an Arizona employer reported paying between $12,594 and $17,100 to whomever was using the number.
