It’s time for DHS to stop helping ‘Dreamers’ hide their felonies

At one time, the role of government was to protect its citizens. All too often that is no longer the case. An example is the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its practice of helping illegal aliens to cover up their illicit use of Social Security numbers.

Guidance provided by USCIS, the DHS agency that administers the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, explicitly instructs “Dreamers” — illegals brought to the U.S. as children — to refrain from listing any illegally used Social Security numbers when filling out Form I-765, or the application for employment authorization.

{mosads}This guidance is found on the USCIS website, appearing once in a section on “frequently asked questions.” The department states, “When you are filling out a Form I-765 as part of a DACA request, question 9 is asking you to list those Social Security numbers that were officially issued to you by the Social Security Administration.”

In other words, the department is instructing illegal aliens not to disclose numbers that they have illegally used. The agency provides similar guidance to employers.

According to the guidance, and the department’s help center, “You may, as you determine appropriate, provide individuals requesting deferred action for childhood arrivals with documentation which verifies their employment. This information will not be shared with ICE for civil immigration enforcement purposes pursuant to INA section 274A unless there is evidence of egregious violations of criminal statutes or widespread abuses.”

USCIS further instructs employers to hide the felonies that Dreamers commit when they completed I-9 employment forms by replacing the original, perjured I-9 forms with a second set of I-9 forms containing the Dreamers’ newly issued Social Security numbers.

The guidance adds, “Deferred action recipients who are currently working [illegally] may provide updated documentation to their employers. An employer receiving updated documentation from an employee should review the employee’s previously completed Form I-9 and….complete a new I-9 form when any of the following information has changed in Section 1 of the previously completed Form I-9: The employee’s name, Date of birth, [perjured] Attestation, [illegally obtained] Social Security number, if a [illegally obtained] social security number was provided on the previously completed Form I-9.”

Perjury, the use of false Social Security numbers, and identity theft are among the felonies that DHS is asking Dreamers to conceal. They are all crimes that have hurt real Americans. Those have included a 9-year-old boy who was denied Medicaid because wages earned by an illegal alien were reported on his Social Security number; a 13-year-old girl who was unable to claim dependent status because she supposedly made too much money; and a two year old who was forced to declare bankruptcy after incurring thousands in credit card debt.

President Trump promised during his campaign that his administration would always put America and Americans first. He should begin by honoring his campaign promise to deport “Dreamers,” and instruct DHS to immediately start holding them and their employers accountable for engaging in criminal activity. 

This is one campaign promise that should not be broken.

Ronald Mortensen is a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies(@wwwCISorg), a nonprofit group that advocates for legal immigration. He holds a Ph.D from the University of Utah and previously worked as a Foreign Service Officer.

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