A new bill aims to keep undocumented workers from stealing identities. Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Janesville) says his plan makes big changes without "big brother". "Illegal immigration and identity theft is often the same thing," says Ryan. He has introduced a bill called the New Employee Verification Act. The measure designed to replace the current paper based system which Ryan says is plagued with errors and fraud. Under his proposal people can "lock in" their identity by voluntarily submitting their fingerprint. The fingerprint information would be stored in decentralized databases under government oversight. Ryan specifies this differs from other "big brother" proposals which may include a national I.D. card and a government run central database.
He also says it would solve the problems brought up in the Social Security Administration's No Match policy. "No match" is when employers receive a letter from the S.S.A stating one of their workers has a social security number that does not match federal records. Companies can face legal consequence if they do not verify the person is, in fact, a legal worker. Ryan says this puts an employer in a "legal limbo". Ryan claims his bill would ensure employers the people they are hiring are, who they say they are. He believes it would be an effective way of eliminating forgeries on the part of potentially undocumented workers.
AUDIO: Brian Moon reports (MP3 :56)
