The Myth of the Innocent ‘Undocumented Worker’ [OPINION]

There is no innocent illegal immigrant working honestly and paying taxes in America. However, there are plenty of aliens stealing American citizens' identities.

As every working American understands, it takes documentation to work as an employee of a company. Sure, there are occasional jobs that can be done for cash, but to work consistently a person needs to have federally accepted forms of identification.

Illegal aliens also understand they need these important documents to work in America. The criminal gangs that smuggle illegal aliens into the country and help them find employment in exploitive situations know all about the need for documents, too.

To get these valuable documents, the illegal alien has to steal the identity of an American citizen or use some forged government documents like a driver's license or a state photo identification card. The illegal alien knows they are using an identity that isn't theirs when they present the fraudulent documentation to their employer. At that point, the innocence is gone and the illegal alien is a felon.

An illegal alien can't be an "innocent undocumented worker" in America. They can be an illegal alien working illegally for cash and avoiding payroll taxes, or they can be a felon who has committed identity theft to get a job in America.

By one estimate, as many as 39,000,000 Americans have had their identity stolen by illegal aliens in just four years. According to an investigation by the Immigration Reform Law Institute, "from 2012 to 2016, there were 39 million instances where names and Social Security numbers on W-2 tax forms did not match the corresponding Social Security records."

There are plenty of American business owners who are participating in this scheme, too. The illegal aliens wouldn't bother buying these stolen identities from organized crime gangs if they didn't know they had a place to use the documents.

And the advocates for illegal aliens also know all about the theft of American citizens identities. They just choose to look the other way and parrot the myth of the innocent undocumented worker rather than telling the harsh truth about the felons they champion at the expense of American workers.

Chris McCarthy is the host of The Chris McCarthy Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Contact him at chris.mccarthy@townsquaremedia.com and follow him on Twitter @Chris_topher_Mc. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.