The video is part of the "The Price We Pay" series and investigates how undocumented immigrants in the United States obtain and use stolen Social Security numbers (SSNs). It explains that SSNs, originally created for Social Security benefit distribution, have become the primary identifier for jobs, loans, and education, making them a lucrative target. The documentary describes the methods of theft—mail theft, random generation, and a black‑market hub in Los Angeles’s MacArthur Park where a "two‑pack" of a green card and SSN can be bought for as little as $70. Federal privacy policies prevent agencies such as the IRS and SSA from notifying victims, leaving them to discover the fraud only after financial institutions pursue debts. Victims recount severe personal and financial consequences: denied unemployment benefits, criminal records, harassment, and the emotional toll of being treated as criminals by authorities. The segment highlights systemic failures, including the 1986 immigration reform that requires employers to record SSNs but offers no reliable verification, allowing employers to hire illegal workers who present falsified documents. Experts and advocates call for stronger SSN security features, better enforcement, and policy reforms to protect citizens’ identities. The overall narrative frames identity theft as a human cost of failed immigration policy, emphasizing both the scale of the problem (up to 9 million stolen identities annually) and the lack of effective governmental response.
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And we continue with our week-long series, The Price We Pay, examining the human cost of America's failed immigration policies. Tonight, illegal immigrants stealing American citizens' identities. It's a highly coveted 9-digit number that is the key to identifying every American citizen. Without it, you can't legally find a job, apply for college, or even get a loan. What started as a means to distribute Social Security benefits has become vital for identification purposes in the United States. But this valuable proof of identity is also easy to steal. Social Security numbers are often stolen by illegal immigrants who need them to get a job. But some illegals actually use only a stolen Social Security number. Others assume your entire identity. These are generally not isolated incidents, and stolen numbers are often rotated to avoid getting caught.
People who determine that their Social Security number has been compromised find out that on average their social is being used more than 30 times by illegal immigrants.
Stolen Social Security numbers are usually obtained through mail theft or random generation, but there's also a highly operative black market for buying and selling identities. One well-known hub is MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. An illegal alien can buy what's called, quote, a two-pack— a green card and Social Security number— for as little as $70. Federal law prohibits agencies from informing victims that their identity has been compromised.
The IRS and Social Security Administration have privacy policies which they must adhere to or enforce that, uh, prevent them from informing the victim.
Identity theft is not a victimless crime. According to the Federal Trade Commission, as many as 9 million American identities are stolen every year, mainly by illegals. Many victims sustain significant losses and in some cases inherited criminal records. Many will never be able to reclaim their compromised identities and live in fear of having their number sold to yet another illegal. We interviewed a few of these victims.
I still have a zero balance in my Social Security fund. You don't know who I am, what I've done. I've never been to college. I don't have a family. I don't— I don't have a history.
I went to apply for unemployment. This individual was collecting unemployment during the time that I was actually working. So they denied me.
They can take your kids away if they think that you're the one that's doing the identity theft. So I thought for sure they were coming in to get my kids.
Once victims realize their identities have been compromised, it's often up to them to track down the perpetrators.
The majority of people were focused here in the Texas area, Fort Worth. It actually was— there's a flea market there in the area that actually started selling my Social Security card.
They advised me that I had to go to every one of these cities and states where these crimes had been taken action at, where they were taken at, and that I had to file a police report there.
She was standing by her a housekeeping cart, and they seen her name tag said Barbara Bidlack.
Many victims are criminalized by the people who should be there to help.
I was actually asked to leave and physically removed from IRS offices and Social Security offices because my presence was disturbing other customers.
The judge asked me, um, how do I feel about sending someone back? She only wanted the same things that you want, you got.
Eventually, most victims have no choice but to give up.
I received so much hate mail, emails, phone calls. I got a lot of racist and prejudiced comments that really just were so disturbing. It got to a point where I really just didn't want to be involved anymore.
I was working, trying to support my family, thinking, "How can I leave my job and go hunt down this individual?" All too often, victims are unaware that their identities have been compromised until they get an astronomical bill.
It's only when financial accounts are opened up under that victim's name and that lender is seeking payment for those services that, that victim finds out.
In 1986, federal immigration reform mandated that employers record employees' names and Social Security numbers, thereby criminalizing the act of knowingly hiring illegal workers. Most employers have no way of verifying whether employees are who their documentation say they are.
Illegal aliens can simply buy these false documents, present them to an employer, and easily get around the law. And that's why, even though we've had these laws on the books for 20 years, they have rarely been enforced, and we continue to see illegal immigration skyrocket out of control.
Of course, some employers knowingly employ illegals.
He said, I did know the Social Security numbers weren't matching up. It's pretty obvious that they're all the same, but I needed cheap labor.
By now, some credit card companies and other lenders have security systems in place, and others are advocating for the government to protect its citizens and untangle the web of stolen identities.
Imposter fraud is something that the private sector can do a wonderful job at fighting, and that employers and others ought to be able to take advantage of.
What we need to do as a society is establish a Social Security card, which really is the universal identifier in American society, and make sure that it's got the kind of security features in it that prevent other people from simply using that identity document.
Once a Social Security number has been compromised, it's extremely difficult to get a new number, and the burden of proof is generally on the victim. Even if a new number is assigned, it is still linked to the original one. When a worker's information doesn't match the Social Security Administration's database, their Social Security earnings go into an electronic suspense file which has close to $600 billion in it. If the information is corrected, the earnings are reported back to the rightful file. But with illegal workers, this is usually not the case. Until there are laws in place that better protect the rights of American citizens to maintain their identities, some are taking extreme measures to protect themselves and their families.
I have a shredder, and then I shred everything, and then my brother takes it out, he burns it.
