DENVER -- Undocumented workers aren't stealing identities in order to get jobs in the U.S. nearly as frequently as they are forced by their employers to accept identities "on loan.” That's the finding of a new study from the University of Colorado Denver.

Report author and assistant professor Sarah Horton explained that some hiring supervisors take advantage of prospective workers and make loaned identity documents a condition of employment. Other employers just don't bother to verify a worker's legal identity.

"Workers, for example, told me that their labor supervisors, on the first day of their hire, wouldn't even check their documents,” Horton said. "They would simply ask them, 'What name are you going to work, and what number?' You know, actively turning a blind eye to the quality of the documents."

She said that attention paid to identity theft is likely to increase given Donald Trump's plans to deport millions of undocumented people with criminal records in his first term. Horton said she hopes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials will look at the bigger picture before charging workers as criminals.

In her research, Horton found some bosses supplied workers with documents belonging to friends or family as a way to boost the bosses' unemployment benefits and retirement accounts. She said the most frequent targets of forced identity loans are the most vulnerable: recent undocumented arrivals and teens.

"They are unlikely to speak up about unsafe labor conditions,” she said. "They are unlikely to speak up about exploitation. And very unlikely to speak up if they are injured in the fields."

Horton's research found larger companies that were frequently audited by the federal government were more likely to verify a worker's identity - while smaller contractors routinely accepted identification even when the photo didn't match the employee's face.



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ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Refugee advocates are cheering a decision by an immigration judge to terminate deportation orders for a Minnesota man, who had sought to clear a criminal conviction from his youth.

His supporters hope it renews interest in changing some key policies.

Ge Vang, a Permanent Legal Resident, came to the U.S. with his family from Southeast Asia as a young child. As a teen, Vang had an encounter with the law and took a plea deal, not knowing the ramifications tied to federal law changes.

Jenny Srey, senior manager for civic power for the Coalition of Asian-American Leaders (CAAL), said like so many other refugees, he became a productive member of his community, but eventually faced the risk of being separated from his wife and kids.

"Families are tagged with a label and not really looked at holistically or seen as how valuable they are in the community," Srey asserted.

After he was flagged for deportation, Vang's conviction eventually was vacated, with the backing of the Ramsey County attorney, through a post-conviction relief petition.

In the next legislative session, the group CAAL hopes Minnesota lawmakers reconsider a bill to expand the scope of the law, allowing people to seek a review of their conviction. The bill has bi-partisan support, but has been mired in a legislative logjam.

Srey contended it is important to add a new circumstance under the law, one centered around people facing deportation who felt their conviction stemmed from substandard legal advice.

She noted many individuals caught up in the system speak little to no English, and have to plead their case while their family is left in turmoil.

"Sometimes people have lost their jobs because they haven't been able to get the proper documentation in time because it takes a long time," Srey explained.

Supporters of the law change say deporting someone such as Vang to the country they were born in creates even more personal challenges because many of these refugees are long accustomed to life in America. They argued these individuals have little recollection of life in their native country, and would have trouble adapting, in addition to being separated from their family.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The deadline for public comments on proposed rule changes to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) is Nov. 29.

Advocates say it is important for students, employers and communities affected by the policy designed to protect immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, to submit their input.

Jazmin Ramirez, Latinx community organizer, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, pointed out among the changes proposed by the Biden administration, individuals could apply for deferred action or employment authorization separately, which would reduce the cost of the application process.

"People can apply for a work permit if they want to, but they don't have to do it," Ramirez explained.

Comments must be submitted online through a federal portal.

The move follows a decision earlier this year by a federal court in Texas, which ruled DACA was unlawful.

Ramirez noted while the federal government has appealed the court ruling, the proposed changes are an attempt to square it with existing legislation. She also emphasized while new applications are no longer being accepted, DACA renewals still are being processed.

The new rule would clarify deferred action granted under DACA would make a person, quote, "lawfully present" but would not authorize them to stay in the U.S. indefinitely.

Ramirez added although advocacy groups welcome the proposed changes, she believes they are only a stopgap solution.

"The only way that we are going to get a permanent solution, without the fear or the constant battling back and forth in courts that the program will end, will be through a pathway to citizenship," Ramirez contended.

Over the past decade, more than 835,000 individuals who arrived in the U.S. as children have been granted DACA status. A 2020 poll found more than 70% of Americans support giving DACA recipients a pathway to citizenship.

LAS VEGAS - Immigrants' rights groups are rallying all this week to get a path to citizenship into the Build Back Better reconciliation bill, which could get a vote in the next few days.

Advocates want Nevada's two senators to pressure Vice President Kamala Harris to ignore the Senate Parliamentarian's ruling, which said a pathway to citizenship is not a suitable addition to a reconciliation bill.

Erika Castro, organizing director for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, known as PLAN, thinks the United States should welcome longtime undocumented farmworkers and essential workers, as well as people who have DACA or Temporary Protected Status.

"So, this would actually allow us to live without the fear of deportation, be able to get better paying jobs, continue their education, and simply be able to raise their families with dignity and respect," she said.

The events are organized by the Undocu-council, which is part of the Nevada Immigrant Coalition, along with the groups PLAN, Make the Road Nevada and Mi Familia Vota. They held a vigil Tuesday night at the federal courthouse in Las Vegas. Their "week of action" includes vigils tonight and at 6 p.m. Thursday, plus a full protest rally at 5 p.m. Friday in the same location.

Castro says 'Plan B' would be to ask that the bill change the so-called "registry date" to 2010. This would allow undocumented people who arrived in the United States before 2010 to apply for a green card.

"Estimates are showing that if we were able to adjust the registry date," she said, "that would actually help between 5 million and 8 million people."

Castro added that a third potential solution would be to provide a parole system for immigrants in the reconciliation bill, but not a pathway to citizenship.