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Under President Obama, the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration helped illegal aliens to steal Social Security numbers and engage in identity theft. That practice hurt adults,children, and even the unborn, who sometimes receive identities that have already been stolen.

As President Trump mulls how best to construct a wall in years ahead, he should realize that he could make an immediate difference by ending this failed policy of his predecessor.

Since roughly 50 percent of SSNs have been issued by the Social Security Administration (about453 millionto date), there is a 50-50 chance that a made up SSN belongs to an American citizen or legal resident. In some cases, dealers use the stolen SSNs of American citizens and legal residents.

Illegal aliens generally prefer SSNs that have not yet been legally issued or, failing that, the SSNs that belong to American children since these numbers can be used for years without anyone knowing it except the IRS and the Social Security Administration.

However, the Social Security Administration does not remove unassigned SSNs used by illegal immigrants from its database. That means the numbers are eventually assigned to newborn, American infants. Neither theSocial Security Administrationnor theIRSnotifies American citizens when their or their childrens SSNs are used by others. In other words, the federal government has facilitated identity theft and protected the identity thieves.

This protection has extended to state and local law enforcement officials as well, including former Salt Lake Police ChiefChris Burbankwho wascaughtjustifying and laughing about the theft, despite the fact that their victims, including an estimated80,000Utah children, suffer serious harm.

According toa press releaseissued by the Utah Attorney Generals Office concerning a crime spree involving illegal aliens and identities stolen from victims under the age of 12, Identity thieves are no respecters of age. They will steal your children's ID, ruin their credit and hurt them in ways never thought possible before they can graduate from grade school. Children are vulnerable even if parents do everything right."

At the federal level, IRS Commissioner John Koskinentold Congressthat the use of stolen SSNs for employment purposes and to pay taxes is not the normal identity theft situation.

Some government agencies even create fraudulent SSNs for illegal aliens so they can obtain government benefits that they are not eligible to receive. For example, a Utah Medicaid officialdefended the practiceof state authorized workers creating fake SSNs so illegal aliens could enroll in the"Baby Your Baby"program, even though many of the randomly created SSNs could and did match the Social Security numbers of people in Maine and New Hampshireincluding the SSN of a deputy Police Chief.

Despite what the advocates of illegal aliens say and the stance taken by government officials, illegal immigration is not a victimless crime. When an illegal alien uses another persons SSN, the victims credit rating can be destroyed. The illegal aliens criminal records will attach to the victims SSN which creates serious problems whenever an entity runs a background check on the victim. The illegal aliens wages will be attributed to the victims SSN as will unpaid tax liabilities on those earnings. The IRS may then go after the victim for the payment of back taxes on income that the victim didnt receive.

Victims may also be denied means-tested benefits such as Medicaid or student financial aid because of the illegal aliens earnings, which are credited to the SSN. In addition, the victims medical records may be compromised with life threatening consequences. It is a long, drawn-out process to clear ones name.

President Trump should demand that the SSA and the IRS stop facilitating identity theft, and he should demand that Koskinen resign from the IRS if he is unwilling to do so. Those actions would contribute immediately towards "draining the swamp" in Washington.

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.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

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President Trump: Tell the feds to stop helping illegal aliens commit ... - The Hill (blog)