#UndocumentedImmigrants #Immigration #Enforcement #WorkplaceUndocumented #USImmigration
Undocumented immigrants living in the United States without lawful immigration status often navigate various challenges to remain undetected. From securing employment to accessing basic services, these individuals employ creative strategies to blend into society without drawing unwanted attention.
## Undocumented Labor Market:
Undocumented immigrants often find work in industries that do not require an official Social Security number for employment. This includes sectors such as agriculture, construction, domestic work, and hospitality. While some employers may turn a blind eye to an individual’s immigration status, others may knowingly hire undocumented workers due to demand and cost considerations.
## Use of Fake Documents:
To navigate the requirements of formal employment, some undocumented immigrants resort to using counterfeit documents or stolen identities. This allows them to secure jobs, pay taxes (using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number), and conduct daily banking activities without raising suspicion. However, such practices come with legal risks if discovered by authorities.
## Living in the Shadows:
Undocumented immigrants often lead a life in the shadows, avoiding interactions that could expose their status. This includes limiting interactions with government agencies, avoiding law enforcement encounters, and being cautious around unfamiliar environments. For many, building a network of trusted individuals within their community provides crucial support and protection.
### Human Dignity and Survival:
At the heart of the undocumented immigrant experience is the pursuit of basic human dignity and survival. These individuals often face challenges accessing healthcare, education, and social services due to their status. Despite these obstacles, many contribute to their communities, enriching the fabric of society through their hard work and resilience.
In conclusion, the path of undocumented immigrants living undetected in the United States is fraught with challenges and uncertainties. By navigating the complexities of the labor market, using fake documents, and living in the shadows, these individuals carve out a life for themselves and their families. However, the underlying quest for acceptance, dignity, and belonging drives their resilience and determination to overcome obstacles in pursuit of a better future.
Most undocumented labor in the US is farm labor, and the lack of documentation is used to get away with underpaying them as they know they can’t pursue any legal protections.
Farm labor is also the vast majority of human trafficking into and out of the US.
It’s common for US agriculture companies to bring in a ton of undocumented labor, hold their passports to prevent them from leaving, keep them in a compound for the duration of the season and then bus them back to Mexico with just enough of a payout to make them willing to do it again the next year.
Many jobs that aren’t human trafficking operations just pay under the table. You just verbally agree to a wage with the employer and they give you cash. This is common in restaurant settings with both documented and undocumented workers. A lot of workers also just hang out outside hardware stores or similar places, agree to a flat rate in cash with whoever is doing a construction project, and get in the car with them to the worksite.
For children, in many states (for their protection) it is illegal for the school system to even ask the immigration status of a minor.
>Don’t you need a social security number to gain lawful employment, pay tax, do everyday banking?
Well yeah, but these people don’t work lawfully and don’t pay taxes. That’s sort of the whole problem.
That said, some people do use other people identify to work or find other ways to work legitimate jobs. At any rate, it’s not like anyone is really looking for these people so they don’t exactly have to hide that well.
The US has a rather complicated relationship with undocumented immigrants. It is pretty well known that they’re an essential part of the food supply chain. Also they do a lot of work as construction labor etc. As for children, it is understood that they are deserving of an education so registration is made rather easy, sort of “no questions asked” policy.
Because the US is very decentralized in many respects and there are restrictions or simply bureaucracy involved in information sharing between government agencies, people can sort of get by. In the US, most government services are provided at the state or even local (county/city) level whereas immigration and border patrol are federal functions. And the state and federal governments tend to guard their turf.
The US doesn’t hate illegal immigrants, they (not the people exactly) love them. Cheap labor they can pay like shit and mistreat and abuse. Think farms, especially in more right wing states like Texas. Ironic as hell, but the whole “illegal immigrants bad” thing is mostly just a political tool used to rile up a certain type of voter. In fact they will try and stop individual immigrants from slipping through but make it easier for large companies to bring them in in large numbers where they can be more easily controlled. For the vast majority of Americans we literally don’t notice them.
>Don’t you need a social security number to gain lawful employment, pay tax, do everyday banking?
You do need a SSN to gain “lawful” employment, however there are plenty of jobs out there that pay cash and specifically target undocumented workers for employment. Farming/agriculture is probably the #1 culprit, while construction/contracting is probably next in line.
They pay cash so that (a) there’s no paper trail and (b) they can pay less than the state/federal minimum wage.
You do not need a SSN to pay taxes. You only need a SSN to file (and pay) ***Income Taxes***. Since these migrant workers are being paid cash under the table, there are no taxes being deducted from their wages and they have no need to file a tax return at the end of the year.
Undocumented workers still participate in the economy though and pay all sorts of taxes. If they rent their home, a portion of their rent is being used by the landlord to pay the property taxes. Whenever they make a purchase at a store, they are paying sales tax. Whenever they buy gas, they’re paying a fuel tax (if the state has one). You do not need to be a citizen (or legal resident) to obtain a drivers license in most states.
Many (most?) undocumented people who are working for less than minimum wage likely do not have a bank account though and conduct their financial transactions with cash or with gift cards that can be purchased with cash.
That said, it is possible to open a bank account without a SSN. A passport is acceptable and so is simply having an ID card issued by your country of origin.
It’s really not *that* difficult to live in the US without documentation for multiple decades or longer. The vast majority of undocumented immigrants that we hear about in the news are the ones who get caught commiting crimes, but they make up an extremely small percentage of the actual undocumented population. Everyone else is just getting up everyday and going to work, trying to live a better life than wherever they came from.
They steal the identity of dead people and use their SS# to work and live. Many employers don’t bather with a real background check especially smaller mom and pop restaurants small farmers etc. worked with a number of fry cooks whose drivers license said their name was something like Eugene but went by Rico or something else. Every now and again ICE would pull up round up people with phony documents and send them back home they’d chill there for a couple months then make their way back here with yet another set of papers.
Some people talking about jobs that just pay in cash, some of them do get paid and do declare their income, what you need is a TIN number and you can pay your taxes normally which is mostly what happens in the construction industry, in the agriculture industry they do get paid mostly under the table
Some ways of making money wouldn’t even be illegal. If you knew how to work on cars you could buy cars in disrepair fix them up and make a living reselling them. You wouldn’t have broken a law doing that. I read one story about undocumented man and woman who made a living selling recycling they pick up on the roadside.
You don’t even have to be [documented to own property.](https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=immigration%20status%20to%20own%20property&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5)
The most common way people become undocumented is to overstay a visa. So people will come, not leave, and then work under the table.
America has a large industry of agriculture workers who get paid under the table, use check cashing services instead of banks, and essentially live legally off the grid. They’re never able to own homes or do anything that would help them advance.
This is what DACA was supposed to help. If there’s a kid who was raised here, it’s better to let them become productive members of society than to leave them as easy pickings for organized crime recruitment
As someone with a ton of undocumented friends, I’ll just say it aint easy. Almost all of them seek employment in nail salons and/or restaurants. Paid in cash and less than minimum wage. Some of them came to the country only when they were one or two years old with their parents being in their mid twenties at the time. Almost all of the ones I know have went to college and are striving for higher education despite the challenges. Thankfully some with DACA are able to attain employment.
Idk as a kid I never looked at it this way growing up in the most diverse part of Chicago and going to public school. Now that I’m an adult (24), it’s just so messed up seeing the struggles people have to go to have the same opportunities.
The people shouting the loudest about immigration live in houses built by, and eat fruit picked by, the “damn immigrants”. What would Walmart do if it had to pay Chad and Tanner a real wage to pick fruits and load trucks? 10 Mexican dudes built every house in my neighborhood. My Karen neighbor joked that they prolly shared one driver’s license. But she wasn’t complaining when they built the pool in her backyard for half what was quoted by our builders.
I took them coolers of water and Modelo while they built my house.
You have a lot of answers about the employment but not about the schools. The school really doesn’t ask for more than an address when you enroll your kid. In rich districts they might look into it more as sometimes parents lie about their kid’s address to get a better education, but almost all undocumented children are in poor neighborhoods.
Fifty years ago the Supreme Court said undocumented kids could go to public schools. Opponents love to point out this injustice but basically it’s just what’s practical: schools don’t have the means or resources to figure out the immigration status of families and communities are better off with kids in school than on the street
Lots of undocumented immigrants have fake ssn documents. They pay income taxes but never get refunds or social security. If they own a business, and many of them do, they pay taxes for the business. This often helps them apply for legal status.
How many times have you had to prove your citizenship? That’s how. This isn’t something that’s checked every few weeks. They can work jobs that don’t ask and get by just fine.
A big part of it is that a lot of undocumented immigrants aren’t what you think of. A huge number of them came legally, then they accidentally allow their green card to expire. They’re illegal for like a week while they get the paperwork sorted, and then they’re legally again. But they were technically illegal and certain political entities can *technically* add them to the statistics of undocumented immigrants they like to try to scare people with.
I am a legal immigrant to the US. When I moved here I was impressed you don’t need any sort of ID for anything. Cell phone line? No ID needed. Bank account? (not all banks) No need for ID. Driver’s license? No need to prove any sort of legal status. I even know illegals from Mexico that have started their own business. How? No idea. But I am sure they give jobs to other people and pay taxes.
I am from Chile, and FUCK ME, you need a SSN for everything! Health, taxes, payroll, driver’s license, passport. That number dictates your life. I am by no means defending that system better. In a sense it sometimes does feel like big brother.
Still, when US politicians want to crack on illegal immigration they never mention the “system” that actually allows undocumented persons to stay here. I don’t think they want to change that, because -deep down- they know that undocumented people do put a lot into the US economy and most all of them work their butts off to provide for their families.
I worked with some undocumented when I was in the poultry industry. They get hired with work visas and then just stay when the visa expires. Unless they get arrested or have to appear in court or even ticketed, they feel they are safe. They keep a very low profile life all times and this means their children as well.
They do get WIC but no other government subsidies or government help.
They get paid the same, same wages, but they actually have a bigger paycheck because certain taxes and SSI dont come out. Once they become a citizen, and for many that is the ultimate goal, then they pay into those things.
People will do anything to ensure their children have a better life.
In the US, the police cannot stop you if they don’t already suspect you of doing something illegal. So if you lay low, you can avoid detection for a long while
They don’t, they get the royal treatment. Go to an airport in Texas right now and you’ll see them running around the terminal with a manilla envelope full of paperwork and a prepaid credit card. Completely wide open at the border
Worked with several food runners and cooks in restaurants who were undocumented workers and some had multiple social security cards. If one failed some check, they’d pull out a new one and their pay checks often had a name very different than what they went by.
You are missing a lot of key things. You don’t need a social to file income taxes. You need an itin number. “Individual tax payer identification number” The majority of Undocumented get a fake social and fake green card made. They use these to get employment. Employers arent required to check if socials matches the name so any social will work unless they have e-verify and irs doesn’t check fake social vs itin.
Many immigrants do file taxes but will never get any social security money back. They do so I hoping they can get papers eventually one day. If Republicans were serious about immigration they would have passed National e-verify by now to check names vs social security numbers and hold employers responsible. They don’t because the whole us economy would crash if we just literally fired or try to deport every undocumented. It’s all a game in both sides and majority of voters have no idea how it works and why these people came here even though they are coming for different reasons now. Civil unrest, corruption, cartels, climate change which US played a huge role in.
I have only worked in agriculture and the restaurant biz and have managed these places and am friends with many undocumented. I understand the system. The nicest people I have met in my life and pretty much taught me my skills.
So what I’m saying is the system is designed to make it easy for the undocumented live and work here and we do need them as they are us and and half the population acts as if they aren’t even human. But that’s becoming more popular lately I guess
Stolen documentation or they use a passport to start a business. A lot of things just need a passport. Others don’t require and just pay cash.
I live by a hog slaughter plant in rural America. A lot of the reason that illegal immigrants go undetected is because employers are not held responsible for hiring illegals and often a company’s payroll and employee status is never checked. Town was full of illegals that somehow got steady jobs. I heard this from people from various positions from managers, hr and payroll over 15 years. On how they gained employment. It’s more legit now than it was early 80s and 90s.
1. They pay with cash. That cash could come from the fund for services or supplies something they could say “we used this service or used up this product.” When, if ever they were questioned about it.This was the brick and motor places that you would think wouldn’t be able to do this. The other favorite trick is to hire illegals through a contracted company so they could play ignorance about hiring illegal immigrants. A couple farmers I knew would pay themselves alot more, along with a spouse and young kids. So he would have 3-5 people worth of good salaries, but pay close to 15-20 at below min wage.
2. Use of false documents. It’s not hard to find fake information such as birth certificates, social security cards etc. It is however hard to find GOOD fake documents. But it doesn’t really matter to the employers, they can feign ignorance and say they didn’t know the documents were fake and though all provided documents were legit. Who cares if the social is 123-456-7890, must of been an error in payroll right? Or even duplicate numbers.
But the largest reason that they go undetected is cause we don’t spend the resources on it. We are much less automated than we could be for things like payroll and fraud detection. Also, frankly the agriculture/construction sector want illegal workers for many reasons. First one. You can pay them less. If they complain threaten them with deportation.
2 injuries on the job? Threaten them with deportation. If they even mention workers comp or sueing, threaten to deport. I knew a wonderful immigrant with one hand because he got his sleeve caught in an auger andi t pulled him before the power was shot off.. He got a measly 5k for it. He said it was the best possible outcome he could hope for. So damn sad.
Not sure how much of this is going on now
Hello, UK,
If people were for real about illegal immigration it’s very easy to solve. Put all employers employing illegals in jail. The big bosses that is. That’ll never happen. They’re allowed to hire illegals. It’s very easy to do. Direct deposit onto pay cards. That kind of thing that doesn’t require an SS card to be vetted at a bank. It’ll never happen because the USA has been dependent on foreign labor especially for agricultural.
A lot are self employed, or work under the table. It’s also not too hard to get a stolen social security number.
And you definitely don’t need to be a citizen to go to school.
They are a great source of exploitable labor, so there is no real incentive to document and detect them.
Because its easy to build an identity over a period of time.
You just need to start of with a basic ID or a semi legit Birth Certificate. These can be had on the Dark web for less than $100
They call that building a “legend”
When I worked in Virginia for 18 months to learn Amish Carpentry techniques I met many visa jumpers, I met this South African guy who had been living there for 20+ years and told me it wasn’t difficult remaining invisible
There are many millions of people that live without access to banking for various structural reasons, and therefore there’s an entirely separate system of exploitative companies to serve the unbanked.
A lot of undocumented immigrants work under a stolen social security number. It’s not that hard to get one.
Or they work for someone who pays under the table, so childcare, a lot of farmer or laborer jobs, some restaurant jobs.
Going to college as an undocumented person is not at all easy or possible. It can also be pretty much impossible to bank, etc.
I live in Texas. It’s huge. One of our major national parks (Big Bend) has no wall, but they do have a checkpoint for immigrants about 30 miles north of the border on the road. I anticipate if an undocumented person were determined enough, they could make it north of the checkpoints. The terrain isn’t THAT difficult to cover.
Once they’ve made it to the city, there are lots of places where they could move to fit in–whole neighborhoods where not too many people speak English. Some are legal, some are not.
On weekdays, they’ll gather around bridges, hardware stores, or any other place well trafficked by general contractors. These GCs will pick a couple of them up and pay them cash for the day-usually a smaller amount then they’d pay a citizen, but after taxes, it probably amounts to the same (as the undocumented immigrants don’t pay taxes for obvious reasons.
Most of them deal only in cash or checks, and they may not give you their real name, but the name of a friend with an ID. You may not know, in the case of the people who mow your lawn or clean your house, whether they’re citizens or not. Generally, most people won’t ask, and typically they’re hard working men and women who are simply seeking a better life for themselves. Most know the risks of living undocumented, but it’s almost always better than what they came from, so they do their best to stay and not raise any eyebrows.
Tldr; determination, hard work, cash-basis, friends, and staying out of trouble.
> I hear about immigrants living their entire life in the States, going to school and university, working jobs, all while being undocumented. How does that work?
Largely the same as the UK. You can enter the country illegally but, if you don’t make yourself know to authorities, they basically have to guess or get lucky to identify you.
From there, you find a job that pays cash. That generally means working on a farm. Depending on your nationality, you might also find someone from your home country/language group that has experienced the immigration system and takes you on somewhere like a restaurant. Paying cash for delivery driver fuel, or all that waste food is always really expensive… Failing that, you set up a hose and bucket somewhere and wash cars. (My family totally didn’t do any of the above)
School is a little trickier. You can always try and find an undocumented religious school. The government *really* doesn’t like those, and your kid is probably just going to get indoctrinated into a cult/religion. The latter is a benefit or disadvantage depending on your outlook on life. Uni is probably where you start running out of ways to dodge the system.
Overall though, our system generally encourages people to register themselves, regardless of how they enter the country, meaning they aren’t an illegal immigrant any more. Within restrictions, you are allowed to work, and can get housing or income support if you cannot support yourself, which is a huge incentive to present yourself to authorities when you arrive (I think I’d rather be in prison than take some of those benefits though).
Some immigrants buy stolen SSN’s and are hired by unsuspecting businesses. The result of this is that income taxes are deducted from their paycheck but are being credited to fictional or deceases