Would You Say this is an Equal Opportunity Employer?

by Cheryl Baumgartner Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance

According to the results of a recent Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) investigation, Fresh Del Monte of Portland OR is really an
equal opportunity employer. According to
an ICE press release dated June 12th, 2007 Fresh Del Monte was using
workers provided by a company called American Staffing Resources.
Among those workers supplied by American Staffing Resources:
7 people 60 years or older receiving disability benefits
13 people 70 years or older
18 juveniles andâ€¦
29 deceased persons.
Actually this is a list of identity theft victims. These identities were being used by illegal
immigrants working at the plant. Several
of those immigrants have criminal records. Most importantly during the investigation evidence of production and
distribution of forged documents was uncovered. 90% of American Staffing Resourcesâ€™ workers were using stolen or made up
social security numbers.
This is another example of Identity Theft that does not
include your bankbook or credit cards. The financial aspect of identity theft is scary and well known but only
accounts for about 30% of the problem. The other 70% is situations like this. Your driverâ€™s license, social security number, medical history and your
character are all up for grabs to an ID thief. Not just your money. To see the
full article and find out more about ICEâ€™s efforts to combat this crime you can
go to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement website at www.ice.gov. Check out the press releases under worksite and document fraud to see
examples of the unknown 70% of Identity Theft.