A recent study has found that the government has not been successful at keeping undocumented immigrants with phony Social Security numbers out of the workplace. Under the Social Security Administration's notification program, employers receive "no-match letters" when the government finds out that workers lack legal status. However, according to the study nearly a quarter of employers who received the letters took no action and another 10 percent of employers fired workers and then rehired them. Some critics feel this is evidence that the program is ineffective but other feel that penalties for employers who do not comply simply need to be stepped up.
See "Illegal workers often retained", Oscar Avila, Chicago Tribune, November 19, 2003