U.S. citizen claims he's victim of employer sanctions

[struggle4progress]

Veronica Sanchez
12 News
Mar. 7, 2008 09:12 PM

... Juan Carlos Ochoa is late on his rent and his electricity is shut off. He was hired to work weeks ago, but his employer said his social security card was not valid.

How did this happen? Under the new employer sanctions law employers have to verify each employee's immigration status. They do this through a system called e-verify. Juan's social security card, which was perfectly acceptable when he was legal resident for 20 years did not clear.

When Juan Carlos became a naturalized citizen, he was not required to inform social security of the change, so he didn't. But under the new system, his naturalization certificate is the only thing that can clear his name and prove his nine digit number is valid.

... Juan lost that certificate years ago, and never thought he'd need it. If he wants another one , he has to pay close to $400 dollars and it may take months to come through the mail ...

http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/employersanctions03072008.html