Why would you go through the trouble? Most people I worked with in restaurants would just find someone’s name/ssn to use, put they had 10 children, and never ever file taxes.
I think there was a shady underground way to match illegal immigrants with SSNs. Or they just networked heavily in their communities.
I can imagine this being true but at the same time it's so weird. I tried to open an account with Chase and Bank of America and they ask me for SSN, and I can't get one because I am from outside the US (I just want to get one to have my freelance money in an actual bank and not Paypal/Payoneer/an app).
There are companies that provide a LLC with a SSN for just a fix payment of $400, but I am sure it comes with a lot of taxes issues that I don't want to care for now.
So, how can the financial system rely on SSN if they can be sold for inmigrants?
Legal immigrants get an SSN. I have an SSN it is just suspended or something. If I try to use it online it causes 500 errors everywhere as whatever status is attached to it isn't handled by any financial site.
Why wouldn't they? They'd probably just use the business tin as the taxable account owner and then their real foreign passport as the UBO for KYC. If they can't do that it would surely break the wheels of industry as foreign owned US businesses need US bank accounts.
IIRC banks need a ITIN or SSN + passport or ID of the UBO
Undocumented immigrants can get an ITIN, and many do. A lot of the time the ITIN will be used where it's allowed (opening bank accounts) and a counterfeit social security card where it's not (applying for employment).
I guess in a pedantic manner, but then they were always documented, since their country of origin knew who they are.
In terms of immigration, undocumented typically means you don't currently have a valid visa or residency permit. In that case no, they would still be undocumented, since the ITIN doesn't grant them either.
Yes but my question was not about how they open a Chase account, but why Chase requires a SSN if SSN are sold in a black market (according to the previous comment)
Chase requires more than just the SSN. Chase requires you to prove your identity matches the person whose SSN you submit. They require it as part of a larger picture, not in isolation.
(Employers are supposed to verify ID too, but they're not scrutinized as heavily as a major bank like Chase.)
BofA happily opens accounts for those with no SSN as long as they show up with somebody who has. And a person with a driver's license and SSN must confirm that the customer resides with them.
As an illegal, the biggest problem is.. how would I get ID with matching photo that I can use to sign up for web sites? A huge amount of web sites now want to ID verify with government ID and selfie. I have to get other people to do this for me.
California does not require proof of legal status to get a driving license.
I think the license is just eligible in California afterwards.
I had one for a while while I was waiting for my visa to be processed.
Many 'illegal immigrants' also entered legally with a visa that allows them to get a real SSN, like most J1 exchange scholars or students. These cards usually show a line saying not for work except for permission, but there is probably an underground network for faking a normal one.
It's short-sighted nonsense that undocumented immigrants can't get SSNs. They should be issued SSNs and pay taxes as usual. They are working, and the IRS should be collecting taxes, nothing more, nothing less. If they aren't paying taxes, someone else has to make up the difference.
Likewise I want them to get licenses if they can pass the driving laws test, and should be able to get insurance. I don't want to be hit (or hit and run) by an uninsured driver.
They and their kids should be getting the same vaccines someone with a legal right to live here does, under the same terms. This is basic public health that helps everybody.
This is 100% orthogonal to whether ICE should be pursuing and deporting this or that person. They current system makes the rest of us less safe -- and that's not even getting into the massive impingement on the human rights of law abiding folks due to the misincented immigration (and other) laws and their enforcement).
Undocumented immigrants can get an ITIN, and many do use them to pay taxes. The IRS really doesn't care where you got your money from, so long as they get their cut.
Where undocumented immigrants won't be able to file their taxes is if they used a counterfeit SSN to be employed, but even in those cases they pay anyways through standard withholding. Most Americans don't know you can adjust withholding, nevermind undocumented immigrants.
I think there was a shady underground way to match illegal immigrants with SSNs. Or they just networked heavily in their communities.