Are There Links Between Identity Theft And Immigration?
April 16, 2007
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There have been several voices expressing the opinion that Immigration contributes to Identity Theft; but is that true? Unfortunately, when such voices are expressed, and despite merely being opinions, they resonate with anti-immigration supporters. Many such voices fail to realize that when individuals decide to leave their homeland, many are also leaving their spouses, children, parents, friends, family, and their homes. Such unfortunate souls do not leave so much that matters to them behind, for the pursuit of a career in crime in another country. On the contrary, when an individual makes the hard choice of uprooting himself, it is for the pursuit of an honest money earning job, and a better life in another country. After all, doesn't it make sense that those interested in crime, can practice crime in their own country, without the need to uproot themselves? We examined State by State Identity Theft complaint data to shed further light on this issue.
According to the FTC, More than 60% of Identity Theft cases are not even reported to a law enforcement agency. For those that are reported, the
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majority of those committing Identity Theft are never
caught. Hence, it would be inconclusive to track and analyze the origin
of Identity Thieves who are caught. On the other hand, it is reasonable
to hypothesize that in the case of illegal immigration, a fake identity
with legal working status would be helpful in securing a job. As a
result, we analyzed the severity of Identity Theft in all U.S. States,
and compared the ranking of such states to the occurrence of Employment
Related Identity Theft Fraud. Such data was retrieved from a report by
the FTC titled: "Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data;
January - December 2006."
The state ranked number one in
Identity Theft for 2006 was Arizona (with 147.8 reported cases per
population of 100,000). As it turns out, Employment Related Identity
Theft cases comprised 39% of reported complaints, the highest
percentage of any other state. Meanwhile, the state ranked last in
Identity Theft for 2006 was Vermont (with 28.5 reported cases per
population of 100,000). For Vermont, Employment Related Identity Theft
comprised only 2% of reported complaints. For the U.S. as a whole,
Employment Related Identity Theft complaints comprised about 13.5% of
all Identity Theft complaints. Below are two tables for the Top 10 and
Bottom 10 Identity Theft States, along with the corresponding percent
of Employment Related complaints.
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2006 Top 10 Identity Theft States
| Rank |
State
|
Complaints
per 100K
|
% of Employment
Related Identity
Theft
|
| 1 |
Arizona |
147.8 |
39%
|
| 2 |
Nevada |
120
|
15%
|
| 3 |
California |
113.5
|
17%
|
| 4 |
Texas |
110.6
|
25%
|
| 5 |
Florida |
98.3
|
9%
|
| 6 |
Colorado |
92.5
|
17%
|
| 7 |
Georgia |
86.3 |
9%
|
| 8 |
New York
|
85.2
|
7%
|
| 9 |
Washington |
83.4 |
10% |
| 10 |
New Mexico
|
82.9 |
19% |
| 2006 Bottom 10 Identity Theft States
| Rank |
State
|
Complaints
per 100K
|
% of Employment
Related Identity
Theft
|
| 41 |
Montana
|
45.9
|
6%
|
| 42 |
Wisconsin
|
45.6
|
11%
|
| 43 |
Wyoming
|
42.3
|
11%
|
| 44 |
Kentucky
|
42
|
8%
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| 45 |
Maine
|
39.7
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2%
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| 46 |
West Virginia
|
39.3
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7%
|
| 47 |
Iowa
|
34.9
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12%
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| 48 |
South Dakota
|
30.2
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8%
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| 49 |
North Dakota
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29.7
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6%
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| 50 |
Vermont
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28.5
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2%
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Despite a few exceptions, the above tables do show that in general, states with high Employment Related Identity Theft cases do indeed have the worst overall Identity Theft rankings. Similarly, in general, states with low Employment Related Identity Theft cases have some of the best Identity Theft rankings. Employment Related Identity Theft in the four worst ranked states, Arizona, Nevada, California and Texas, comprised 22.35% of all Identity Theft cases in those states, well above the 13.5% for the U.S. as a whole. Employment Related Identity Theft in the four best ranked states, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota and Vermont comprised about 9.55% of all Identity Theft cases in those states, well below the 13.5% for the U.S. as a whole.
Florida and New York are two exceptions that warrant further analysis. Employment Related Identity Theft in New York comprised only 7% of all Identity Theft cases in that state. Such exception could be related to the fact that despite the low overall crime rate in New York, Robbery crimes in New York are exceptionally high. New York was ranked as the fourth worst Robbery state in 2005. The populous nature of the state, with a high Robbery and purse/wallet snatching crimes, may simply overshadow Employment Related Identity Theft crimes. That's further supported by the fact that Credit Card fraud in New York comprises a very large 33% of all Identity Theft complaints.
As for Florida, it is estimated that as much as 18% of its population is aged 65 and over. Hence, it makes sense that Employment Related Identity Theft would be a small factor for two reasons: A- the large number of retired residents, B- the non-matching demographics of the state population, vs. the usually young age of illegal immigrants.
The above analysis of Identity Theft data and Employment Related Identity Theft data seem to suggest that there is indeed a link between immigration and identity Theft. However, one should be careful to draw a distinction between Illegal Immigration and Legal Immigration. In the case of Illegal Immigration, Identity Theft could be indeed playing a role as Illegal Immigrants are given fake Identities to possibly secure employment. However, such crimes are often facilitated, and committed by Americans, who steal identities and sell them to illegal immigrants for a profit. It is highly unlikely that illegal immigrants, who may not even speak English, would have the sophistication to commit Identity Theft on their own upon landing in the U.S.
In conclusion there seems to be a link between Identity Theft and Illegal Immigration. Furthermore, financial damage arising from Employment Related Identity Theft is likely to be limited, as such crime is committed with a primary objective of securing a job. Financial damage arising from other types of Identity Theft, such as Credit Card Fraud, Wire Fraud, Bank Fraud, etc... is likely to be greater, as such crime is committed with the objective of stealing money. It is highly unlikely that there is any link between Legal Immigration and Identity Theft. If one subscribes to such thinking, it would make no sense to oppose immigration on the false grounds that immigration increases Identity Theft; as a matter of a fact, giving legal status to Illegal immigrants is likely to reduce Employment Related Identity Theft.
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