My field placement this year is at an immigration center which sort of gives me in an interesting position from which to view the current debate surrounding immigration reform. I guess it might come as no surprise that after meeting with immigrant clients for a semester, I’ve grown increasingly interested in the outcome of the debate. My first real client there, in my opinion, was the poster child for Immigration Reform. She had grown up here, all her family members had legal immigration status but somewhere along the line, her parents had forgotten to petition for her lawful permanent residence. Now in her thirties, it was too late. There were no available remedies for her other than to wait for her two small American children to grow up and petition on her behalf. In the meantime though,  my client was left in a very difficult situation, supporting her two children alone without the ability to gain lawful employment and an inability to access many community resources. It seems wildly unfair to me  that a person so motivated and so eager to become a contributing citizen of our country would be denied the chance, primarily on account of mistakes made by others before she was old enough to understand the implications. This is an argument  that is  playing out (in a slightly different form) in California courts currently.

On two recent occasions, a naturalized citizen name Victor Guerro applied for a position with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.  During the background check that was required prior to being hired, Mr. Guerro admitted that he had, at one time in his life, gained employment in the United States using a social security number that was not his own. Allegedly, his parents had provided it to him when he was 15 and he was unaware of the fraud being perpetrated until he was 17 years old.  At the point when he learned that his social security number was not real, he started paying taxes using what is commonly referred to as an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number). On account of this admission, Mr. Guerro was denied the position with the CA Board of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The rationale cited for his rejected application was that using a false social security number “shows a lack of honesty, integrity and good judgment”.   Mr. Guerro is now suing the CA Board of Corrections and Rehabilitation for discrimination.

The reason this case is one that social workers should watch is that many of our clients, themselves, may be in this position. Think those benefiting from DACA in particular.  Coming to the States as a child, their parents may have provided them with a social security number for safety or for work purposes. Now older with lawful immigration statuses, they are being denied opportunities for gainful employment. It keeps them marginalized and provides an advantage for native born citizens in the job market. If state agencies can get away with this sort of discrimination, then what would stop other employers?

After reading this case and being around  all this talk about how miraculous immigration reform could be,  I can’t help but wonder if immigration reform will really end up eliminating barriers for immigrants to the United States like my client, or if ultimately, new barriers like the one that Mr. Guerro faced will just pop in their place. Once again, I find myself thinking about social justice advocacy and feeling compelled to ask y’all, what do you think?

PS: Check out the New York Immigration Coalition website to get involved in advocating for Immigration reform.