Agricultural Personnel Management Program
University of California

6/1/03  News Report -- The Denver Post

John Hickenlooper's businesses have employed 80 workers since 2002 whose Social Security numbers have come under scrutiny by the federal government during a national crackdown on fake identification cards.

That leaves open the possibility that Hickenloooper's eight Colorado restaurants and bars unknowingly hired illegal immigrants, a common problem in the restaurant industry. The way Hickenlooper's businesses have dealt with the federal notification clearly follows the law.

"Our goal is to help (the workers) get squared away," Hickenlooper said. "Businesses are specifically told that we are not an enforcement agency."

Hickenlooper, the front-runner in Tuesday's mayoral runoff, says his treatment of workers who have come under scrutiny reflects the tolerant but law-abiding tone that he would like to set as Denver's mayor regarding immigration issues.

"My vision has always been that if people are in need, we should help them. But I relentlessly obey the law," he said.

There is no deadline that a business must give a worker to clarify his or her documentation. And the Social Security letters state that a worker should not be fired or laid off because of the notices.

Hickenlooper said he often allows workers months to try to resolve the issue and many continue to work for his businesses. A handful left their jobs as soon as they were informed by their bosses about the discrepancy, he said.

The discovery of the questionable Social Security numbers came during a national crackdown by the Social Security Administration. In the post-9/11 environment, the agency sent letters to any business that had workers whose Social Security numbers did not match federal records.

Undocumented workers use fake Social Security cards to obtain work. They can buy the fraudulent cards for as little as $50 in the thriving black market.

From 2002 to the present, Hickenlooper's businesses have been informed that 80 workers have provided Social Security numbers that do not match federal records, according to Hickenlooper's spokeswoman, Lindy Eichenbaum Lent.

About 12 of those mismatches were typographical errors, Eichenbaum Lent said. The other 68 include workers who have left Hickenlooper's restaurants or whose immigration status is unclear.

The Social Security agency sent an estimated 750,000 "no-match" letters to employers nationwide in 2002, more than seven times the number sent the previous year.

When Hickenlooper's businesses began to receive no-match letters, he had already stepped away from daily operations to concentrate on his race for mayor.

Before 2002, Hickenlooper said, he wasn't aware of any of his businesses receiving a no-match letter. Nor have any of his businesses ever been fined or raided by federal immigration officials.

Denver's next mayor needs to take a high-profile stance on immigration, say advocates on both sides of the issue.

Richard Lamm, a former Colorado governor and a vocal proponent of curbing immigration, says the next mayor needs to "take a big stand."

"He has to ask whether this so- called cheap labor really pays its own way," Lamm said. "I don't think so."

Mayors play a pivotal role in setting the tone on the treatment of immigrants, said Michele Waslin, senior immigration policy analyst for the National Council of La Raza, a Washington-based Latino advocacy group.

"State and local government ... can either set the tone through speeches and local measures that make immigrants feel welcome in the community, or neglected in the community," Waslin said.