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Immigrant workers do some of the most dangerous jobs in this country, and get hurt and killed most often. \u00a0Now Howard Berkes at NPR and Mike Grabell at Pro-Publica have broadcast a report on immigrant workers who are hurt on the job being denied workers compensation and deported from the country for felony workers comp fraud because they used false Social Security numbers. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Read and\/or listen to this article<\/a>. It’s extremely troubling.<\/p>\n Berkes and Grabell note that most states permit undocumented workers to receive workers comp — in theory. But there’s a catch:<\/p>\n In 2003, Florida’s lawmakers added a catch, making it a crime to file a workers’ comp claim using false identification. Since then, insurers have avoided paying for injured immigrant workers’ lost wages and medical care by repeatedly turning them in to the state.<\/p>\n To be clear, the injuries were real, the need for workers comp was real — these were not workers going skiing while collecting workers comp. They had simply used false Social Security numbers when applying for work. Indeed, “In recent interviews, however, representatives from the state fraud unit and insurance industry couldn’t identify a single case where immigrants had worked with doctors and lawyers to defraud workers’ comp.”<\/p>\n Employers \u00a0are more than happy to hire undocumented workers and ask no questions about their Social Security numbers — until they get hurt. And employers are shocked, SHOCKED<\/a>\u00a0to find that the injured employee is using a false Social Security number.<\/p>\n We’ve already seen a story about a worker who was arrested by ICE<\/a> at a workers comp meeting after suffering a serious injury after falling off a ladder and broke his femur (he was later released) and legislators in Ohio unsuccessfully tried to pass a bill<\/a> that would have\u00a0prohibited undocumented workers from receiving workers comp payments. The National Employment Law Project reports <\/a>that “Over the past several years, legislation has been introduced in several states, including Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Virginia, to deny workers\u2019 compensation to unauthorized workers.”<\/p>\n The ability of employers to undermine the safety and health of any worker — even undocumented workers — undermines the protections for all workers.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Of course, not everyone agrees that this behavior is a travesty of justice, as seen in a Twitter conversation with former Labor Department Deputy Secretary Seth Harris<\/a> and a few unhappy tweeters with similar messages after Harris posted the NPR\/Pro-Publica story:<\/p>\n You know what the term illegal means, right? Illegals shouldn’t be coddled. They should be deported. #deportillegals<\/a> t.co\/xVXwmituf4<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Red Pillington🔘 (@1234flyingninja) August 17, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n