The speaker was former INS Agent Neville Cramer, who now runs a security consulting firm in his home state of Arizona.

In addition to speaking about the threats posed by illegal immigrants working in what he referred to as “minimal threat” positions, such as agriculture and landscaping, Cramer brought up several problems posed by the issue that very few people think about when the topic is discussed.

Cramer said that those companies who employ illegal immigrants to work in such industries as security guard services, building maintenance, health care, daycare, data entry, hotels, and trash collections are leaving their customers and themselves extremely vulnerable to crimes like identity theft, being that many of these type workers have unfettered access to sensitive information.

He said that one of the reasons that illegals in these positions are not deterred from stealing personal information is that the harshest penalty they face is deportation.

As such, Cramer added that these companies are leaving themselves open to civil liability lawsuits.

Another interesting point posed by Cramer was the fact that many illegal immigrants are being utilized by communist or terror states and organized crime to carry out espionage or other nefarious activities.

 Among the state sponsor’s of illegal immigrants Cramer listed included China, North Korea and Iran.

The bottom line of Cramer’s presentation was that businesses and their security directors need to wake up to the fact that illegal immigration has much more of an impact than that of the social irresponsibility of a corporation. It also plainly has an impact on the security of companies, their customers and our nation as a whole.

Cramer urged businesses to use the Department of Homeland Security’s new eVerify program, as well as non governmental or private security measures such as credit bureaus and background investigations.

“Hopefully we can try to bring some semblance of responsibility to how we handle our illegal immigrants,” Cramer said of the U.S. government. “It is really security professionals that have to… learn your vulnerabilities and discuss them with your company’s executives.”

I agree with Cramer. Companies need to be more aware of the dangers posed by illegal immigrants, as well as others who may have something to gain by compromising sensitive data. It would be better to take the time to verify the identity and background of an employee now, rather than have to invest more time and resources in court after someone finds that the company was liable in hiring illegal personnel.  

 -Joel Griffin

I joined SecurityInfoWatch.com in May as the new assistant editor of the Web site. In my time thus far at SIW, I have spent a good deal of my time learning about the different markets within the security industry and trying to find and post the news stories that are of interest to you the reader.

I have also had the opportunity to write several features stories over the last several months and have started a regular series of “At the Frontline” pieces, which cover the different challenges security directors in the industry face. You can expect to see more “At the Frontline” stories in the coming weeks.

I’m also pleased to see that many of you have taken the opportunity to read my feature story on copper theft, as it has been one of our most read stories for several weeks running. Having covered crime as a reporter for a daily newspaper before joining SIW, I saw firsthand just how big of an issue that this has become for law enforcement and the utility industry.  Hopefully, as advances continue in remote surveillance technology, metal theft will become more of nuisance than an epidemic.  

In closing my first blog post, I look forward to continuing to bring you the stories that you as security professionals depend on and invite you to e-mail me ideas for features or other news stories that you would like to read about on the site. Thanks!

-Joel Griffin