Work permit

When I got into the US in 1985, all you needed for employment was a social security number.Most of the time it did not even have to belong to you.It wasn't until November 6 of 1986 that then President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Immigration Reform and Control Act,making it unlawful to knowingly hired an illegal immigrant.Henceforth,employers were also required to request for proof of employment eligibility from potential employees.The bottom line, was to screened out undocumented immigrants.The jobs that I got while at Clemson and later on in Gainesville,Georgia,I provided a number that was issued to me by a friend.Even when I moved to Washington DC, I continued to use the same information to gain employment.By the time the Immigration Reform and Control Act was signed,I was already employed,so the law did not have an immediate effect on me.At the time,I believe current employees were not required to proof their legal status.
One of the side effects of the immigration reform was that a whole black market for official documentation started to explode around the nation.Fake driver licences,fake SSN,fake work authorisation permits could now be obtained from the streets.The first one that I got cost me 300dollars and it was a legitimate document.It was issued to me by an attorney of Haitian origin who was practising at the time in Silver Spring.I was introduced to him by a Ghanian friend of mine,with whom we worked in a gas service station.The first question the lawyer asked is how you arrived in the country?He then collects his fees and uses the information you provided him to process some work documents for you.The document arrives in your mail box in about a week or two.The guy must have been highly connected to be able to provide such legitimate documentation.He kept his operation very quiet,he did not request for any referrals.As a matter of fact, he requested that you not mention that you got the documentation through him.A number of my friends were shocked when I presented them with my legit working papers.I could not reveal my source though.The document help me a lot before it got missing on a metro train ride.I tried with no avail to locate the Haitian attorney.He had left the Silver Spring area and was probably operating somewhere else that was quite.
My work permit helped me get into many companies,included Fantle's drug store,Radio Shack,Circuit City,Burns Security and a whole lot of part time retail outlets that included Sears.By the time that I lost the document I was safely at Circuit City.I missed quite a few employment opportunities while I was at Circuit City.Sprint Spectrum had tried to hire me in 1998 and I had to turned down the job for personal reasons.Everybody,especially my co-workers were shocked because Sprint Spectrum was the place that everybody was dying to go work for.I did join Sprint PCS in the beginning of 1999,but that was after I had tapped into another black market source.This one I got the information about it while reading the Washington Post.There was an article there about a triving black market for official documentation downtown DC in the Columbia Pike area.This is an area with a lot of immigrations from Latin American.The article explained how the whole business is conducted from start to finish.They provided all types of documentations.
I got one from this source, after providing the individual with all the information that I wanted on the document.It did not cost much me either.About $100 is all I paid for it.There was a problem with the document though.A trained eye could tell that they were not legit.I could tell right away.I talked to a few people and they convince me that a company that really wanted to hire me with my experience would not bother to look too closely at the document.Companies interested in hiring you,actually go throw the whole hiring process and it is usually on the first day on the job that you are required to show proof of being eligible for employment.This was the case for the last two jobs that I held before leaving the US,at Sprint Pcs and AT&T Wireless.