NEW YORK, NY April 23, 2008 —Advocates say an increasing number of immigrant workers are being fired from low-wage jobs because their social security numbers don't match their names - even though some have legal working papers. WNYC's Marianne McCune reports.

There are no hard numbers, but advocates say more employers are firing immigrant workers when they find discrepancies between their names and social security numbers.

They assume the workers are illegal which the case is not always. Advocates are urging employers not to take action based on the social security administrations' database because it’s flawed -- even the agencies own inspector general published a report saying 70 percent of discrepancies apply to native-born citizens - not illegal immigrants.

A federal program requiring employers to investigate discrepancies and take action if they’re not cleared up within 3 months has been held up in federal courts.

For WNYC, I'm Marianne McCune.