Some cannery guest workers from Samoa who hired at the Star Kist cannery have been working since last year without a Social Security number (SSN) and /or valid Immigration Identification (ID) concerns American Samoans lawmakers.
Samoa News reports that last Friday’s House Session, House of Representative, Titialii Kitara Vaiau raised this issue, noting that a lot of guest workers from Samoa recruited via the local Guest Worker Permit law by StarKist Samoa have received their W2 forms to file their taxes.
However, most of them were unable to file taxes as they don’t have proper legal documents needed by the local Tax Office such as a social security number and a valid immigration identification card.
TItiali’i said that this shouldn’t happen because this is a clear violation of the law and the Fono needs to seriously address this issue right now.
Senior Manager at StarKist Samoa, Tufuga Faafoi Palepua confirmed that there are workers who don’t have in their possession a valid immigration ID and a SSN card.
However, stated that doesn’t mean these workers are not allowed to work in American Samoa.
