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State targeting fake IDs
Napolitano launches fight vs. illegal immigration

Chip Scutari and Robbie Sherwood
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 6, 2005 12:00 AM

A week before Gov. Janet Napolitano's statewide immigration summit, her staff began revealing details Tuesday of her strategy to fight illegal immigration, beginning with a campaign to curb the widespread use of fake identification.

A new group of three undercover agents will target human smuggling by focusing on individuals who make or sell fake IDs for undocumented immigrants, including passports, birth certificates, driver's licenses and international ID cards.

A goal of the experts, working out of a counterintelligence center in Phoenix, is to prevent undocumented immigrants from using false IDs to get jobs. The approach is one of several Napolitano may announce today related to illegal immigration.

"Anything that we can do to stop human trafficking and prevent the use of fake IDs to assist smugglers from bringing illegal aliens into the country is a step in the right direction," said Leesa Berens Morrison, director of the state Department of Liquor Licenses and Control who is leading the project. "Our officers are experts at ascertaining what's fake and what is not. We started finding more and more that people are using fake Mexican voter-ID cards."

Napolitano has called an immigration summit for next Tuesday in Flagstaff, where local and federal law enforcement officials are expected to develop proposals for cracking down on crime related to illegal immigration. She has been criticized by Republican leaders for vetoing several anti-illegal immigration bills they passed during this year's session.

Republican National Committeeman Randy Pullen said he suspects the motives behind Napolitano's immigration plans are political. Pullen worked to get Proposition 200, the anti-illegal immigration initiative, approved by voters last year.

"It seems amazing to me that after all the bills that went through the Legislature that addressed so many issues with respect to illegal immigration, to bring this stuff out now seems very political to me," Pullen said. "I'd like to see the meat of it first, but most of what the governor has proposed with regard to immigration does nothing. She's under tremendous pressure, and this is most likely politics as usual from her."

Napolitano's two-year project to reduce the use of fake IDs is fueled by a $500,000 grant from the Arizona Department of Homeland Security. Before launching the statewide crackdown, the Liquor Department conducted three stings that yielded more than 1,000 fake IDs from seized computers.

Morrison said the widespread use of fraudulent IDs contributes to the state's immigration problems because it allows people to get jobs illegally.

Napolitano spokeswoman Jeanine L'Ecuyer said the governor today would also announce an "unprecedented partnership" aimed at reducing incidents where local police "catch and release" undocumented immigrants because understaffed federal authorities are either unwilling or unable to take custody.

L'Ecuyer said criticism such as Pullen's is off base.

"We have been working on this for a long time, way before legislation was introduced," L'Ecuyer said. "What the governor has been looking for and has been actively pursuing . . . is things that we could actually do within the construct of state law to start to pick up the slack for what the federal government is not doing."

Illegal immigration has emerged as the dominant issue in Arizona politics. The state has been invaded by a heavy flow of undocumented immigrants since the government tightened enforcement in Texas and California during the 1990s. Arizona, like other states, incurs massive costs for the health care and education for undocumented workers and their families.

Once considered a taboo in politics, illegal immigration could be one of the top issues in next year's governor's race.

Morrison said she hopes the task force grows as the two-year project develops. In recent weeks, the Liquor Department found people selling fraudulent documents out of their homes in Tucson, Tempe and Scottsdale. She said the use of the Internet and the accessibility of sophisticated equipment has made it much easier for people to get fake IDs.