Thread: Identity theft "real threat," ICE asserts

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_4842848

Identity theft "real threat," ICE asserts
By Chuck Plunkett
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated:12/15/2006 12:10:40 AM MST


Critics of this week's sweeps at Swift & Co. plants doubt government claims that the arrests were made to battle identity theft and charge that the raids were instead meant to round up large numbers of illegal immigrants.

They point to the fact that less than 5 percent of the 1,282 meatpacking workers arrested in Colorado and other states by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were actually charged with identity theft.

But the illicit trade of Social Security numbers and other forms of personal identification for the purpose of gaining employment is a significant concern in Colorado, experts say.

Last year, Colorado ranked fifth nationally in the per-capita number of identity-theft victims, according

to data from the Federal Trade Commission. Perpetrators of identity theft use or sell someone's Social Security number or other identification to others to gain employment, to seek loans or cash and for other financial schemes.
"I have a problem with how ICE is conducting the raids," said Fidel "Butch" Montoya, coordinator of Confianza, a group of Latino pastors, and Denver's former manager of public safety.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says the arrests should awaken Congress to act. And an ICE spokesman on Thursday emphasized the seriousness of identity theft.

"The identity theft is what started this whole investigation going," said the spokeswoman, Carl Rusnok. "I can tell you that identity theft is a very real threat."

As of Thursday afternoon, Rusnok couldn't supply the number of identity-theft charges actually doled out to the 65 arrested on suspicion of criminal offenses. The bulk of those detained are being held on administerial-immigration violations.

In Colorado, 261 workers were arrested, but only 10 were accused of identity theft and related crimes. Three of the 10 face allegations that they used or tried to use the stolen information for some form

of monetary gain other than employment. Warrants for the arrest of 15 others in Colorado haven't been served.
"There is a ton of fear right now," said Mark Lopez, pastor of Denver's Westside Christian Fellowship church. "When that raid went down, we had about 30 families at (prayer). I could see fear written all over their faces."

The FTC says 4,535 Coloradans were known victims of identity theft last year. The report says 15 percent of the thefts were used by people to gain employment. Denver residents were victimized 963 times and Colorado Springs residents 437 times, and Aurora reported 342 thefts.

Stolen Social Security numbers with Spanish surnames can fetch $500 here, sources say.

And the thefts can have a big impact. Sometimes, the thefts result in letters to victims from the Internal Revenue Service demanding payment for taxes on earnings they never made.

Correcting the error can take a lot of time and money, experts say.

Recently an elderly Western Slope woman discovered her Social Security number had been stolen when she applied for federal housing assistance, said Rick Grice, executive director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

The woman was initially denied because records showed she was making $35,000 a year hanging drywall in Denver.

This spring, Grice reported his department had identified 259 Social Security numbers in Colorado that were in use six or more times. The department found some numbers that were used more than 20 times, and one more than 50 times.

"People want to minimize the seriousness of that," Grice said. "But if someone owns your Social Security number and happens to have your name and birthday - that's the keys to the vault."

In the past, illegal workers relied on faked identification, which can run as high as $300. Some say the tougher employment laws that catch the fakes are contributing to identity theft.

Montoya says targeting the meatpacking workers won't solve the problem, and he questions why ICE didn't focus on those who actually trade in the stolen documents.

"The actual criminals aren't working at the Swift plant," Montoya said. "That's a dirty job, and (the black marketeers) are out here making a lot of money."

"I have a problem with how ICE is conducting the raids," said Fidel "Butch" Montoya, coordinator of Confianza, a group of Latino pastors, and Denver's former manager of public safety.

One very good reason we have law enforcement agencies police our land rather than churches.

Montoya says targeting the meatpacking workers won't solve the problem, and he questions why ICE didn't focus on those who actually trade in the stolen documents.

"The actual criminals aren't working at the Swift plant," Montoya said. "That's a dirty job, and (the black marketeers) are out here making a lot of money."

Targeting meat packers won't do the whole job. The churches seem to be making lots of money too. Give us awhile until we can investigate the sources of your funding.

http://www.denverpost.com/movies/ci_4534707

Among evangelical Christian leaders, there is no consensus on immigration.

Butch Montoya, coordinator of Confianza, a group of Latino pastors formed a year and a half ago, credits immigration for galvanizing Latino leaders.

The activism is tempered with concern, Montoya said - from a Greeley pastor worried that immigration agents might storm his church, to pastors who wonder what would happen if a vanload of Latino men on their way to a church retreat was pulled over.

Montoya said he knows of one undocumented worker who is the pastor of a Latino congregation in metro Denver.

"We all agree we want a secure border, we want our society to be safe," said Montoya, Denver's former manager of public safety. "On the other hand, we want the 12 million people that are here to have some avenue for citizenship. As long as they're undocumented, they're going to be in the shadows."

Confianza has found an ally in the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance, a coalition of African-American pastors long active in local politics.

"We know what it means to be aliens, but it's from a different viewpoint, through slavery," said alliance president Paul Burleson, who spoke last spring at an immigration rally in downtown Denver. "We know what it means to be disenfranchised."

Other evangelical Christian groups' silence on immigration has caused tension. Montoya said Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family asked him to be a Spanish-language media liaison in a campaign to amend the Colorado constitution to specify marriage as between one man and one woman.

Montoya's answer: not when you haven't taken a position on immigration.

"Immigration is about families too," Montoya said. "When you try to reach the growing Hispanic population, you have to reach out to some of their concerns and issues as well."

Focus on the Family spokeswoman Lisa Anderson declined to comment except to say the ministry is developing an immigration position, which its board of directors will consider soon.

"

We all agree we want a secure border, we want our society to be safe," said Montoya, Denver's former manager of public safety. "On the other hand, we want the 12 million people that are here to have some avenue for citizenship. As long as they're undocumented, they're going to be in the shadows

NO avenue to citizenship,We need illegals out of the shadows and out of the country In order to have our society safe they need to go

Perhaps we keep them in a huge holding area and ask Santa to give them a ride home in his sleigh on Christmas Eve, is that to much to ask for?

Originally Posted by April

"

We all agree we want a secure border, we want our society to be safe," said Montoya, Denver's former manager of public safety. "On the other hand, we want the 12 million people that are here to have some avenue for citizenship. As long as they're undocumented, they're going to be in the shadows

Well shine the light of the law on them and get them out of America!