Thread: 26 arrested on Florida job sites

26 arrested on Florida job sites accused of using fake Social Security cards

By Sally Apgar
Sun-Sentinel.com

June 7, 2007, 3:40 PM EDT

WEST PALM BEACH -- As part of a statewide investigation, 26 undocumented workers have been arrested on their job sites since Monday for using fake Social Security cards made from stolen numbers, according to Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink.

About four of the 26 were arrested in Palm Beach County and five were in Broward County. Another 16 were arrested in St. Lucie and the balance was from elsewhere in the state.

The arrests were the result of a joint investigation of the Florida Department of Financial Services and the Department of Environmental Protection that found 115 undocumented workers used the real Social Security number stolen from a 10-year-old Florida girl. Another 42 people were targeted for arrest since Monday but only 26 could be found.

The investigation is continuing and more arrests are possible.

At a press conference held Thursday afternoon to announce the investigation, Sink said the 26 each bought the fake cards for $30 to $300 a piece. She said the investigation is continuing to uncover who is running the fake card "ring" and their source of the Social Security numbers.

"Identity theft is a huge and costly problems and employers who turn a blind eye pose a very serious threat to the public," said Sink.

Those arrested have not been charged. Officials said they could be charged with using a false id to gain employment, which is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have also been notified.

Sink said the critical target of the investigation is the group that is stealing and selling the Social Security numbers and then using them to fabricate cards.

The investigation was triggered when DEP officers began looking into a company in St. Lucie County that was taking aquatic plants from state-owned land and selling them. Once investigators began looking at employee information, they detected the use of multiple faked Social Security cards. Sally Apgar can be reached at sapgar@sun-sentinel.com or 561-228-5506.
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel


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Another 42 people were targeted for arrest since Monday but only 26 could be found.

If S.1348 were to pass all they would have to do is stay hidden until the bill was signed by Bush. The bill, in it's current form, would legalize those 42 individuals!