Thread: Phony IDs luring illegal immigrants

http://www.charlotte.com

Posted on Tue, Apr. 25, 2006

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

Phony IDs luring illegal immigrants
Counterfeit mills thrive in N.C., across U.S.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ
fordonez@charlotteobserver.com

EAST SPENCER -- The small, red-brick house on Division Avenue served as a popular first stop for illegal immigrants in the Charlotte area. Those who went there left with all they needed to start living the American dream.

At a cost of $180, new arrivals could buy a "green card" and Social Security card. They also could pick up a Mexican or N.C. ID.

Customers could expect fast, quality service from Jorge Cruz Torres. He gladly took phone orders. Walk-ins were welcome. He even offered delivery.

When Rowan County Sheriff's investigators arrested Cruz, 37, and his girlfriend, Edith Maciel, 34, last month, they carted away computer equipment containing 6,000 photos, mostly for IDs. And they opened a window onto a thriving industry that supplies millions of illegal immigrants with a means to secure work in the United States.

"A lot of illegal aliens benefited from this," Rowan County Lt. Kevin Auten said of the East Spencer operation. "Who knows how many cards are out there."

Located less than a mile from Interstate 85 between Charlotte and Greensboro, Cruz may have had thousands of customers, authorities say.

It was one of hundreds of counterfeit mills operating in the region, authorities believe.

Federal immigration agents say they arrest a document counterfeiter every few weeks in the Charlotte area.

Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement Julie Myers called the buying and selling of counterfeit documents "an epidemic" that has turned into a multimillion-dollar criminal industry.

"Millions of illegal aliens have used fraudulently obtained or counterfeit documents to unlawfully obtain employment in the United States," she said.

Necessity of the card

Counterfeit documents can range in price from $30 to $500, depending on quality and availability. A common purchase includes a permanent residence card, also known as the "green card," and a Social Security card. Employers often request both when immigrants seek work.The most important, some immigrants say, is the Social Security card.

"It's the key that opens every door," said a local construction worker from El Salvador. "You need the Social for everything -- to work, to open a bank account. They always ask for your Social."

Employers are not required by law to verify their employees' working papers, so long as they appear authentic.

Because of better technology, the quality of counterfeit documents has improved. Computers, high-resolution digital scanners and laser printers have replaced typewriters, scissors and pieces of plastic as tools of the trade.

According to Rowan County Assistant District Attorney Michelle Lowder, Cruz said he earned between $200 to $300 per week selling fake documents from his East Spencer home. When he was arrested, investigators found over $18,000 in a safe under a set of bunk beds.

According to authorities, Cruz had operated the counterfeit mill for about a year. He learned the trade from a friend, who has since moved back to Mexico. The friend had the computer skills and Cruz had money to buy equipment, Lowder said.

Easy access

Those who need fake documents say they're easy to find. Counterfeiters often solicit business at apartment complexes and shopping centers that cater to immigrants. Most new customers come via word of mouth.

One construction worker who lives about 25 miles north of Charlotte said he needed less than a day to get a fake Social Security card. He says he paid $50 to a man who lived in his Cabarrus County trailer park.

"You ask around and someone will tell you," said another 45-year-old worker, who says he paid $120 in Atlanta for counterfeit documents seven years ago.

Rowan County officials are unsure how Cruz got the numbers he printed on his fake Social Security cards. Sometimes, buyers come to a counterfeiter asking that a certain number be used. Some counterfeiters make up the numbers and use them repeatedly. Others buy legitimate numbers of owners, often Hispanic, willing to sell them.

Police in Lincolnton found that a group of local counterfeiters purchased stolen identities of legal Hispanic residents. Lincolnton Detective Sgt. Matt Painter said they found Federal Express boxes in the counterfeiters' mobile home that were filled with scraps of paper containing the names, birthdates and Social Security numbers of legal Hispanic residents.

Others pull lists from online databases.

Jeff Jordan, Immigration and Customs Enforcement assistant special agent in charge for North Carolina, said there are federal databases where counterfeiters can identify the first few numbers of legitimate Social Security numbers.

"The Internet is a wonderful thing," he said.

Thomas Seitz, a New Jersey man, told a Senate panel in 2000 how he used a computer at a public library to get names, Social Security numbers and addresses from federal Web sites.

"Anyone with some computer skills can download the available templates ... and produce some high-quality fake documents," said Seitz, who was convicted of theft.

Increased enforcement

This month, federal officials promised to step up efforts to control illegal immigration, creating new task forces in 10 cities targeting those who use fake Social Security cards, driver's licenses and passports to stay in the country and obtain benefits.The task forces bring together investigators from agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Justice and Labor departments. None is in North Carolina.

In the last two years, ICE has increased its number of document and benefit fraud investigations by 54 percent to 3,591. Arrests in these cases have increased by 14 percent.

Recent investigations have revealed that counterfeiters include organized crime families, attorneys, business executives and immigration consultants.

Investigators use undercover officers and informants to find counterfeiters, often working with multiple agencies when making arrests.

"We're not lacking targets," Jordan said. "It's a tremendous problem. You stop one, and another pops up."

The Rowan bust

Rowan County investigators learned about Cruz and Maciel's East Spencer operation through an informant. The couple were arrested last month, sheriff investigators said, after selling counterfeit documents to an undercover officer, who told them he needed fake documents for a cousin wanting a restaurant job.

Cruz and Maciel, illegal immigrants from Neza, Mexico, who have a family, pleaded guilty this month to common-law forgery. They were handed over to immigration officials and are expected to be deported to Mexico.

A week after the arrests, the house still contained remnants of the mill. Most evidence had been removed, but a handful of fake IDs and pictures were scattered throughout the two-bedroom house. Extension cords, computer paper and stickers lined Cruz's office, which doubled as a bedroom with bunk beds decorated with Barney sheets and a Barbie doll attached to the wall.

Friends described the couple as good people, "sweet parents," who fell on hard times.

Neighbors said they had no clue what was occurring in the ranch house, which often had a pink tricycle on the patio. Benjamin Craigie Jr., who lived across the street, said Cruz's office light was often on late at night. But Craigie said he didn't see a lot of unfamiliar cars or trucks in front of the house.

"Everyone loved them," Craigie said. "They were a great family with four beautiful girls ... I didn't think anything like this was going on."

Recent U.S. Arrests

ICE agents have recently closed counterfeit mills in Boston, Marlborough, Mass., and Los Angeles.

In Baltimore, a Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration employee, James Edwin Harrell, 49, and private driving school teacher Daniel Bernabe Aranada, 38, were arrested for conspiring to produce and sell hundreds of Maryland identification cards for $2,000 a piece.

ICE agents in Denver found that the Mexico-based Castorena family controlled counterfeiting cells in at least 33 U.S. states. The cells paid as much as $15,000 per month to leaders of the Castorena organization for the right to operate fake document "franchises" in each U.S. city.

You can just ask Mayor Bloomberg of NYC where to get illegal ID and he can give you directions on the T to get there and get it for $100. I saw him on "The Situation Room" tonite and he says 12 million illegals are here we just have to deal with it. what a jerk!!!