Thread: Immigration and identity theft debate lands in courts

Immigration and identity theft debate lands in courts
By Ann McGlynn | Sunday, August 3, 2008 6:01 PM CDT | () comments

Federal agents busted Ignacio Flores-Figueroa at a Davenport house in January 2007.

The illegal immigrant from Mexico worked at L&M Steel in East Moline. He gave his employer fake identifications and Social Security numbers to do so.

He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Davenport, to having those fake documents, as well as illegally entering the country. He went to trial on a fourth charge: aggravated identity theft.

Why?

He didn’t know his documents were those of a real person, his attorney, Gary Koos said. Many times, fake documents are just that — fake. The numbers belong to no one.

“He just wanted to get a card to get a job,â€

OK - WHY DOES THESE PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE ABOVE THE LAWS IN THE UNITED STATES?

Give me a break...of course they know, because real numbers cost a lot more than fake numbers and real numbers get by any verification. What a joke! Of course they are going to say, they didn't know!! What do you expect them to say????

If they use it to get a job...then the real owner goes thru h++l to get the IRS off his back...cause they say you earned that money....and the IRS won't even tell you WHERE you supposedly worked so you can get the person arrested...and they think it is NOTHING to steal your numbers....

Since we had laws enacted in the US, it has upheld that ignorance of the law is no excuse to break them

Anyone else tired of the excuses?

Kevin Russell, an attorney for Flores-Figueroa, said prosecutors are increasingly using the identity theft charge “against undocumented workers who have no intention of stealing anyone’s identity.â€

[quote="fedupinwaukegan"]Kevin Russell, an attorney for Flores-Figueroa, said prosecutors are increasingly using the identity theft charge “against undocumented workers who have no intention of stealing anyone’s identity.â€

[quote="grandmasmad"]If they use it to get a job...then the real owner goes thru h++l to get the IRS off his back...cause they say you earned that money....and the IRS won't even tell you WHERE you supposedly worked so you can get the person arrested...and they think it is NOTHING to steal your numbers.... [/quote]





Actually, GrandmasMad, that's a misconception.

We have been going through this same thing for the past 5 years now after finding out that my husband is the victim of an identity theft, and the IRS does, in fact, inform you of where the earnings come from.

It goes something like this: We file our tax return and a short time later we receive a letter from the IRS telling us that we failed to report income and they are ammending the return to reflect those earnings. They list the amount of these alleged earnings and the company from which they were earned. In our case it is a landscaping company located in Rancho Santa Margarita CA. Then they inform us that because of these earnings we owe such and such amount in taxes, interest, and penalties, and, of course, must return our refund because we were not entitled to receive one. It goes on to say that if this information is inaccurate, we should call the representative listed on the letter.

Every year when we get this notice, which is automatically sent out, all we need to do is call the IRS and they send us another letter telling us to ignore the first one because the issue has been resolved.

Amazingly, the IRS has been very easy for us to work with. When this first happened we flew into a panic thinking "OMG, the IRS!" and figured that we were in for a nightmare the likes of which we'd never seen. Much to our suprise though, we have had no difficulties with them whatsoever. The representative that we had to contact when this first happened was extremely pleasant and he was of tremendous help, explaining everything we needed to do every step of the way.


We've actually had more problems dealing with state agencies, coming after my husband accusing him of benefits fraud and demanding money repaid which he does not owe, and bill collectors, than we've had from the IRS.

I've spoken to many other victims of identity theft and they all get the same letters. I even know some in whose cases the person using their stolen information was arrested and eventually deported.

But yes, they do inform you of the company, or companies, where the earnings have come from They have to do so. They cannot just simply send someone a letter accusing them of failing to report income, which is the same as accusing them of filing a fraudulent tax return.....a crime......, demand money, and also the return of refunds,without providing the information they are basing that accusation on so that it can be disputed if necessary. And because you have that information, it gives the authorities exactly what they need to know and where to start looking.

I truly hope the US Supreme Court tells them to buzz off and to stop wasting the valuable time of this American Court on a bunch of foreigners who aren't even supposed to be in our country let alone wasting the time of the US Supreme Court.

If the documents do not legally belong to the worker, it is id theft. The thief certainly knows he is using a false name and number.
The Supreme Court would have a hard time ruling that using counterfeit identity documents is not a crime, even if only used for work. There ARE FEDERAL LAWS AGAINST WORKING IN THE US, without valid Social Security numbers.

These lawyers will try anything to get clients.