Supreme Court to hear case on immigrants’ use of fake IDs

The Supreme Court said Monday that it will decide whether the government can use new identity theft laws to send illegal immigrants using fake identification cards to prison or to force them to leave the country. The Bush administration, as part of its crackdown on workers who are here illegally, has increasingly relied on prosecutors and criminal laws to punish the offenders, rather than simply sending them into immigration courts. ‘It’s a bargaining chip,’ said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors tough enforcement of the laws. The prospect of a long prison term can persuade many immigrants to accept a speedy deportation, he said. But this legal tactic has run into trouble in some areas, including California and elsewhere on the West Coast.