INS Says ‘Massive Fraud’ Exists Among Farm Workers Seeking Legal Residency

Federal investigators in Imperial County believe they have found evidence of “massive fraud” there among illegal aliens seeking lawful U.S.-residence status as farm workers under the new immigration law, a U.S. official said Thursday.

James Turnage, district director for the Immigration and Naturalization Service in San Diego, estimated that as many as 50% to 60% of the prospective applicants at the agency’s farm-worker legalization office in Calexico were seeking to become legal through fraudulent means. There was also evidence of widespread fraud among applicants at the INS office in El Centro, said Turnage during a news briefing in San Diego. His responsibility includes San Diego and Imperial counties.

The INS is conducting a “wide-ranging” investigation of the matter and expects to announce additional details and possible arrests shortly, Turnage said. The INS official raised the possibility that dozens, perhaps hundreds, of illegal aliens in Imperial County may have received initial approval to stay in the United States based on fraudulent statements.

In September, a federal grand jury in San Diego indicted seven people on various charges in connection with three alleged schemes designed to assist illegal aliens attain lawful status at the Calexico office. Among those accused were two applicants and five others who allegedly sold forged documents purporting to show that various aliens had performed farm labor in the United States. Officials said that applicants paid up to $300 to purchase the bogus letters and other documents.

The new immigration law raises the possibility of legal status for laborers who performed at least 90 days of farm work in the United States during the one-year period that ended on May 1, 1986. Congress included this relatively liberal legalization standard largely at the insistence of Western growers, who feared the loss of their traditional employment source.

More Liberal Standards

The farm workers are one of two large categories of illegal aliens offered some form of legal status, or amnesty, under the new immigration law. A much larger number of aliens not involved in agricultural work may qualify for amnesty if they meet considerably more stringent standards--demonstrating that they have lived illegally in the United States since Jan. 1, 1982. Officials say aliens applying under the 1982 category have been found to be less likely to commit fraud, apparently because it is more difficult for applicants to fake five years of U.S. residence than to falsify evidence showing a limited term of farm employment.

In June, the INS set up a center at the U.S.-Mexico border in Calexico designed exclusively to process the applications of Mexican farm workers. The center, situated at the U.S. port of entry, was meant to assist farm workers who growers feared were “trapped” in Mexico but probably qualified for legal status. Imperial County is a major farming area.

Turnage estimated that as many as 60% of prospective farm-worker applicants visiting Calexico may be seeking to achieve legal status via bogus means. However, Turnage added that many are turned away before they even submit formal applications because their cases are clearly frivolous.

Since June, Turnage said, some 4,600 illegal aliens applying at Calexico have received temporary approval to stay in the United States as farm workers. An additional 3,500 aliens have received such documentation in El Centro, Turnage said. He indicated that many of these applicants may have utilized fraud, but said he could not estimate what total percentage had resorted to fraudulent means. Investigators are reviewing an unspecified number of applications, Turnage said.