Sale of Phony Documents to Aliens Charged
A Calexico accountant was arraigned in U.S. District Court in San Diego Tuesday on seven counts of creating and selling false immigration documents.
The action was the latest in a series of similar cases arising in Imperial County.
Adrian Garcia Ramirez pleaded not guilty to selling phony paper work to illegal aliens certifying that they had worked in agricultural jobs in the United States. The documents allegedly sold at a cost of up to $2,000 a set.
Assistant U.S. Atty. William Q. Hayes charged that Garcia may have sold documents to as many as 500 prospective amnesty applicants.
A 1986 law allowed aliens who could show they worked 90 days in U.S. agriculture, during the 12-month period from May 1985 to May 1986, to file for legal residence.
U.S. authorities have said that they suspect fraudulent applications may have been filed by as many as one-third of the 1.3 million agriculture amnesty seekers nationwide.
Charges of fraud have been filed against a number of farm labor contractors and notaries public from Imperial Valley, an important agricultural region.
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