Fake Documents for Illegal Aliens, Four Suspects Seized

Federal agents, in raids on two Southern California homes, have for the first time broken up a major counterfeiting ring that was producing fake legalization documents and supplying them to illegal aliens nationwide, authorities said Tuesday.

Four people were arrested and hundreds of blank documents--a high-quality falsified version of the kind used by nearly 3 million amnesty applicants--were seized in raids in San Bernardino, officials said.

But what set this raid apart, immigration officials said, was the discovery of the camera equipment, laminating devices and Department of Justice stamps used to produce the fake papers.

“We have made street buys of these documents before, but never located the place where they were being manufactured,” said John Brechtel, assistant district director for investigations at the Immigration and Naturalization Service. “This is the first time we’ve come up with . . . the mill.”

Brechtel said investigators were trying to determine how many counterfeit documents were being produced at the two San Bernardino locations. The fake papers were distributed nationwide, he said.

It was the first time an operation that counterfeited legalization papers has been broken up anywhere in the country, according to Karl Ullrich, intelligence officer for the INS Western regional office. The raid culminated a six-month investigation that included the arrests of three additional suspects and confiscation of 4,000 blank fake cards in March.

Southern California is considered the nation’s largest market for counterfeit papers, which are used by illegal aliens to obtain jobs. Under the 1986 Immigration and Reform Act, employers must require prospective employees to present documents that prove they are entitled to work legally in this country. The fake papers enable illegal aliens to sidestep that law.

The papers allegedly produced at the San Bernardino locations were temporary resident identification cards and temporary work permit cards that are given to people who have qualified for amnesty and are in the process of legalizing their immigration status.

The cards, with distinctive red and yellow stripes, carry the picture of the bearer, his name, date of birth and other information. The fake cards sell on the streets for $350 and are more useful than false green cards or other papers because they are more readily accepted by employers, Brechtel said. “We are seeing more and more counterfeit legalization documents than ever before,” he said.

INS agents, backed by the U.S. Secret Service and San Bernardino police, carried out the raids late Monday, descending on a home and an apartment. Four people were arrested and arraigned in Los Angeles federal court on Tuesday.

Three suspects charged with felony possession of counterfeit documents for sale were identified as Omar Cuevas-Lopez, 22; Cecilia Galieana-Hernandez, 30, and Julio Caesar Vales-Lopez, 31. A fourth man arrested, Jorge Luis Cuevas-Lopez, 30, was charged with possession of a sawed-off shotgun without a serial number.

All the suspects are Mexican nationals, Brechtel said. Additional charges are expected to be handed down in an indictment within 10 days, he said.

In addition to the camera and laminating equipment, agents seized stamps bearing the Department of Justice insignia, 450 blank legalization cards, 450 blank Social Security cards, $2,740 in cash, a semiautomatic rifle, two shotguns and a 9-millimeter pistol, Brechtel said.