Identity Crisis : Gallegly Uses His ‘Green Card’ to Push for Tamper-Proof Documents

There are thousands of fraudulent immigration documents on the streets of Ventura County, and one of them features the name and photograph of Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley).

So authentic is Gallegly’s fake alien registration card that an attendant at a local appliance store recently accepted it as a legitimate form of identification.

For the record, Gallegly is an American citizen and says he is not trying to pull the wool over anybody’s eyes. In fact, the Immigration and Naturalization Service provided Gallegly with the forged document at his request.

“I use it as a prop to show folks the quality of an actual counterfeit document that was available on the street,” said Gallegly, who pulls out the card during television interviews to make his point.

There are more than two dozen official variations on the so-called green card--which is used to identify immigrants who are legally entitled to remain in the country--and Gallegly says such documents are available on street corners for as little as $25.

There is a bustling market for such papers around MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, where a “60 Minutes” correspondent not long ago purchased a forged document on camera.

And immigration officials say they are available in Ventura County too.

So convincing are the forged cards that even vigilant employers are often fooled when trying to comply with immigration laws. Gallegly’s document, which resembles a driver’s license and features a color photo, was accepted without incident when a store clerk asked him for a second form of identification during a recent credit card purchase.

Gallegly, who was recently named by House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) to chair a congressional task force on immigration reform, is pushing for a counterfeit-resistant card featuring a hologram or magnetic strip that could be verified much like a credit card is checked at stores.

“If we can protect a $2 charge at K mart, we should be able to protect American jobs by helping businesses find fraudulent documents,” Gallegly said. “I don’t blame anybody who is trying to come to this country legally or otherwise. I blame the U.S. government for offering a great invitation.”

The Clinton Administration is considering a controversial national computerized identification system that would allow employers to check on the legal status of employees. Immigration rights activists have raised concerns about such a system, saying it could exacerbate what they contend is already rampant discrimination against Latinos.

The tamper-proof card proposed by Gallegly is one of several measures he has introduced to crack down on a problem he says is draining the county’s--and the country’s--economy.

Among his proposals are hiring 2,000 more Border Patrol agents by next year, ending welfare payments to illegal immigrants and passing a constitutional amendment that would deny citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants.

And there’s one more thing Gallegly wants Congress to approve this year--increased penalties for those who manufacture fraudulent cards like his.