PLATFORM : Who Wins, Who Loses in the Fake Immigration Documents Trade?

Documents certifying that the bearer may work legally in the United States have long been counterfeited. Their value has been further enhanced by tighter border patrols, the devaluation of the peso in Mexico and the passage of Proposition 187.

How easy is it for the undocumented to get fake documents in Los Angeles? How big a crime is it? VLADIMIR CERNA talked with sellers, friends of buyers, government officials and immigrant assistance workers.

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MANUEL

Native of Mexico City, sells fake “green cards” and Social Security cards for $40 to $100 in the MacArthur Park area of Los Angeles.

I never thought I would be doing this when I came here from Mexico City. This is not the only work I do: I also clean houses. Yes, there is a risk of being arrested, but I see it as helping the people. We have all kinds of clients: Germans, Central Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Mexicans.

This is just a piece of paper. Employers know these are fake documents, but they don’t care because they collect taxes from [undocumented workers] without giving them any benefits. I think that all people should be allowed to work. It should be easier to get a work permit so that people wouldn’t have to go through this.

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MARIA MAGDALENA ANAYA

Homemaker, East Los Angeles

I had a friend, Sonia, who was so desperate to work three years ago that she went and bought a fake Social Security card and a permanent resident card. A friend of hers in night school gave her the name of a guy at MacArthur Park who sold these documents for approximately $40. Sonia was fearful of going by herself, but she needed to get that document. She already worked for a lady taking care of her baby, but really wanted to have an office job. The same day she had her work [interview] appointment she went, and in less than an hour she came back with the documents.

When the employer saw the documents, they accepted them as good. The employer would even pay taxes on that fake Social Security number, but Sonia was not entitled to any benefits. She worked for a couple of years that way and recently she got her legal paperwork done.

The need of the people to work forces them to do things that probably they shouldn’t. Sonia never complained about the price. In fact, she would have paid more if they would have asked, even $100. Those documents are almost identical to the real thing. I saw them and I couldn’t tell the difference. Things are harder now--there are many more chances at getting caught today. The computers and machines they have now are making it easier to identify the fakes.

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RICHARD ROGERS

District director, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Los Angeles

This agency is pursuing efforts to put more integrity in the documents that we produce and also to ensure integrity for the employees that produce that document. We are now beginning to use “biometrics,” which means putting the alien’s fingerprints on a card. With an electronic scanner we could positively identify that alien.

There were provisions that were added when the employer sanctions were enacted that enable people who felt they had been discriminated against to file their grievances with an independent organization. We have monitored those complaints to make sure that sanctions were not creating valid complaints of discrimination.

The INS also works the streets to pursue fraudulent document vendors. If we go ahead and arrest just a street vendor, the actual counterfeiter just gets another individual to do the selling. What we try to do is to work up and get the manufacturer.

Last December, we took down a major organization here in Los Angeles. We confiscated the actual plates and 120,000 counterfeited cards and DMV vehicle registration documents.

Illegal aliens are displacing people from jobs that citizens or legal residents should have. Illegal aliens with counterfeit documents are often exploited by the employer.

I will venture to say that the majority of them are hard-working individuals who are trying to earn enough money to feed their families, but unfortunately we have laws. The public and Congress have set limits on how much legal immigration the country can absorb. Illegal immigration undermines legal immigration.

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NANCY CERVANTES

Coordinator, Workers’ Rights Project, Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, or CHIRLA

Getting fraudulent documents is so easy because a bad economy promotes this kind of underground activity. These are desperate times and people are desperate to work.

Because of the employer sanctions provisions of [the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act], many people were forced to go underground and began using false documents. But these people are part of our work force and contribute to our economy.

The contribution of undocumented immigrants should be recognized, especially in Southern California. Their work benefits all aspects of our lives. CHIRLA has always been opposed to employer sanctions because they promote widespread discrimination against U.S. citizens and legal residents. A 1992-’93 survey of employers by the Public Research Project in San Francisco found that 50% were committing some kind of discrimination [because of the law]. Some of them even said that they did not want to risk hiring people with accents--Asians, Latinos, Puerto Ricans and Caribbean people.

If politicians want to protect American workers, they should focus on labor laws and make sure they are enforced, not on immigration law. We should level the playing field for all workers.

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JUAN

Owner, small gift shop in the MacArthur Park area for three years

You have to understand how difficult it is for anyone to talk about this issue. If someone does not like what I say, they can come back and easily do something to me, so I don’t want my last name used.

All I can tell you is that having people out there in the street selling those fake documents does not affect my business. Now if we had gang members selling drugs or other stuff, that would be different. People still come to this area to buy stuff--that should show you that people are not afraid of the document sellers.

If it was up to me, I would not have either of the two groups around here. But if I had to choose between document sellers and gang members, I would choose the document sellers.