Latino Group Faults DMV on Fraud Crackdown

An Orange County civil rights group on Thursday accused the Department of Motor Vehicles of unfairly targeting Latino immigrants in the agency’s crackdown on identity theft, saying at least three local residents have been charged with giving false information this year.

DMV officials denied any bias, however, saying the effort is part of a wider set of measures launched in October to prevent criminals from applying for driver’s licenses and identification cards and then using them to open fraudulent bank and credit card accounts.

But the crackdown also is ensnaring undocumented immigrants who use invalid Social Security numbers to obtain driver’s licenses and identification cards.

Hermandad Mexicana Nacional of Santa Ana, a Latino civil rights group, criticized the policy as “racial profiling.” During a news conference Thursday, the group presented residents who had been detained and cited at Orange County DMV offices.

Two were attempting to renew identification cards that had been originally issued under invalid Social Security numbers. A third person was applying for a driver’s license for the first time. All three were cited by DMV investigators and ordered to appear in court.

“It is racial profiling of the worst type,” said Hermandad’s executive director, Nativo Lopez. “People are coming in innocently and when they affirm the [Social Security] number they previously gave, that’s when they pop them.”

DMV officials denied the policy was intended to target undocumented immigrants.

“DMV is not turning anyone to the [Immigration and Naturalization Services] or the Border Patrol,” spokesman Bill Branch said. “Social Security verification has nothing remotely to do with immigration. It is an anti-fraud measure.”

The issue is part of a debate in the California Legislature over how to prevent fraud at the DMV without alienating the estimated 1 million undocumented immigrant drivers in the state. Some officials and community activists fear the restrictions will cause more people to drive without licenses.

A 1994 state law requires identification and driver’s license applicants to show proof of legal residency. Social Security numbers have been required since 1992.

Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) introduced legislation last year to modify the Social Security requirement. Under the bill, applicants would be allowed to sign an affidavit stating they do not have a Social Security number and instead provide a federal taxpayer identification number or other identification deemed sufficient by the DMV.

It also would allow people in the process of legalizing their immigration status to apply for a driver’s license. The bill was vetoed by Gov. Gray Davis last year, but Cedillo refiled the legislation in December.

The DMV identifies an average of 3,850 Social Security numbers a day that do not match the names of applicants, Branch said.

The majority of those are innocent mistakes--people who change names after marriage or have incorrectly filled out forms. Applicants are sent notices by mail and told to appear at the DMV to correct the problem.

“We cannot have a selective enforcement of the law,” Branch said. “We either enforce for everyone or do not enforce for anyone. . . . Now the problem is, if you are booked for any crime, the booking information is public, including to the INS, but we have no control over that. The best advice is: Do not get arrested.”

That concerns Lopez. “This is having the effect of criminalizing people,” he said. “If you get caught in the criminal justice system, the next step is the immigration system.”

At Thursday’s news conference, Angelica Pacheco, 27, said she was detained at a DMV office in Fullerton in February when she tried to renew an identification card she had for a decade.

The Anaheim resident, who has three American-born children, said she was told to appear in court to respond to a misdemeanor charge of giving false information to the DMV. The charge carries a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

“I am afraid, because if I go to court I may be deported,” she said. “We are not criminals. I just wanted an ID. We pay taxes. We just want to be treated like human beings.”

A Westminster nonprofit group said the DMV has sent letters to some Latino drivers giving them 30 days to show proof of a valid Social Security number or lose their licenses.

Helen Ortega, who teaches English at Abrazar--an organization that provides a variety of services to the immigrant community--said “hundreds” of their members have received the letters and “more than a hundred” had their vehicles impounded by police for driving without a license.

Some drivers are getting their licenses revoked after 15 years of driving, she said.

“Yes, these people are here illegally, but they still have to drive to work. Can’t the DMV get a clue? They’re not going to stop driving if they have to get to work,” Ortega said.