Police crack down on illegal immigrants’ fake IDs

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Employers who don’t know how to spot fake identification may be hiring illegal immigrants and unknowingly supporting crime.

“A lot of people who come illegally to the United States get documentation to operate and give themselves legitimacy here, but it’s also used by criminal organizations to further their criminal activity,” said James Dinkins, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent.

“Homeland security is a shared burden; the federal government can’t do it alone. Everyone who is living here needs to take additional steps to make sure we’re not a target of terrorism.”

Anne Arundel police are placing one full-time detective on an ICE task force in Baltimore City that investigates document and immigration benefits fraud. Nationwide 17 similar task forces have been created

The task force, which started in April 2006, includes a full-time Baltimore County police officer and officials from the federal departments of Homeland Security, Justice and Labor, Dinkins said.

“This task force is really looking for document vendors ... the people who are producing, manufacturing and distributing counterfeit government identification such as resident alien cards, Social Security cards and passports,” Dinkins said.

In addition to fooling employers, counterfeit documentation can support criminal activity by giving wanted criminals a new identity, he said.

The Anne Arundel police joined forces with the task force after County Executive John R. Leopold this summer required all businesses contracted in the county to comply with federal laws regarding employment of illegal immigrants.

“We’re giving as much assistance as possible to county employers in the job of trying to discern who is a legal and who is an illegal immigrant,” Leopold said.

Four Anne Arundel police officers from each of the county’s districts will be trained in spotting fake documents to assist in ICE investigations.

Anne Arundel police are gathering applications for the full-time detective on the task force and looking for someone who speaks Spanish, said Mark Shawkey, police spokesman. The applications are due by the end of November, and the training should begin in the next month.

AT A GLANCE

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Baltimore City arrested Irwin J. Fredman, who filed hundreds of fraudulent applications with the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Fredman paid $200,000 to the federal government.

Source: ICE

cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com

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