Valid identification remains key concern for authorities

Valid identification remains
key concern for authorities
Schemes continue to run
as immigrants seek ID
needed to work, live here
By dick metzgar
Staff Writer

FREEHOLD — It’s nice to know who people really are, especially for police officers investigating crimes or reports of suspicious activity in a location within their jurisdiction.

This is especially true when police are dealing with people believed to be foreign nationals who cannot produce valid and legal identification papers, and it has been increasingly important since the devastating terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Identifying many of the immigrant Hispanics in the borough, many of whom are believed to be Mexican nationals, is a major problem, according to police officials.

"Valid identification is very important for us," Freehold Borough Police Capt. Michael DiAiso said. "Of course, there is a lot of fake identification being used, which only adds to the problem."

Fake identification can include Social Security cards, "green cards," which signify that a foreign national can work in the United States, and fake driver’s licenses.

A number of foreign nationals have been charged after attempting to obtain legitimate driver’s licenses through the use of phony identification papers in recent years.

DiAiso said people are no longer required by law to produce valid identi-fication when confronted by police, except for a valid driver’s license when they are driving a car.

Police are also not allowed by law to request documentation, such as "green cards." Only federal Immigration and Naturalization Service officers can make that request of an individual.

However, prospective employees are required to provide valid Social Security cards for income tax purposes to an employer before they can be legally hired. Employers of immigrants for day labor in the Freehold area and surrounding towns include landscapers, farmers, contractors and maintenance companies.

DiAiso said discussions have been held at training sessions for law enforcement officials over the last five or six years on how illegal immigrants can produce legitimate Social Security numbers, which involve residents in possession of valid Social Security cards.

"This scheme involves residents who possess valid Social Security cards, but may be out of work themselves and are not actively using their Social Security cards for employment," DiAiso said when asked why police have a problem targeting employers who employ illegal immigrants.

"These legal residents rent their Social Security cards to the illegals who are then able to provide an employer with a valid Social Security number," he continued. "The employer obtains a valid Social Security number from a prospective employee (and the employer) is then able to turn in the proper paper work to the federal Internal Revenue Service.

"The employers have done nothing illegal as long they have obtained a valid Social Security number, although the person using the number is not the one it was intended for," the captain said.

DiAiso said it is important for people to be able to provide photo identification cards.

"For example, Social Security cards do not have photos," DiAiso said. "Some immigrants show us international driver’s licenses. These can be purchased for $200 or $300, but these are not valid identification. We do not recognize them."

Producing and selling phony identi-fication is a big business, DiAiso said.

"You can obtain phony identification cards, from Social Security cards, driver’s licenses, and even green cards," DiAiso said. "They can be found in New York City and northern New Jersey in places like Newark, but you can find them just about any place for sale."

DiAiso said that a ring in Howell that was allegedly producing false identification cards and selling them to illegal aliens that was broken up by police and federal immigration officials in early November is an example.

Five people, believed to be Mexican nationals, were charged with producing false identification, including Social Security cards and resident alien cards, which were sold in pairs for $60, according to officials.

"That will cut off at least one source of illegal identification cards," DiAiso said.