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New Mexico Finally Cracking Down

CSDL, Thu, 11/18/2010 - 16:42

The people of the world-famous magnet state of New Mexico are starting to understand that international criminals are coming from all over the planet to obtain New Mexico driver’s licenses and ID cards. Since 2003, untold numbers of non-U.S. citizens have taken advantage of a permissive law that has authorized the issuance of state identity documents to applicants without requiring proof of lawful presence or legal residency. Obtaining these IDs enables those unlawfully present in the United States to perpetrate many different serious crimes, from identity fraud to terrorism.
 
In an August 13 Associated Press article, CSDL President Brian Zimmer made the statement that "Washington state and New Mexico have been magnet states for the fraudulent document brokers, human traffickers and alien smugglers for years." (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38697666/ns/us_news-immigration_a_nation_divided)
 
However, the state’s gubernatorial victor, Susana Martinez, has promised not only to finally change that law, but to go even further. A spokesman from her office has said, "Governor-elect Martinez believes we must work to repeal the current law that allows illegal immigrants to receive licenses. In addition, she believes we must also revoke the licenses that have been issued."
 
The following article cites a few of those fraudsters who have been caught exploiting this vulnerability in the past. With Asians, Europeans, and South Americans having been uncovered in such schemes, it is not difficult to imagine from where else in the world foreign visitors may have been coming to get New Mexico driver’s licenses.
 
Friday, November 12, 2010

N.M. Driver's Licenses a Global Attraction

By Astrid Galvan
Copyright © 2010 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Staff Writer

          People from all over the country — make that the world — are traveling to New Mexico not just for its tourist attractions or green chile. They are also coming for driver's licenses.
        Police have arrested a growing number of suspected undocumented immigrants who have traveled from as far as China to fraudulently obtain New Mexico licenses.
        They are drawn by a 2003 law that makes New Mexico one of only three states that does not require proof of citizenship or legal residency.
        Take Shu Sheng Lui, who told a State Police officer arresting her Wednesday that she had flown to Albuquerque from Missouri and paid a man $500 to help her get a New Mexico driver's license.
        Lui, 33, along with Hiew Fongyee,31, and Lam Fong Siu,44, were arrested at the Motor Vehicle Division office on 1625 Rio Bravo SW on Wednesday after they tried getting licenses with forged residency documents, according to criminal complaints.
        The Chinese nationals had paid 22-year-old Gordon Leong to get them forged documents showing they live in New Mexico so they could obtain driver's licenses, the complaints state.
        Leong was arrested and charged with conspiracy, a fourth degree felony. Lui faces the same charge. Fongyee and Siu, who both live in New York, were charged with one count of altered, forged or fictitious license.
        "I think it shows that we have a good process in place that is meant to detect any fraud or anyone trying to get a license without proper documentation," MVD spokesman S.U. Mahesh said of the arrests.
        Mahesh said it's common for different types of people to try to get fraudulent driver's licenses, citing examples of teenagers looking for fake ID's to purchase alcohol and people whose licenses have been suspended.
        But police have arrested a growing number of suspected undocumented immigrants who traveled here to get New Mexico licenses, often paying thousands of dollars for help obtaining forged or fake proof of residency such as utility or home rental bills.
        New Mexicans have generally opposed the state's driver's license law, according to a Journal Poll that found that 67 percent of residents are against it.
        Both gubernatorial candidates said they would work to repeal the law, but Gov.-elect Susana Martinez took it a step further by saying she would also work to revoke the licenses that were issued under the law.
        "The recent stories of those who are here illegally and those who pay or use fake documents to obtain a driver's license in New Mexico highlight the problems with this law," Martinez spokesman Danny Diaz wrote in an e-mail to the Journal. "Governor-elect Martinez believes we must work to repeal the current law that allows illegal immigrants to receive licenses. In addition, she believes we must also revoke the licenses that have been issued."

        Some recent cases:
        • On Oct. 19, State Police arrested two Chinese nationals accused of being part of an illegal driver's license scheme at an MVD office in Santa Fe. Police told the Journal that Shunxian Feng, 33, flew in from China for the sole purpose of getting a driver's license.
        Workers at MVD became suspicious after seeing Feng with Shu Juan Liu, whom workers had noticed at MVD several times. Shu Juan Liu fled, but Feng and Yue Xian Liu, 50, were arrested and charged with conspiracy and forging a fictitious license.
        • In September, police arrested a Costa Rican national for his suspected role in helping four illegal immigrants obtain driver's licenses at the MVD on 4575 San Mateo NE in Albuquerque. Adolfo J. Mora-Granados, 23, is accused of using fake lease agreements to get the immigrants licenses. He was charged with four counts of conspiracy and six counts of forgery.
        • Also that month, police arrested a Brazilian man who allegedly tried getting two other Brazilians licenses in Albuquerque. Police said Christian Sobral was paid $3,000 to fly in the Brazilians and help them get licenses. He was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit a felony.
        • In July, a 32-year-old Illinois man was arrested after helping two undocumented Polish immigrants who live in Illinois get licenses in Albuquerque.
        Police allege that Jaroslaw Kowalczyk charged the immigrants $1,000 each to drive them to New Mexico and get them forged documents.
        Mahesh said getting a driver's license isn't as easy as some might think. License applications go through the Tax Fraud Investigations Division, which reviews documents to make sure they're real and legal.
        "People have this misconception that people can just walk in and get a license," he said. "Anyone that's trying to get a fraudulent license should be warned it won't be that easy."

Read more:

ABQJOURNAL NEWS/STATE: N.M. Driver's Licenses a Global Attractionhttp://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/122348514523newsstate11-12-10.htm#ixzz1559X0Qj1
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