INS Vet Warns Public About Illegal Immigration-Identity Theft Link
by Chad Groening
November 17, 2003
(AgapePress) - A retired Immigration and Naturalization Service official says Americans need to be aware of the growing problem of identity theft by illegal aliens. He says tens of thousands of fraudulent documents have been confiscated by federal officials over the past several years.At the recent Midwest Immigration Summit in Indianapolis, Indiana, Brian Perryman, who retired from the INS in March, warned those in attendance that illegal aliens are increasingly using fake documents to break the law.
"The official use of fraudulent documents by non-citizens is extensive," Perryman says. According to his INS sources, the many thousands of documents intercepted by immigration inspectors at U.S. ports of entry in each of the last few years "were presented by aliens attempting to enter the U.S., seek employment, obtain immigration benefits -- even naturalization and permanent residency," he says.
The 34-year immigration department veteran cites a recent report by the General Accounting Office that he finds quite revealing. The 2002 report indicates that "the prevalence of identity theft appears to be growing; moreover, identity theft is not typically a stand-alone crime."
Rather, Perryman notes, the report says identity theft is usually a component of one or more other "white collar" crimes, such as bank fraud, credit card access device fraud, or the use of "counterfeit financial instruments."
The former INS officer asserts this problem is not only costly to individual U.S. citizens, but it also puts the American public at risk since stolen identification could be used in criminal activities.
