America's Voice Blog

Posted 10/23/08 at 10:44pm

Extreme ID charges to be heard in Supreme Court

Does this sound like the best way to solve our immigration problems?

Hunt down those who are using fake IDs to work; distort the charges by accusing them not of having fake documents but of "aggravated identity theft"; coerce each individual into pleading guilty to lesser offenses; toss them in jail; and, after they've served jail time on the taxpayer's dime, deport them?

To us, it sounds ineffective. Time-consuming. A wee bit costly. A tad extreme. 

Soon, though, we'll get to hear what the Supreme Court thinks.

The highest court in the land has decided to hear the case of Ignacio Carlos Flores-Figueroa, a Mexican citizen who found himself behind bars after he was convicted of "aggravated identity theft." According to Flores-Figueroa's lawyers, he made up a Social Security number so he could get a job at a steel plant in East Moline, Ill. He was sentenced to more than six years in prison. 

His lawyers argue that because he didn't know the Social Security number was already taken, it wasn't stealing, and that he had no intention of using the number for anything remotely resembling identity theft.

"When a person makes up a Social Security number, having no idea whether it belongs to someone else, it is hard to see how that conduct qualifies as ‘theft' ‑ much less ‘aggravated theft,'" the lawyers said in an Associated Press story. 

Meanwhile, the Bush administration said it doesn't matter. He used the fake ID. He's guilty of identity theft. Period.

Well, it figures that when your political party goads you into derailing your own immigration reform plan, you just throw the book at undocumented workers and hope it sticks. Having the punishment fit the crime is no longer a priority for Lady Justice. 

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. 

According to the Chicago Tribune, the legal tactic was first used in January 2007, when 53 meatpacking plant employees were arrested and charged with identity theft. This past May, more than 300 of the undocumented workers rounded up and prosecuted during the Postville, Iowa, meatpacking plant raid were criminally charged. 

"With this threat hanging over their heads, 302 immigrant workers were pressured into pleading guilty to lesser charges," according to the Inspired Faith, Effective Action blog, mostly document fraud. "These lesser charges may bar many of them from returning to the United States ever again, even if their family remains in the U.S." 

Unfortunately for Mr. Flores-Figueroa, the Supreme Court won't hear arguments until next year. In the meantime, this Administration will likely "stay the course" or, rather, increase its use of extreme identity theft charges against undocumented workers, no matter the cost.

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