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Forgery cases spike in June
So far for 2009, 48 aggravated forgery cases have been filed
Published Thursday, July 9, 2009
The county charged more people with aggravated forgery in June than any previous month in 2009, with a number of those charged being immigrant workers at Quality Pork Processors who used fraudulent documents to gain employment.
Fifteen people were charged with the felony offense in June, and as of July 3, two more charges had been filed this month. That brings the total in 2009 to 48 cases. There were only 42 cases in 2008.
Many of the cases seen recently are similar to those of Narciso Fernando-Alejo, 32, and Adelina Waldo-Cerna, 33.
Their 505 Ninth St. NW home was searched on July 2, and authorities found a number of fraudulent documents belonging to each person. Fernando-Alejo admitted to detectives that he had used a fraudulent Kentucky ID and Social Security card to gain employment at QPP.
Both face multiple counts of aggravated forgery and are scheduled for court appearances in the next few weeks.
In response to cases like Fernando-Alejo’s, QPP Human Resource Director Dale Wicks said in an e-mailed statement that the company has “cooperated with Law Enforcement.”
“Quality Pork Processors, Inc. uses the tools available to us, including the government’s E-Verify program, which has been used by QPP for many years to authenticate a person’s information regarding authorization to work in the United States,” according to the statement.
The cases have fallen within a broader discussion of immigration, legal and illegal, that has been prominent in Austin recently.
Last month, Samuel Johnson, a member of the National Socialist Movement, held an illegal immigration rally outside the Mower County Law Enforcement Center, decrying illegal immigrants for taking jobs and leading to gang violence.
During that rally, another group protested Johnson’s message, calling for people to consider human rights and denounce Nazism.
On Monday, Johnson again made his feelings known, this time speaking in front of the City Council, saying the number of forgery cases involving immigrants lately was alarming.
“We’re trying to solve this problem,” Johnson said of himself and supporters, “but people get too sick of it.”
Johnson said local officials have not done enough, and said police should be working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency responsible for such issues.
Police chief Paul Philipp said his office routinely contacts ICE when they have serious cases.
He also said ICE has assisted with some forgery investigations and searches in Austin.
Philipp added that ICE has taken action in a number of cases in the past, including enforcing deportations.
ICE spokesman Tim Counts said the department is involved with local agencies, including those in Mower County, on a daily basis.
This involvement includes the ICE Agreements of Cooperation in Communities to Enhance Safety and Security (ACCESS), which provides local law enforcement agencies an opportunity to team with ICE to combat local challenges.
He said the department is busy across the country but still doing a good job of enforcing immigration laws.
John Keller, executive director of the Minnesota Immigrant Law Center, said a rise in forgery cases, like those in Austin, are due in part to an increased demand for workers combined with a federal system that often has no pathways for those looking for proper work documentation.
“It’s a perfect storm,” he said.
Keller said he often gets calls from people who want help getting work documents, but says his office regularly has to tell them there is simply nothing that can be done under the current system.
This creates what Keller calls a “bizarre niche” for the buying and selling of IDs for work purposes, where an individual will buy valid IDs but often substitute his or her own photograph.
Though Keller said the E-Verify worker authentication system has its strengths, he thinks the method should not be considered the whole solution.
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that administers E-Verify, the system is used by more than 100,000 employers nationwide.
E-Verify utilizes Social Security and Department of Homeland Security records, and about 96.1 percent of all cases run through E-Verify were instantly found to be “employment authorized,” according to a recent study.
The Achilles heel of the system, Keller said, is its inability to detect real documents being used by the wrong person.
Also, Keller said checks that don’t come up with a photo of the potential worker, or come up with old or outdated photos, can make verification difficult.
USCIS formally launched a photo screening tool in September 2007 and matches photos from Employment Authorization Documents or green cards with its database.
Ultimately, Keller said reform is needed to the whole system of immigration.
He said the answer could be some type of earned legalization, where those found to be in the country illegally would face fines but could get in the back of the line for legal immigration.
“The problems that bubble up in a town like Austin are the result of a broken system,” Keller said.
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Comments
Posted by Austinalum (anonymous) on July 9, 2009 at 1:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Its about time for QPP to clean house and verify the credentials of all its employees including the use of E-Verify. If 100,000 other employers use E-Verify, why doesn't QPP???
"Police chief Paul Philipp said his office routinely contacts ICE when they have serious cases." Why doesn't the police chief alert ICE in ALL cases involving illegal immigrants? The non serious cases just become serious cases later. The sooner these illegals are deported, the better.
Maybe the Austin city council could adopt an "illegal employment fine" for every employee found to be illegal. If the fine were $100,000 for each occurrence, maybe Hormel and QPP would finally get the message.
Posted by Aletheia_Kratos (anonymous) on July 9, 2009 at 2:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Austinalum - to answer your first question, I refer to back to the article. There you will find this paragraph:
"“Quality Pork Processors, Inc. uses the tools available to us, including the government’s E-Verify program, which has been used by QPP for many years to authenticate a person’s information regarding authorization to work in the United States,” according to the statement."
That seems to answer your question about why QPP doesn't use E-Verify by explaining that they do use it and have used it for years.
However, later in the story is the truth about E-Verify (at least part of the truth). That can be found in the paragraph that says:
"The Achilles heel of the system, Keller said, is its inability to detect real documents being used by the wrong person."
So, using E-Verify is a good part of a solution but it does not solve the problem of detecting people with real but stolen documents.
Hope that helped.
Posted by Norman (anonymous) on July 9, 2009 at 6:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To echo Althia's remarks: E-verify assures the I.D. provided by the applicant is legitimate. It is difficult, if not impossible for employers know if the applicant is the person depicted in the I.D. Unless fingerprint matching or a genetic identifier is used, it's almost impossible for employers to be 100% certain their employees are legal. Hopefully, such systems will be implemented soon.
Posted by Hootch (anonymous) on July 9, 2009 at 9:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Good laws ARE in place, GOOD enforcement is non-existent.
Posted by sc1sc2sc3 (anonymous) on July 10, 2009 at 8:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Always to jump on the band wagon against Hormel and QPP. Sad some people are so narrow minded. Can you not read? Or maybe you do not understand English? It is a known fact that minorities are by far the ones who get a job at QPP and stick with it. Also, as was mentioned, ID's, Social Security cards and birth certificates are/can be reviewed. A person doesn't necessarily need to make something up or use fake ones. Plenty of people here in the USA sell their documents and that's how illegal people use them. Don't blame the companies for checking their validity. I always thought it would be a good idea to put a person's thumb print right on their driver's license or ID.
Posted by spamman (anonymous) on July 10, 2009 at 8:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hootch, you have it figured out. The pooooolice would rather sit under a shade tree with their radar gun and generate reveunue for their Xmas party, rather then capture and deport illegals. Just let me be the bus driver. I'll mareachee music down and Larry Welk on the way back for the snow birds needing a ride back for the summer.
Posted by anonymous2 (anonymous) on July 10, 2009 at 3:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How about we make it a risk/reward type of situation? If a company is employing an illegal alien and the Feds find them first, the company gets a hefty fine. If a company believes they have hired an illegal alien and turns them in to the Feds, then they receive a reward that could go towards their bottom line. The fines could be used to subsidize the rewards program.
Illegal aliens caught re-entering the country can be sent to Gitmo once our shoddy president clears that out. Then they can be released into Castro's custody.
Posted by lilme (anonymous) on July 13, 2009 at 2:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I do believe I mentioned in an earlier post that they would trot out Dale Wicks when the heat got turned up! This makes me smile. So you know they are worried. Many people are not aware of how many times that man has been told that someone is working under a false identity and he does NOTHING about it. He will only do something IF it will cost him his job. Then he looks for a scape goat and blames it on them while he touts himself and the company as following the law. The police need to step it up and follow through. I am sorry but this is insane if you lock these folks up and just let them out right away for a later court date. What does that get us? Deportation should be within a certain time period no more than three days long. That would force police to do the work that they should right away. However, another thought that needs to be out there is this, lets say they do take them all away? Who will work at QPP? Are people aware of the financial blow that will impact all of Austin if that should occur? Will Mr. Johnson go and fill that job? I am not saying that we should continue looking the other way but we should keep in mind what a knee jerk reaction would also bring. Does any one remember the Farmland fire in Albert Lea? A lot of folks were happy to see so many immigrants leave. But that city is still a shadow of its former self. Do we want that to happen here in Austin? Its a real Catch 22 and complete reform will help but it must be enforced all the way through to the very end otherwise we are all just pissin in the wind.
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