Fake documents for the undocumented in Houston

Houston Chronicle:

Illegal immigrants fearful of being caught in stepped-up workplace raids are fueling a growing market in Houston for phony immigration and work documents.

The result, experts say, is a glut of false, altered and counterfeit documents that are easily obtained at Houston-area flea markets, businesses and clandestine printing shops set up in homes and apartments. The bogus documents include counterfeit Texas driver's licenses, fake Social Security and "green cards," and even worthless international driver's licenses sold here and in other states.

"You could put all of HPD full time on this thing, and I don't think we could put a dent in it," said Lt. Robert Sells, with the Texas Department of Public Safety's driver's license fraud unit.

The demand has been so strong that law enforcement officers in Texas have been bribed in recent years to sell the valuable documents, and several dozen have been caught.

An ex-federal prosecutor said heightened enforcement has not only boosted demand for counterfeit documents, but increased the price and quality of the fakes.

"You're seeing stepped-up law enforcement of the worksite, and that leads to more identity theft and false document prosecution," said Kevin Lachus, a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney now with the Tindall & Foster immigration firm in Houston. "That results in more training for human resource officials, which makes them more expert in spotting documents, and results in even more sophisticated counterfeit identity documents."

On Houston streets, a top-quality counterfeit green card proving legal residency commands $500, federal agents say. Even shabby green cards bring $15 to $100 while a good-quality package — a driver's license, green card and Social Security card — can cost $350.

Immigrants sometimes resort to buying real documents from corrupt officials at steep prices.

The most significant recent case involved five immigrants from India and the Caribbean who were fooled by immigration agents posing as crooked law officers. Three were videotaped in a Houston government office last summer as they handed over $15,000 apiece for green cards, according to court records.

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There is much more. The business is one that is ripe for sting operations and there have been several. Some of the bigger stings have been with Asian immigrants. This is a by product of stepped up enforcement, which in turn has resulted in stepped up enforcement of phone documents.