Same article, different headline. And another one.
Posted on 06/03/2006 8:39:20 PM PDT by LostInTheWoods
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Luis Hernandez just laughs as he sells fake driver's licenses and Social Security cards to illegal immigrants near a park known for shady deals.
The joke, to him and others in his line of work, is the government's promise to put people like him out of business with a tamperproof national ID card.
"One way or another, we'll always find a way," said Hernandez, 35, a sidewalk operator who is part of a complex counterfeiting network around MacArthur Park, where authentic-looking IDs are available for as little as $150.
Some of those coming to MacArthur Park are teenagers who want a fake ID so they can go to bars and drink. Others are ex-convicts whose criminal records make working under their real names difficult. But most are illegal immigrants who need work documents.
As Congress struggles to reform laws that affect the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, one central question is how to crack down on fake documents and punish the employers who accept them.
President Bush has suggested foreign workers carry a single ID that includes a fingerprint. The House and Senate, meanwhile, have passed bills that would force employers to verify job seekers' Social Security numbers with a phone call and immigration status through an electronic database.
Many employers, eager for cheap labor, have a "don't ask, don't tell" attitude toward their employees' immigration status and do not check their papers.
In one indication of the size of the problem, federal authorities in April arrested nearly 1,200 illegal immigrants and a few managers working at IFCO Systems plants from Southern California to New York. More than half of the 5,800 employees at the pallet and crate manufacturing company in 2005 had invalid or mismatched Social Security numbers, authorities said.
Immigration officials said the fake document business has become increasingly difficult to stop.
In the past, authorities could often break up a network by raiding a central "document mill" where Social Security cards, passports and licenses might be drying on a large printing press, said Kevin Jeffery, deputy agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles.
Now documents are made with illegal software on laptop computers. That mobility makes them harder to bust.
"With a computer and a printer, you are in business," Jeffery said.
Authorities can also be stymied by complex delivery networks.
Around MacArthur Park, sellers who openly offer fake IDs do not actually carry any of the documents. Instead, they negotiate prices as high as $300 for a package containing a driver's license, Social Security card and green card. Next, they send the buyer to a less crowded area a few blocks away, where a picture is taken and the customer pays up.
The picture and cash change hands a few times before arriving at an apartment where a laptop, printer and laminating machine spit out the documents. Within an hour, a runner _ perhaps a young man dressed as a student, or an elderly woman _ delivers the documents near the site of the original deal.
Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, said it is not easy work. The biggest threats are disgruntled customers, undercover agents who record deals with cameras the size of a button, and gang members demanding protection money.
When Hernandez senses a customer might be a police officer, he calls out "7/11," and his underlings disappear. If a seller is arrested, others collect money to bail him out of jail.
"We are not trying to do anything bad," said Sergio Guitierrez, 35, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who sells IDs. "Immigrants just need to work."
"This is the government's fault," said Maria Zuniga, 55, an illegal immigrant from Honduras who sells and transports documents. "They won't even give us a number to work or a driver's license."
DMV workers here in Maryland were caught selling the real deal last year.
Amazing powers of rationalization.
Tired of demands and accusations from you filthy criminals, dear. Time to go back to your rat hole country.
INFO: Collage of iris images: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/jgd1000/iriscollage.jpg ------------------------------------------------------ From: How Iris RecognitionWorks, by John Daugman, PhD, OBE University of Cambridge, The Computer Laboratory, Cambridge http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/jgd1000/irisrecog.pdfexcerpt:
The iris begins to form in the third month of gestation (Kronfeld 1962) and the structures creating its pattern are largely complete by the eighth month, although pigment accretion can continue into the first postnatal years. Its complex pattern can contain many distinctive features such as arching ligaments, furrows, ridges, crypts, rings, corona, freckles, and a zigzag collarette, some of which may be seen in Figure 1. Iris colour is determined mainly by the density of melanin pigment (Chedekel 1994) in its anterior layer and stroma, with blue irises resulting from an absence of pigment: long wavelength light penetrates and is absorbed by the pigment epithelium, while shorter wavelengths are reflected and scattered by the stroma. The striated trabecular meshwork of elastic pectinate ligament creates the predominant texture under visible light, whereas in the near infrared (NIR) wavelengths used for unobtrusive imaging at distances of up to 1 meter, deeper and somewhat more slowly modulated stromal features dominate the iris pattern. In NIR wavelengths, even darkly pigmented irises reveal rich and complex features.
------------------------------------------------------ From: Biometric Technologies - Iris Recognition http://www.thepointgroup.org/biometriciris.shtmlexcerpts:
How Does Iris Recognition Work?
Iris recognition is based on the most mathematically unique biometric - the iris of the
eye. The human iris is absolutely unique, even between twins or an individual's right and
left eyes. The iris itself is stable throughout a person's life (approximately from the
age of one). The physical characteristics of the iris do not change with age. None of the
other biometric solutions, including fingerprint, facial recognition, retina scan, and
voice recognition provide the level of accuracy, speed, or cost-effectiveness found with
iris recognition technology.
Iris recognition biometric technology positively determines the identity of an
individual by capturing a high resolution digital photograph of the individual's iris.
The unique features contained in the iris are compared against a database and the
identity of the individual determined.
The technology is non-intrusive - the individual does not need to touch anything to
use the system. Automatic voice prompting, auto focus, plus enrollment and recognition
speed make the system easy to use. An individual is detected automatically upon
approaching the imager (a digital camera). A glance at the aperture mirror from 3-10"
distance allows the camera to capture an iris image, which is digitally processed into a
512 byte IrisCode® record. No PINs, passwords, or cards are required.
Iris recognition technology is strictly "opt in." Subjects agree to enroll and
participate, reducing privacy concerns. The user must consciously elect to participate in
iris recognition for authentication by presenting their eye to the camera. They also must
be within a designated capture zone, which is approximately 3-10 inches away from the
camera. The technology cannot work without the explicit cooperation of the end-user. All
a person needs to do is look into a camera for a few seconds. A video image is taken of
their iris which is non-invasive and inherently safe. Unlike Retina Scan, there are no
lasers, strong lights or any kind of harmful beams.
Iris recognition was proven to have the highest biometric accuracy, with no false
matches in over two million cross-comparisons, according to Biometric Product Testing
Final Report (19 March 2001, Center for Mathematics and Scientific Computing, National
Physics Laboratory, U.K.)
[...]
Iris Recognition Technology Overview
* Positive Identification
* Most Accurate Biometric
* Ease of Use
* Rapid Throughput
* Completely Non-Invasive
* Highly Scalable
Ease of Use
* No PINs, passwords or cards needed for identification
* Database is designed for easy maintenance
* Hands-free
* Requires minimal cooperation
Most Accurate
* Statistical probability of iris achieving a false accept is 1 in 1.2 million
* Examines more than 240 of the 400 measurable variables (degrees of freedom) in the human eye
* Uniqueness = Accuracy
- The probability of two individuals having the same iris pattern is 1 in 10 to the 72nd
- Twins have same DNA but different iris patterns
- Right and left eye are totally different
- Stable for life after age 1
Sorry, I did a title search and got nothing. My fault.
Thanks for the tip! 8¬)
Snipers...
I wouldn't be worried either: most laws Congress passes aren't taken seriously...even by members of Congress...
My sentiments exactly. Are these people retarded?
Digitized thumb prints should do the trick. It's child's play transmit the info that makes up a thumb print.
Cheaters hiring cheaters.
These illegal employers envy the corrupt mexican upper class and its cheap low skilled workers. These illegal employers say to themselves, "Gotta get me some of that!"
Don't get me wrong, I am all for business, Capitalism, free trade, and making a profit. But play by the damn rules already.
Inside jobbers should get hammered.
And some think the illegals and legals WILL VOTE SOON.. Probably closer to the truth is they HAVE BEEN VOTING.. and will continue to even more.. Any that thinks democrat operatives are not on this like white on a flour tortilla are fooling themselves..
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.