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 Invasion
USA
Mexicans Compromise High-Tech Security Visas...
[Jm
Kouri] 3/1/06
United
States immigration and State Department officials fear that
their newly developed, high-tech visas are being sold on the
Mexican black market. The US government hoped the newly designed
visas would help in curtailing rampant illegal immigration
at the Mexican border, but investigators believe many of them
are being bought or rented by Mexicans seeking illegal entry
into the US.
Well over
11,000 of these Laser Visas, issued to Mexicans for legitimate
travel into the United States were reported stolen or "lost" in
just two border cities in 2005. Government officials claim
this is a 15 percent jump from 2004 figures.
Contributor
Jim
Kouri
Jim
Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the
National Association of Chiefs of Police. He's former
chief at a New York City housing project in Washington
Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters
covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he
served as director of public safety at a New Jersey
university. He's also served on the National
Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers
throughout the country. He writes for many police
and crime magazines including Chief of Police, Police
Times, The Narc Officer, Campus Law Enforcement Journal,
and others. He's appeared as on-air commentator
for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including
Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox
News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available
at Amazon.Com, Booksamillion.com, and can be ordered
at local bookstores. Kouri holds a bachelor of science
in criminal justice and master of arts in public administration
and he's a board certified protection professional. [go
to Kouri index]
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The ATM card-sized
documents, which include the legal holder's photograph and
scanned fingerprints, were actually developed for use in 1998
hopefully to increase security and standardize documents used
by Mexicans to cross the border since so many different types
of documentation made the screening process cumbersome and
confusing.
"While
many may have been legitimately 'lost,' it seems probable that
quite a few are either 'stolen' or 'reported stolen' in order
to sell them," a U.S. consular official, who declined
to be named, told Reuters.
"There
appears to be a healthy market for both buying and renting
laser visas on the border," she added.
Mexicans
call these visa cards "Micas," which allow bearers
to cross into the US without other supporting documents. The
card also allows them to travel up to 25 miles inside California
or Texas and they may remain in the US up to 30 days.
According
to figures provided by Reuters, 8,745 of the border crossing
cards went astray last year in Ciudad Juarez, south of El Paso,
Texas, and 3,095 in Tijuana, opposite San Diego, California.
No figures were available for other cities along the 2,000-mile
border.
The problem
got so bad that the US Embassy in Mexico City revamped its
visa policy late last year, but did not inform anyone of the
mounting problem. The embassy now replaces "lost" or
stolen cards with stickers placed inside passports hope this
will curb the illegal market of the laser cards.
The paradox
is that in an effort to beef up security at the Mexican border
using state-of-the-art technology, the US may have made it
even easier to compromise that very security.
Also, the
US is getting zero help from the Fox government in Mexico City
during the course of investigations. While not speaking "on
the record," off the record some US law enforcement people
believe elements within the Mexican federal and local governments
are assisting in the diversion of legitimate visas.
While US
authorities say they possess no concrete evidence that organized
Mexican human trafficking rings overseeing the illicit trade
are using these cards, many security experts believe there
are several organizations trafficking in this document.
But Tijuana
police claim most of the stray visas are sold by cash-strapped
holders to human traffickers in the gritty industrial city
of 2 million people, on a widely used route for Mexican illegal
immigrants headed for the Californian border.
Recently,
seven illegal aliens from Mexico were arrested for allegedly
operating a fraudulent document ring in Chicago's "Little
Village" area. The organized crime enterprise generated
approximately $2.5 million a year.
Found inside
the residence was equipment used for making fake government
documents, including: five high-speed computers, printers,
ID card printers, scanners, laminating pouches, foil strips
with security features, dozens of counterfeit identification
cards, and other document-making paraphernalia. The estimated
value of the seized items is approximately $10,000; the street
value of the software is believed to be about $100,000.
Law enforcement
commanders throughout the US believe that there are similar
operations being conducted by Mexican organized crime cells.
The Castorena crime family, a Mexican organized crime family
that has controlled the majority of the fraudulent document
manufacturing and sales trade in the US over the past 10 years,
is believed to be trafficking in these new high-tech visas.
Some even believe they are attempting to duplicate these cards. -CRO-
Sources: Santa Ana, CA Police Department, Federal Bureau
of Investigation, US Attorney's Office, California Highway
Patrol, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, National
Association of Chiefs of Police, American Federation of Police
copyright
2006 Jim Kouri
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