New rule would mean updating green cards
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 1:17 PM PDT
By Thacher Schmid
Printable version
E-mail this articleLongtime immigrants living in the U.S. using decades-old "lawful permanent resident" identification cards -- so-called "green" cards -- may soon have to replace them with new versions that will feature photographs and fingerprints.
The rule, proposed Aug. 22 by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), would affect an estimated 750,000 U.S. citizens. The affected cards were issued from 1979 to 1989.
Officials from both USCIS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said the proposed change would close a security loophole.
"What's really great about this is the counterfeit documents that are out there, this should help eliminate that problem," said Lorie Dankers, spokeswoman for ICE in Seattle.
"It's better security for the American people and it's better I.D. for you," said Sharon Rummery, a spokeswoman for USCIS in San Francisco. She added that if individuals are unable to pay the $370 fee, they can request a waiver.
The decision is an attempt to prevent identification fraud by illegal immigrants. If forged, the older cards could be used as "breeder" documents to secure other documents needed to get jobs or benefits -- such as a driver's license, state I.D. card or Social Security card.
Although USCIS is touting the new cards as a way to cut down on fraud, the agency's own study found the older cards were used illegally by only one of 245 cardholders.
An employee of Longview's Ethnic Support Council, a Longview-based social services agency that helps local immigrants, and others say the old cards are rare nowadays.
"In eight years, I've only seen one of these cards, and this was last Saturday," said Jovita Potter of the Ethnic Support Council. "If they're going to stay here, better that they just become a citizen."
Loren Hanna, a local church pastor and latino community activist, said he agrees with the decision to update the cards, and he said he has been helping a few local immigrants exhange theirs.
The proposed updating of the older "green" cards is "in some ways" part of a wider federal effort to crack down on identification fraud, illegal immigrantion and those who employ illegal immigrants, Dankers said.
On Aug. 10, the Department of Homeland Security announced a new rule requiring companies to fire employees if they are unable to verify the worker's Social Security number or face $10,000 fines.
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