PT-LawMom

Purchasing “papers” from a guy on the corner of a heavily immigrant-populated community is so commonplace that most undocumented immigrants don’t even bat an eyelash at doing so. Often coming from a cash economy, they may not consider or even be aware of the impact employment or financial choices made using those documents could have on another person’s life. Today the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that will examine whether an undocumented immigrant must have knowledge that, by using purchased documents, they are defrauding a live person.

You all know I am immigrant-friendly. That doesn’t mean that I agree with this practice. That said, I think the U.S. government needs to provide more paths to allow blue collar and other immigrant workers and their families into this country. Give them the LEGAL paperwork they need to do the jobs Americans don’t necessarily want to do. Help them to bring their immediate family over so that they aren’t all alone here. Give them the opportunity to buy into healthcare plans, get educated, etc.

I will be very interested to see how the Court comes down on this. Identity theft is a widespread, heartbreaking crime. If I was the victim of this crime, I would be devastated. That said, I think there is a fundamental knowledge difference between the guy who hacks into your local shoe store’s computer system and steals credit card info and the guy who comes here to work hard and earn money and does what the people he meets tell him to do in order to survive. I say go after the guy who stole those IDs in the first place and is selling them. Treat it like drug dealing and target the big fish.