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Woman arrested in license scam; ferried illegals to Tennessee to obtain ID's, driving privileges
AP / STAR LEDGER ^ | Friday, July 15, 2005 | TOM FEENEY AND BRIAN DONOHUE

Posted on 07/15/2005 6:32:34 AM PDT by Liz

Every other week for at least 10 months, a Lakewood woman filled two passenger vans with illegal Hispanic immigrants and made the 11-hour drive from NJ to Knoxville, Tenn.......the payoff was a document that has become tough to get in NJ for those without US citizenship -- a valid driver's license.

Zeneida C. Rivera, 55, was arrested Wednesday when federal agents executed a search warrant at a Knoxville EconoLodge where she and six immigrants were staying.....One of them was from Newark, two from Princeton, one from New Brunswick and two from New York.

.............federal authorities allege Rivera, a native of Argentina, and her boyfriend, Ignacio Ramirez, a native of Puerto Rico, have been taking immigrants on two-day trips to Tennessee, one of only two states that allow non-U.S. citizens to obtain driving privileges. Utah is the other.

Once in Tennessee, Rivera and Mendoza provided their clients with a translator, local addresses and fake birth records.....They put them up in a hotel, took them back and forth from the driving test and then transported them back to New Jersey.

Agents from the FBI's Knoxville office have had the trips under surveillance since last fall, when they were first told about them by a confidential source........

Tennessee has had a two-tiered system in place for licensing drivers since last year...........That has made the state a draw for illegal immigrants who desperately need drivers' licenses for work.

"It's a survival matter," said Mahonrry Hidalgo, the chairman of the Immigration Committee for the Latin Leadership Alliance........"People need to drive to get to work........I hope the state understands the need for this workforce to have drivers' licenses."

The immigrants .....said they paid $950 each for the trip to Tennessee. The affidavit says Rivera told the FBI's confidential informant she sometimes charges $1,000.

(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: driverslicense; falseid; fraud; illegalimmigrants; immigrantlist; scam
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1 posted on 07/15/2005 6:32:34 AM PDT by Liz
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To: Liz

What's amazing about this story is that they LEFT NJ to commit this fraud. Usually, it's the other way around...


2 posted on 07/15/2005 6:36:33 AM PDT by frogjerk
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To: Liz
More from the article:

One of them, Alfredo, who identified himself as an illegal immigrant from Mexico and who did not want to give his last name, said he was dropping by to pick up car insurance forms that had been mailed to the Tennessee address he says he used when Rivera allegedly helped him obtain a driver's license in January.

"I need a license to drive my kids to school," he said. "This is a huge problem for everyone."

He said he and four others paid $300 each for the trip. He also said he knows at least 20 other immigrants in Lakewood who have done the same thing, and he wasn't sure they had done anything wrong.

"Is this legal or illegal?" he asked a reporter.

Actually, Alfie, you DON'T need a driver's license to take your kids to school - you yourself need a ride back to Mexico. The people this is a huge problem for are the CITIZENS of this country, of whom you are not one.

3 posted on 07/15/2005 6:42:21 AM PDT by nina0113
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To: Liz

This article is wrong. Virginia allows LEGAL RESIDENTS to obtain a driver's license. One doesn't have to be a citizen. I'm sure other states are like that, too.


4 posted on 07/15/2005 6:42:46 AM PDT by GummyIII (If you have the ability, it's your responsibility." Marine Sgt. John Place, Silver Star recipient)
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To: All

The Motor Voter Fraud Bill in action.


5 posted on 07/15/2005 6:43:42 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (We did not lose in Vietnam. We left.)
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To: Liz; Ernest_at_the_Beach; PhilDragoo; Travis McGee; Squantos; devolve; Happy2BMe; Smartass

I wonder if Al Gore's family is somehow responsible for this treason.

Tn has been identified as a place for Jihadists and Illegals to get driver's licenses before and after 9/11.

It is past time to bring the FBI in to arrest people involved in anyway in this. Then send those arrested to Gitmo until the WOT is over.


6 posted on 07/15/2005 6:44:03 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (The civilized world must win WW IV/the Final Crusade and destroy Jihadism!)
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To: Liz

At 950-$1000. a pop, she was making good $$$.


7 posted on 07/15/2005 6:45:14 AM PDT by Nathan Zachary
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To: nina0113; Liz

Actually, California has gotten really tough to get a license even if you were born here. Your name had better match what is on your Social Security #, letter by letter. Also, SS#'s, used by more than one person will stop any new license or re licensing.

8 posted on 07/15/2005 6:48:48 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (The civilized world must win WW IV/the Final Crusade and destroy Jihadism!)
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To: Nathan Zachary

****At 950-$1000. a pop****

A tax free pop at that!


9 posted on 07/15/2005 6:49:08 AM PDT by hoosiermama (prayers for all)
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To: Liz
Let's do the math... 6 "customers" in a car plus driver, trip to/from NJ ($200), 2 day stay at Econolodge ($100 * 7 = $700), various paperwork and post office boxes ($50) = $950 or $1000 per batch of 6, and she gets $6,000 per batch, making her profit about $5K per trip.

Done twice a month = $10K per month PROFIT ... want to bet that she is not reporting any of her $120,000 per year?

Please let the book be thrown at this woman, then let the IRS have her when the Feds are done with her.

10 posted on 07/15/2005 6:49:30 AM PDT by ikka
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To: Liz

"Good Ol' hard working folks" BUMP ...


11 posted on 07/15/2005 6:49:57 AM PDT by 11th_VA (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: Liz
Here's a link to a story about a corrupt employee of Virginia's Department of Motro Vehicles.

DMV manager charged with selling licenses to illegitmate applicants

This guy was charging between $2,000 - $3,500 for his " real" fake licences. A little pricy, but closer than Tenn and you got the goods straight from the man in charge.

12 posted on 07/15/2005 6:53:44 AM PDT by csvset
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To: nina0113
" "I need a [illegaly obtained] license to drive my [illegal immigrant] kids to school," he said. "This is a huge problem for everyone." [especially for the people who pay the taxes for those schools that your illegal kids are getting a free education in] "Is this legal or illegal?" he asked a reporter.

Playing stupid, aren't you Pedro. You are in this country ILLEGALY. Everything you do here is ILLEGAL. Including evading taxes, which you should be thrown in jail for like the rest of us would if we didn't pay them. Why do they get special exemptions?

13 posted on 07/15/2005 6:57:15 AM PDT by Nathan Zachary
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To: Liz

This is why legal citizens here in Tennessee need to plan on spending the entire day in one of these places to perform the simple task of renewing their driver's license. Between the gross inefficiency of state employees and the huge crowd of people who don't speak English, a person is tempted to just skip the whole thing and take the chance of getting ticketed for having an expired license. What baffled me was that I was required to go in person to renew my driver's license, but I could renew my handgun carry permit by mail.

I have to take my son in next week to take the test for his learner's permit and, since he's an American with American parents and born right here in Nashville, we'll need 75 proofs of citizenship and probably DNA testing to even get in line. Of course, if he could pass for Hispanic, it'd be a lot easier.


14 posted on 07/15/2005 7:02:20 AM PDT by Emmett McCarthy
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To: Nathan Zachary

He also needs the car to take his [illegal alien] kids to the emergency room for medical check ups ...


15 posted on 07/15/2005 7:04:35 AM PDT by 11th_VA (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: ikka

Why did the FBI wait? "Agents from the FBI's Knoxville office have had the trips under surveillance since last fall"
Two passenger vans every other week since last fall is quite
a few law breakers. They should at least know who was issued a false license and arrest them. You know they won't and if they
did they would not show up for court anyway.


16 posted on 07/15/2005 7:05:07 AM PDT by Tspud1
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To: Emmett McCarthy

Take that handgun with you, and fire a few rounds in the air. That'll make those long lines dissapear and save you tons of time.
Even illigal's who don't speak english understand what 'bang' means.


17 posted on 07/15/2005 7:06:07 AM PDT by Nathan Zachary
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To: ikka

2 passenger vans every 2 weeks? They hold what, 12 people each? I think you better adjust your figures a little.


18 posted on 07/15/2005 7:09:06 AM PDT by Nathan Zachary
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To: wardaddy
Another Quisling traitor.

Quisling: a synonym for traitor, someone who collaborates with the invaders of his country.

19 posted on 07/15/2005 7:11:01 AM PDT by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: frogjerk
They have plenty of conspirators to enable them to break our laws...

Hey come to think of it...when you aid or abet someone breaking the law you too are a law breaker....

Make the illegal invasion of the USA a class C felony.. that way any citizen may arrest..and cops, prosecutors, judges and even politicians who advocate the commision of a felony can also be prosecuted..

A great way for communities to make a couple of bucks of those traitors who advocate,aid and abed the illegal invasion of the USA

imo
20 posted on 07/15/2005 7:12:09 AM PDT by joesnuffy (Does the Red Crescent have falafel dollies?)
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