Dozens of D/FW workers arrested

WFAA-TV ^ | 11/20/2002 | From Staff and Wire Reports

[Brownie74]

Last modified: 02:52 PM CST on Wednesday, November 20, 2002

Dozens of D/FW workers arrested

11/20/2002

From Staff and Wire Reports

Sixty workers at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport were arrested Wednesday for allegedly using invalid Social Security numbers to gain access to secure areas of the airport.

According to the U.S. Attorney's office in Dallas, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Immigration and Naturalization Service agents arrested the airport employees.

Each individual was charged with one count of misuse of a Social Security number, a felony.

The workers arrested included baggage handlers, ramp and cargo agents, food service and maintenance workers. Most arrests were at the workers' homes.

Thirty other people at the homes were taken into custody on immigration-related charges, authorities said.

The arrests are the latest in a number of airport-related security sweeps across the country to improve security against terrorism. Similar arrests took place at major airports in the New York City area Tuesday.

In a statement, D/FW Airport said it has "agressively" taken part in a probe that reviewed some 40,000 records.

"The violations that D/FW and federal agencies found were based on immigration and documentation violations, and not alleged breaches of homeland security," airport spokesman Ken Capps said.

Mr. Capps also noted that the arrests had no impact on D/FW flight operations.

The Dallas Web Staff and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Why on earth hasn't this been done before now?

[Brownie74]

PING!!

Film footage was shown on NBC where a tempory courtroom had been set up at DFW with a Federal Judge preiding. All violators were arrested and were being held without bond until they get court dates next week.

I was said that most of the people arrested were from Mexico with some from Guatemala, Peru, etc. Also arrested was one South Korean.

[Brownie74]

About 6 or 8 months ago they arrested 2 pilots that flew for American Eagle (American Airlines commuter airline) that were illegal aliens.

They were arrested at DFW also. How stupid can AA get???

[FITZ]

It can be a little difficult to spot phony documents. You can buy any kind of American Identification you want in any Mexican border town. You can buy any kind of Mexican Identification you want also ---which Guatemalans and others do. It's about time they start going after those dealing in stolen Social Security numbers and committing other felony document fraud. These are felons who should never be allowed back into the US and who should be permanently barred from obtaining legal residency or citizenship. They also aren't here to do the hard manual labor for low pay that Americans won't do. There's no good excuse for them.

[dennisw]

No mention that most of these clowns must be ILLEGAL ALIEN TRESSPASSERS. Who else uses phony SS# and other phony documents?

[Lunatic Fringe]

I fly out of DFW next week... I want to know the race and religion of the people who violated the immigration policies.

[Dog Gone]

Why on earth hasn't this been done before now?

It's a rolling effort. It takes some time to identify the workers and then move in one sudden operation. They did the same thing to Houston a month or two ago.

[FITZ]

When they say they intend to give amnesty to those illegal who committed no other crime, it's very very important that they get rid of all the felony criminals who are using stolen and falsified documents. It shouldn't be too difficult with computers to clean up the Social Security number databases and go after all those duplicate numbers in use.

[Brownie74]

You can buy any kind of American Identification you want in any Mexican border town.

You can buy phoney ID right here on the streets of Dallas. Last week I saw a couple of Hispanic males driving down Main street in the heart of downtown with ID cards hanging out of the window of their NEW pickup. Who says crime doesn't pay?

I had my cell phone but I didn't get their license plate number.

[dennisw]

When they say they intend to give amnesty to those illegal who committed no other crime, it's very very important that they get rid of all the felony criminals who are using stolen and falsified documents. It shouldn't be too difficult with computers to clean up the Social Security number databases and go after all those duplicate numbers in use.

Instead they have John Poindexter trying to set up a giant program to snoop on Americans in a thousand different ways. Crazy, huh!

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/09/politics/09COMP.html

Pentagon Plans a Computer System That Would Peek at Personal Data of Americans

By JOHN MARKOFF

he Pentagon is constructing a computer system that could create a vast electronic dragnet, searching for personal information as part of the hunt for terrorists around the globe — including the United States.

As the director of the effort, Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, has described the system in Pentagon documents and in speeches, it will provide intelligence analysts and law enforcement officials with instant access to information from Internet mail and calling records to credit card and banking transactions and travel documents, without a search warrant.

Historically, military and intelligence agencies have not been permitted to spy on Americans without extraordinary legal authorization. But Admiral Poindexter, the former national security adviser in the Reagan administration, has argued that the government needs broad new powers to process, store and mine billions of minute details of electronic life in the United States.

Admiral Poindexter, who has described the plan in public documents and speeches but declined to be interviewed, has said that the government needs to "break down the stovepipes" that separate commercial and government databases, allowing teams of intelligence agency analysts to hunt for hidden patterns of activity with powerful computers.................................................

 

[Brownie74]

This is still breaking. Check the source URL later or try The Dallas Morning News. I see they have a video link up.

[FITZ]

It's amazing ---I know an 18 year old kid who failed a background check for a job in Texas because some illegal woman in California was using his Social Security Number as her own. After a lot of hassle, he was able to get a different job and was able to use his number again. Amazing they can use the Social Security Number databases for background checks but they haven't yet cleaned it up of all those using stolen cards ---and there are many.

[MissAmericanPie]

Will they be held and deported? Heck no.

[nanny]

[ It takes some time to identify the workers ]

I would say that is the understatement of the day .

It has taken over a year. There is no reason for that. It should never have happened in the first place - now how long does it take to punch in a SS# and determine if it belongs to Betty Jones (age 85) or Jose Ramirez (age 36). When I replaced my lost SS card, it took them about 5 seconds when I gave them the number. They knew when I was born, where I was born, my mother's maiden name, my father's maiden name - now it takes a year to do that for 60 people?

Now the great part - what are they going to do with these people. They have done more than just miuse a SS card. It would seem to me they have violated quite a few laws.

[Brownie74]

Will they be held and deported? Heck no.

Probably not but according to the NBC affilliate here in Dallas they would be held with out bond and then they could face up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000.00 fine for using fake Social Security cards or deportation.

I should have more on this tomorrow.

[Lloyd227]

"It's a rolling effort. It takes some time to identify the workers and then move in one sudden operation. They did the same thing to Houston a month or two ago. "

They also hit Boston airport yesterday. Something on the order of 130 arrested.

It's slow, but it's progress

[Brownie74]

It would seem to me they have violated quite a few laws.

They have violated quite a few laws - the first being entering the United States illegally. But there is one set of laws for us and another for them. We would go to jail for doing something like this but they will probably get rewarded with amnesty.

[MissAmericanPie]

The illegals have been issued a court date for which they will never show. They will buy more phoney documents five minutes from where they were arrested and start again.

I just can't be impressed with this, to me it's all hat and no cattle.