it’s not an “illegal immigrant” issue entirely, everyone does it. doesnt make it right though. Illegals frequently make up names and SSN’s, they dont care whether they are correct or not and they dont care if they causes anyone a problem (or not). They dont have to deal with the repercussions at all, the person who’s identity they stole did however.

For nova - get your credit report merged with an illegal aliens and see how hard it is to get it fixed. With someone who is “legal” it’s not as bad to fix, you can usually find these folks. What do you do when the illegal splits town with your credit report in the balance? Basically you have about 6 months of pain and suffering writing nasty letters to the credit bureaus until things get cleared up. If you are lucky you dont have a problem getting your tax return back. These are true impacts, for illegals taking your SSN I think it’s even worse, it’s not like you can sue a “Jose Gonzalez”, wonder how many of them there are in Mexico?

Oh…I’ll just file a lawsuit against an “un-named individual” that will work for sure

Nova - get a taste of reality and realize the costs are real and the pain is real from the suffering these illegals inflict on our nation. Come out of your ivory tower and see what it’s really like in trenches.

The perpetrators are largely US citizens and I have no problem with them cooling off in prison for a good long while. If illegals engage in the same sort of activity, I have no problem with them sharing a cell with the US Citizens who do the same thing. But the type of crime that you and Chicko are talking about is very rarely committed by illegal aliens. When aliens falsify an identity, they are generally trying to get enough proof of legal residence to get a job.

That’s why Greg’s original post dealt with something quite different than credit theft, false credit cards, or trashing of credit ratings. I was addressing Greg’s story about the Supreme Court taking up the case of an illegal immigrant who had (apparently randomly) duplicated an identity number that belonged to an actual person. The question is whether that action violates federal law. I continue to think it a good, not a bad, development that the Supreme Court decided to reconcile different approaches to this type of crime in the various Circuit Courts of Appeal around the country. Can I assume that (but for Greg) we have unanimity on that point?

identity theft is a horrendous crime. I know as I myself have been a victim of it. The illegals and everyone else who does it knows exactly what they are doing and what harm they are causing. There is no doubt about this. They know the chances of them being caught and prosecuted are slim. For the case of illegals, it’s just a quick walk across the border and all is forgiven (in their minds). Nova seems like a huge advocate for the illegals and it’s sad. I hope his/her credit report get’s merged with an illegal aliens or an illegal alien uses his/her SSN and we’ll see if he/she changes tune. Nova is just another apologist who thinks because she cracks a few hornbooks she’s johnny cochran.

with regard to your post above while thoughtful it’s not theft or larceny (since nothing was carried away) but false pretenses if it’s being used (and it’s actually a real number) standard first year criminal law stuff. if it’s not a real number, it’s really not anything. Really nothing different than copying someones credit card number over the shoulder. wow, I actually remembered that lecture from my first year! but back to the subject, Unless it’s an official document of some sort and you are lying on it. Probably the worst that happens is the employee gets fired

if they used a SSN belonging to someone else, that’s definitely illegal. ask someone (such as myself) who it actually happened too

my “illegal alien” has been deported thank the lord.

If the SSN was applied to a federal document then that’s a crime. regardless, if the illegal was not here it would not happen.

just another reason to deport these people and remove the issue entirely.

illegals are not stupid, they have multiple people (such as nancy lyall and MWB and such) to help them navigate the waters to avoid issues. with people such as these advocating for them, we’ll see more and more of identity theft and other problems. As long as these scumbags have someone to lean on (support groups) then they’ll continue to be a problem. Take away their support structures and they’ll be self-deporting. I blame the people that advocate for them more so than the illegal themselves. the advocates pave the way for the illegal acts.

And, contrary to the original post and some early comments, this issue seems like precisely the kind of thing the Supreme Court should clarify.

And I believe this court is conservative enough not to invent a right to fake identity, thank God.

Remember the Senate’s comprehensive immigration law they tried to stuff down our throats last year? One of the items in that bill favoring the illegal invaders was the fact that anyone who used a phoney SSN would not be prosecuted for it and in fact, would be allowed to recover any monies paid into SS using said phoney number. How’s that for a government! Check it out if you have any doubt.

I agree with you. If the state has merits they’ll be able to argue them in front of the SCOTUS. Personally, I would’ve rather seen the law changed to target true identity thieves vice fake documentation makers or to have the original charge dropped and charge them for using fake documentation (which the defendant had originally claimed he had done).

So, I agree that this question should move on up but blame the prosecutors for not charging him under a more proper criminal violation law.

And, I think it’s a valid question to be asked to the SCOTUS. I think it’ll still get squashed but it’s a valid question to have asked to them.

NoVA, if you really believe that identity theft by illegal aliens does not affect real people, check this out and get back to me:

http://scheney.wordpress.com/2008/07/09/identity-theft/

This represents only a VERY small sampling of the damage they are doing every day, even when they are choosing random numbers. I firmly believe that identity theft should fall under the category of grand theft, and be commensurately punished…at the least!!

But hopefully this is just a dream.