Chula Vistan Accused of Faking Alien Papers

In what officials believe is the first case in the nation involving the sale of phony documents to skirt the new federal immigration law, the U.S. attorney in San Diego announced Friday the arrest of a Chula Vista immigration consultant on charges of immigration fraud.

William Givens, 41, was charged with conspiring with three undocumented immigrants to make false statements to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. For $3,000, he allegedly provided them with phony rent receipts indicating they had been in United States since before 1982.

Under the new immigration law, aliens can apply for permanent residence under a one-time amnesty if they can prove to the INS that they have been living in the country since before Jan. 1, 1982, and have been law-abiding residents.

“It was anticipated by Congress that some people were going to attempt to profit from the new amnesty law,” U.S. Atty. Peter K. Nunez said at a press conference Friday. He said federal officials are also looking for the three undocumented workers involved in the case.

Immigration officials have cautioned illegal aliens who qualify under the amnesty provisions not to be taken in by immigration consultants who might take advantage of them by charging exorbitant fees.

Now they will begin issuing lists of authentic consulting firms that can help aliens determine whether they qualify, Nunez said. Applications for temporary residence will be accepted beginning May 5, and applications for permanent residence may be made 18 months after gaining temporary status.

Nunez said Jorge Madrazo, Rosaura Medecigo de Madrazo and Esther Guerrero presented INS officials with the fraudulent documents a few weeks ago. They were mostly rent receipts indicating they were living in the country before 1982.

“That’s when they detected something suspicious,” said the INS deputy district director, Clifton J. Rogers. He said the workers’ stories did not jibe with the documents.

A subsequent investigation indicated that Givens had supplied the three with the documents, officials said. Nunez said investigators believe Givens sold documents to at least 30 other people.

Nunez said an undercover INS officer contacted Givens and set up a Friday morning date to purchase documents for $3,000. When the agent arrived, he found Givens outside his business in the 2400 block of Main Street in Chula Vista.

Givens was arrested and, using a search warrant, investigators searched five suites where Givens conducted business under the names of “San Diego Immigration Center” and “Oficina de Asuntos Migratorios.”

Givens is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown San Diego. He was charged in a complaint by the U.S. attorney’s office with conspiring to make false statements to the INS.

Authorities said they thought Givens had been involved in the alleged scam for several weeks.

If convicted, Givens could face five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the three federal felony counts. The three aliens also could face five years and a $250,000 fine on each count of the complaint.