A Green Card (which is like a permission to be in the USA) is valuable to those who want to come into the United States. Unable to obtain the real thing, an illegal alien may just want to try to fake one. In fact, the law states that employers cannot hire workers that they know to be illegal , but they are not expected to know how to check for a fake ID or Green Card. Thus, many illegals can purchase fake ID cards for $40-$150.
In all of my research it seems that the problem is that a fake Green Cards can be almost perfectly made to resemble the authentic product. Holograms, scripts , photographs, special paper, hasn't deterred any faux dealer in the quest for money. Unless there is a wild, flaming error, the fake ones look identical to the real ones, down to ink color, logos, embossed items...everything! You need only a computer, some knowledge, and a printer, and you are in business.
President Bush has suggested that perhaps Green Cards should contain two pieces of information only: the person's name and fingerprint. The House and Senate recently have passed bills that may require employers to check workers' Social Security numbers through an electronic database. As for right now , the government is working on trying to encrypt and code cards with some sort of scan number or bar. This would allow the Immigration officials (INA) to check the workers status, but not your average Joe employer.
This is an issue that is a hot bed of controversy. One that will not die down soon.

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