by Robert Pear, The New York Times
WASHINGTON - Tens of thousands of foreigners are illegally obtaining Social Security numbers by using fake documents, a typical first step to identity theft and other crimes, but federal officials still have not found a way to search immigration records to prevent the practice, federal investigators say.
In a new report, the inspector general of the Social Security Administration, James G. Huse Jr., said that 1 in 12 foreigners receiving new Social Security numbers had done so using fake documents. Preliminary results from an investigation still under way show that 100,000 Social Security numbers were wrongly issued to noncitizens in 2000, Mr. Huse said.
The continuing problem is causing great concern among law enforcement and counterterrorism officials, because Social Security cards can be used to obtain credit cards and the security badges needed for jobs at airports or other vulnerable locations. Since Sept. 11, federal authorities have been conducting nationwide sweeps to arrest people on charges of using false Social Security numbers.
Some of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11 had falsely obtained Social Security numbers, which allowed them to open bank accounts and get credit cards in this country.
Prosecutors said that Lotfi Raissi, an Algerian pilot initially suspected of training several hijackers, had used the Social Security number of a Jersey City woman who died in 1991.
For more than three years, Mr. Huse has recommended that the Social Security agency check the records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service before issuing Social Security numbers to noncitizens.
Before Sept. 11, the Social Security agency disagreed with this recommendation and did nothing to carry it out, fearing it would lead to unacceptable delays in issuing Social Security numbers to legitimate applicants.
The Social Security agency has since embraced the recommendation but has had little success in getting the necessary help from the immigration agency, Mr. Huse said in an interview. The immigration agency issues many of the documents that immigrants use to show they are eligible for Social Security cards.
The Social Security agency needs immediate help from the immigration agency because, Mr. Huse said, “Social Security service representatives are not trained in studying the authenticity of foreign identity documents.”
Mr. Huse said the two agencies were still working out an arrangement to give Social Security officials access to electronic immigration files on noncitizens. Social Security is also waiting for the immigration agency to incorporate data on certain immigrants authorized to work in the United States.
Bill Strassberger, a spokesman for the immigration agency, said: “We are trying to work more closely with the Social Security Administration to reduce the use of fraudulent documents. It’s one of our top priorities.”
Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said Social Security number fraud was a domestic security issue.
“Audits by the inspector general show that the Social Security Administration has been much too loose with its control of Social Security numbers,” Mr. Grassley said. “That’s extremely dangerous when criminals and terrorists are able to use Social Security numbers to infiltrate American society.”
Foreigners have obtained Social Security numbers by using counterfeit versions of visas, green cards and arrival-and-departure forms, among other documents. In some cases, the government has sent Social Security cards to nonexistent children and to dozens of noncitizens listed at the same address.
Mr. Huse said the events of Sept. 11 showed that “identity theft was a prime modus operandi of terrorists.” Once a person obtains a Social Security number, through proper or improper means, he said, the government has little control over its use.
“The tragedies of Sept. 11 demonstrate that the misuse of Social Security numbers and identity theft are `breeder’ offenses with the ability to facilitate crimes beyond our imagination,” Mr. Huse said in his report.
“For at least several more months,” he added, “the Social Security Administration will continue to issue Social Security numbers to noncitizens without obtaining independent verification of documents.”
In the last year, the Social Security agency issued 5.8 million numbers, including 1.5 million to noncitizens.
The report comes during a nationwide crackdown that has already led to the arrest of hundreds of airport workers on charges that they used fraudulent Social Security numbers to obtain jobs providing access to airplanes, ramps, gates and other restricted areas.
Since September, according to the inspector general of the Transportation Department, 367 workers have been arrested at 16 airports, and 371 have been indicted. Of those, 140 have pleaded guilty or negotiated plea agreements. In addition, 98 people have been deported, and 28 are waiting for deportation hearings.
The indictments name 130 airport workers in the Washington area; 66 in Charlotte, N.C.; 69 in Salt Lake City; 32 in Phoenix; 29 in Las Vegas; and 18 in Boston.
After using counterfeit immigration papers to obtain Social Security numbers, many foreigners use the numbers to get airport security badges, Mr. Huse said.
Separately, federal officials are investigating hundreds of people believed to have used false Social Security numbers to obtain credit cards and steal money.
In some cases, people detained as terrorism suspects were held on Social Security fraud charges, which are easier to prove.
“These actions ensure that the suspected terrorists remain in the judicial process while the terrorist investigation is continuing,” said Mr. Huse, who worked at the Secret Service for 25 years before joining the Social Security agency in 1996.
Before Sept. 11, it was unusual for the government to imprison anyone on a charge of having obtained a false Social Security number.
To illustrate the misuse of Social Security numbers, Mr. Huse cited the case of Malek M. Seif, a pilot arrested in Phoenix in October. Federal officials said Mr. Seif might have known a Sept. 11 hijacker, but he was not accused of terrorism. In February, he pleaded guilty to Social Security fraud, acknowledging that he had made false statements when he applied for a card.
Federal officials said Mr. Seif had obtained two Social Security numbers under different names, obtained driver’s licenses in both names and used both identities on a variety of loan and credit card applications.