Immigrants building paper trail for reprieve

SAN DIEGO – Electricity bills. Speeding tickets. Dentist records. Money order receipts.

The search for documents is on for immigrants who may qualify for a work permit and reprieve from deportation under measures President Barack Obama announced last month. Applicants must prove they have been in the country continuously since Jan. 1, 2010 – a tall order for many accustomed to avoiding trails. For critics, conditions are ripe for fraud.

The administration has not said which documents it will accept, but advocates are taking guidance from a 2012 reprieve for immigrants who came to the country as young children. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, allows vehicle registrations, baptism records, mortgages, postmarked letters – and those are just some suggestions from the agency that vets applications.

Los Angeles immigration attorney Carl Shusterman uses social media postings. A Facebook photo at Disneyland might work.

“It’s not the first thing I would use, but if you’re here illegally and getting paid in cash, you may not have as good records as someone paying into Social Security,” he said. “How do you prove you were here?”

Laura Lichter, a Denver immigration attorney, has used movie rental receipts, veterinarian bills and customer loyalty programs that detail purchase histories.

“You use what you got,” she said.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told members of Congress this month that fraudulent applications could potentially “undermine the whole process” and he promised to review safeguards. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which vets applications and operates under Johnson’s watch, says it has grown its anti-fraud unit and increased “the scope and frequency” of vetting.

The government plans to begin accepting applications by mid-February for immigrants eligible for an expanded version of DACA and by mid-May for parents of U.S. citizens and legal residents. Leon Rodriguez, Citizenship and Immigration Services director, said the agency will hire as many as 1,000 officers to process applications.

Attorneys expect children’s birth certificates will be required for parents of U.S. citizens. School transcripts, bank statements and vaccination records also will be in demand.

Irwin Diaz, a San Diego construction worker who came to the country illegally in 1990, would use paycheck stubs if he applies but said employment records are tricky for anyone who worked under an assumed Social Security number.

“Whatever everyone like me is trying to do is see if we’re eligible, see if they have any tickets they owed or things like that,” said Diaz, 31. “It’s people in the shadows.”

Patrick Taurel, a legal fellow at the American Immigration Council who has advised DACA applicants, said officers often ask for additional documents.

“It’s a preponderance of evidence standard,” he said. “It has to be more likely than not that you meet all the evidence standards.”

Advocates warn that rigorously grilling applicants may dampen interest in one of Obama’s signature initiatives. An estimated 5 million people are expected to be eligible, but some may worry that admitting they are in the country illegally will expose them to deportation. Permits last three years, and it is unknown how the next president will act.

Application fees, which are $465 for DACA, also may be a deterrent.