Working with fake documents: the tool that persists among undocumented immigrants under Trump

Nadia emigrated to Los Angeles in 2010, and the first thing she was advised to do was go to Alvarado Street to buy fake documents. She was bluntly warned that there was no other way to get a job. She paid $150 and was given two fake cards with her real name: a Social Security card and a green card. It was a fabricated identity that several employers have accepted since then. “You know beforehand that it’s not right, but the need to survive leads us to look for ways to get ahead in this country,” says the 56-year-old Mexican woman.

Nadia’s story is repeated by thousands of migrants who use fraudulent IDs to secure an income. The creation of fictitious identities persists despite raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on companies that employ undocumented workers and constant operations against document forgery networks. Several experts believe the problem has been exacerbated by the harsh immigration policies implemented by Donald Trump, which have effectively eliminated any hope of legal status for the millions of people living in the shadows.

The issue touches on several facets. On one side are the employers who benefit from cheap labor and those who denounce this as unfair competition for those who comply with regulations. On the other side are the migrants who resort to “fabricated” documents and those who, in the most serious cases, usurp the identity of a U.S. citizen and use it to acquire property, leaving the victims with debt and credit problems.

Although the statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) do not distinguish cases involving undocumented immigrants, its most recent report sheds light on the magnitude of the unstoppable identity theft: from 19,000 complaints and losses of $126 million registered in 2023, it went to 31,000 complaints and $185 million obtained illicitly last year.

Undocumented, but paying taxes

The Migration Policy Institute estimates that there are more than nine million unauthorized workers, including those in a “gray area” who possess a work permit because they have a pending asylum case or are beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), granted for humanitarian reasons to natives of countries in armed conflict or natural disasters, but which the Trump Administration has been taking away.

Nadia, a Mexican woman who agreed to speak with EL PAÍS on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, says she has never assumed someone else’s identity to get a job. The day she bought the fake documents on Alvarado Street, she was told that the Social Security number they gave her didn’t belong to anyone.

For the past 15 years, she has worked in factories and warehouses, but says managers have never detected (or at least never told her) that she submitted falsified documents. “Even without papers, if you are responsible, honest, and hardworking, there is a chance that if the job ends, they will call you back later. That has happened to me. They have never told me: correct your information and come back.”

The Social Security number is a tax and administrative identifier for those authorized to work in the U.S. It is assigned to U.S. citizens at birth and to foreign nationals after they have legalized their status. Employers are required to report wages paid to their employees to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and this document allows for accurate recording of earnings and tax obligations.

Every year, Nadia has filed her taxes using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), which the IRS issues to those who don’t qualify for a Social Security number—that is, undocumented immigrants. “I do it in case I can ever fix something,” she says.

The tax contributions of undocumented immigrants have been documented in various reports. One of the most recent, prepared by the Institute for Fiscal and Economic Policy, concludes that in 2022 they paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes. The majority of that amount, $59.4 billion, went to the federal government. Trump, in contrast, paid only $750 in 2017 (the last year his tax returns were made public), according to The New York Times.

Alex Gálvez, an attorney specializing in immigration cases, says that those who file taxes using an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) believe it could benefit them in a regularization process or if they are granted immigration relief. “U.S. law is very contradictory, very hypocritical. The government doesn’t want someone to be here undocumented, but if they are, it wants them to work and pay their taxes. And migrants don’t want to become a public charge, so this ‘little sin’ of using fabricated documents is only for the purpose of working, not to steal an identity,” he explains.

In 17 years of practicing law in California, Gálvez says, the two most common questions immigration judges ask their clients are: Have you been working? And do you file your taxes? “If the answer is yes to both questions, then the judge says: this person has good moral character.”

Raids in workplaces

In recent years, ICE agents have intensified operations following leads regarding the presence of undocumented workers in food packing plants, factories, construction sites, supermarkets, agricultural fields, car washes, restaurants, and other locations. According to the agency, these actions typically stem from employer audits, complaints, or cross-referencing data in labor verification systems.

One of the largest raids happened last September at Hyundai’s battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia, which resulted in the arrest of nearly 500 workers.

To tighten immigration controls in the workplace, the Trump administration has insisted that all companies use the E-Verify program, which allows employers to confirm whether an individual is authorized to work in the country. Despite the pressure, not everyone uses it, as participation is voluntary. By mid-2025, nearly 1.4 million employers, or 16% of the total, were using the system, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

“Employers, who are not required to verify the authenticity of these documents, also turn a blind eye because undocumented workers are essential to the U.S. labor structure,” notes Juan José Gutiérrez, director of the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition. Trump maintains that undocumented immigrants are taking jobs away from Americans, although in sectors such as agriculture and construction their presence is considered difficult to replace.

“Workers prefer to be within the law, but the U.S. immigration system, President Donald Trump, and his Cabinet have unleashed a very aggressive, very violent, very punitive campaign against immigrants,” he adds. “People now, to the detriment of the nation’s own economy, have stopped filing taxes for fear of getting into trouble.”

The Trump Administration has also toughened penalties for those who hire undocumented immigrants. In mid-March, ICE updated its fact sheet regarding employers’ obligation to verify the identity of their workers through an inspection known as Form I-9. Specifically, errors that were previously technical and correctable have been reclassified as serious violations that can no longer be rectified during the audit and may result in immediate fines. Penalties for hiring an undocumented immigrant can reach up to $5,700 for a first offense and escalate to $28,600 for a third or subsequent violation.

There is no current data available to assess the effectiveness of workplace raids. ICE reported that during the first four months of Trump’s second term, it had arrested more than 1,000 unauthorized workers and imposed fines of more than one million dollars on those who employed them.

More police presence

In Los Angeles, MacArthur Park, a few blocks west of downtown, is a well-known hub for the sale of counterfeit documents: driver’s licenses, IDs, green cards, and others. Criminal networks, often operating in plain sight, produce high-quality replicas.

On Alvarado Street, next to the park, counterfeiters whisper “mica, mica” to passersby, using a slang word for these documents. The police have arrested many of them over the years, but have been unable to eradicate their activity.

A street vendor selling plastic bags on Alvarado Street agreed to speak with El PAÍS, but asked not to be named. The man complained about how the presence of hundreds of homeless people has hurt his business. “Now there’s more police presence,” he said, looking both ways across the sidewalk, trying to spot undercover officers. MacArthur Park is in the heart of the Westlake neighborhood, which for decades has been home to the Salvadoran and Mexican diasporas.

Technology is working in favor of the counterfeiters at Alvarado: the duplicates are almost exactly like the real thing. Before, clients had to go to safe houses on Bonnie Brae Street, have their picture taken against a white background, and then return weeks later to pick up the forgery. “Now you send us the photo by text message, and the background doesn’t even matter. They change it,” the forger explained. In this illegal business, prices haven’t increased due to inflation: the old offer of two counterfeit IDs for $150 remains steady.

That’s what Nadia paid 15 years ago. She keeps the fake credentials safely at home. Carrying them would be too risky, especially now that ICE is still active on the streets of Los Angeles. The penalties for forgery include a couple of years in prison and deportation. “I haven’t lost faith that one day, somehow, I’ll be able to fix my situation here.”

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