EFTA01378389

Page 7 E-Verify debate rages on Springfield News-Leader (Missouri) January 15, 2012 Sunday One way illegal immigrants find work in the United States is through bogus documents that E-Verify has difficulty identifying. On Wednesday, 14 people were charged in a $5 million conspiracy to provide thousands of Missouri identification documents to illegal immigrants through a St. Joseph fee office, authorities said. U.S. Attorney Beth Phillips announced the indictments Wednesday and said 13 of the defendants are in custody. The indictment said the scheme started in November 2009 and involved more than 3,500 identification documents issued to illegal immigrants from across the country. Prosecutors said the illegal immigrants paid $1,500 to $1,600 for the licenses, which allowed them to remain unlawfully in the U.S. and obtain employment. The indictment doesn't accuse the fee office or its workers of being complicit in the scheme. About the vote Springfield voters will have their say on the E-Verify proposal on Feb. 7. Polls in the city will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. LOAD-DATE: January 21, 2012 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: spr Copyright 2012 Springfield News-Leader All Rights Reserved For internal use only CONFIDENTIAL - PURSUANT TO FED. R. CRIM. P. 6(e) DB-SDNY-0075565 CONFIDENTIAL SDNY_GM_00221749 EFTA01378389