A driver’s license for an undocumented immigrant is a very desirable document. While it doesn’t stop the person from being deported, it does allow them to drive legally, get insurance, and use as a form of identity. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses if they provide documentation such as foreign birth certificate, foreign passport, and evidence of residency in that state. For those who aren’t living in those states, in order to obtain this document, one must think outside of the box. Or rather, outside of the state borders.
On January 7, 2025, Edvan Fernandes Alves De Andrade, Leonel Texeiera De Souza Junior, Gabriel Nascimento De Andrade, Cesar Agusto Martin Reis, and Helbert Costa Generoso were indicted with conspiring to obtain driver’s licenses for immigrants who resided in states that prohibited undocumented individuals from obtaining driver’s licenses. Starting in November 2020, these five purportedly helped Massachusetts residents acquire New York licenses, until July 2023, when it became legal for undocumented individuals to obtain Massachusetts licenses. At that point, they switched their target demographics and began obtaining fraudulent Massachusetts licenses for ineligible customers who lived outside of Massachusetts.
The defendants allegedly manipulated permit tests, forged driver’s education documents, and provided fake residency records to state motor vehicle departments. Customers were even allegedly transported by the five defendants to DMV locations in New York and Massachusetts where fraudulent documents were used to secure permits and licenses.
Prosecutors say that in total, the five defendants allegedly helped more than 1,000 ineligible applicants, primarily undocumented immigrants, apply for driver’s licenses, and collected at least hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds from the scheme.
Shout out to the Department of Motor Vehicles in this case.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Even in Sanctuary States Illegal Immigrants Commit Fraud to Get a Driver’s License” published by Judicial Watch on January 7,2025.
As if it were not bad enough that over a dozen states grant illegal immigrants driver’s licenses, a criminal ring has for years exploited the security vulnerabilities of the leftist policies to obtain licenses for undocumented migrants who live in jurisdictions that do not offer the benefit. For about $1,400, illegal aliens living in states that prohibit them from obtaining the cards, fraudulently secured them in New York and Massachusetts—both sanctuary states—with the help of five individuals.
Federal authorities recently charged them with several crimes, including conspiracy to unlawfully produce and possess with intent to transfer identification documents and possession with intent to use or transfer unlawfully obtained identification. One of the suspects was also charged with furnishing a false passport.
