Fake Licenses Flood US Ahead of Election, Sparking Voter Fraud Concerns
Fake IDs are pouring into America this year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Through the end of June, federal officials had confiscated 19,888 fake driver’s licenses at Chicago O’Hare International Airport alone as part of 1,513 shipments, CBP announced in a news release.
Officials said the major sources of the fake IDs were China and Hong Kong.
“These counterfeit driver’s licenses can lead to disastrous consequences,” said Ralph Piccirilli, the acting port director in Chicago. “Criminal organizations use these counterfeit IDs to avoid attracting attention to their illegal activities.”
According to Ballotpedia, 34 states require identification to vote in the November presidential election, with 18 requiring a photo ID.
Most of the fake IDs were for college-age students, and some had a common photo with different names.
The barcode on some phony Michigan licenses actually worked, CBP said in its release.
CBP outlined the consequences of fake licenses.
“These fraudulent identity documents can lead to identity theft, worksite enforcement, critical infrastructure protection, fraud linked to immigration-related crimes such as human smuggling and human trafficking,” the release read.
“These documents can be used by those individuals associated with terrorism to minimize scrutiny from travel screening measures.”
Fears of voter fraud resounded on Twitter.
Dear Democrats,
If your main concern is voter fraud explain to me why your against voters showing up to the polls with their ID to prove their identity.
If we can wear masks to Protest why can’t we wear masks to vote 🗳
— Angela Stanton King 🇺🇸 (@theangiestanton) July 30, 2020
Shipments of 20,000+ Fake US Driver’s Licenses From China Intercepted at Chicago Airport: For use in election fraud? 🚨 Big League Politics #VoterFraud #StolenID #Cybersecurity #MigrantCrisis https://t.co/ubzI7YTu2O
— TheCyberChick (@warriors_mom) August 8, 2020
More voter fraud!!! “Shipments of nearly 20,000 fake driver’s licenses seized at Chicago airport so far in 2020 https://t.co/6cHG8txeZo
— Janie Johnson (@jjauthor) August 3, 2020
In April, CBP issued a release outlining an uptick in fake IDs at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. At that time, officials said they had confiscated about 2,000 fake licenses in the past 18 months.
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Port Director Timothy Lemaux noted that people who buy fake IDs expose themselves to the threat of identity theft.
“What is most disconcerting about theses interceptions, besides the volume in which we are experiencing, is the ease in which so many young people freely share their personal information with counterfeiters abroad,” Lemaux said in the release.
“We’ll continue to collaborate with local law enforcement to educate the public, and anyone who is contemplating purchasing a counterfeit ID online, on the potential dangers of sharing your personal identifiable information with a criminal element.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
