Birth certificates and adoption records can no longer be used by public-aid applicants to prove they are legally in the U.S. following a spike in “seemingly fraudulent” documents used to obtain driver’s licenses, state officials said.
The proof of legal residence is required by a week-old immigration- reform law. State and county social work agencies Wednesday began turning away public-aid applicants who had only a birth certificate to prove their legal status.
Those applicants must now apply for a special state waiver designed primarily for people without proper identification who are legally eligible for aid. The immigration reform began Aug. 1 when a new state law requiring public-aid applicants to prove legal residence in the United States was enacted.
Other laws affecting businesses and their licenses go into effect Jan. 1.
Revenue Director M. Michael Cooke on Tuesday rescinded parts of emergency rules she issued a week ago establishing additional forms of identification acceptable under the new laws.
She included certified birth certificates and adoption records among six types that people could use to prove their legal presence here. In an e-mail memo Tuesday to state agencies, Cooke said there were “an increased number of seemingly fraudulent birth certificates … seen in driver’s license offices.”
Cooke said the spate of suspect birth certificates – 37 were presented Thursday, and the daily average is four – concerned her, because public-aid workers are not trained in fraud detection. State workers who issue driver’s licenses are skilled in that area, Cooke said.
Some of the suspicious birth certificates were legitimate, Cooke said, but did not belong to the person presenting them. Others are being probed as fakes, she said. No one has been arrested.
The legislation allows applicants to prove legal presence with a Colorado driver’s license or identification card, military ID card or tribal document as well as signing an affidavit attesting to their legal presence. Cooke expanded that list to include birth and adoption records, naturalization and citizenship records, valid immigration documents or driver’s licenses from 33 other states.
Staff writer David Migoya can be reached at dmigoya@denverpost.com or 303-820-1506.
