(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Some members of Chicago's migrant community are being coerced into committing retail theft in order to get money to buy fake IDs that new arrivals hope will help them find a job, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said.
Retail thefts by foreign nationals in downtown Chicago -- specifically in River North -- have increased dramatically over the past year. In December alone, about $40,000 worth of merchandise was stolen, officials said.
Three people from Mexico have been charged with running a fake ID ring, the sheriff’s office said. Most of the migrants who stole from the stores are from Venezuela and are among the new arrivals being bused her from Texas, officials say.
“This is what happens when you have desperate individuals who have little ability to help themselves legally. People are going to take advantage of them,” Dart said in a news release.
He held a news conference in Maywood Tuesday and displayed some of the fake ID cards. They reportedly would go for up to $150 each, and Dart said the ID sellers would coach the migrants on what items to steal from stores.
“The work permitting process has to be addressed,” Dart said. “These migrants are just trying to get a job. We can debate about immigration policy, but for those that are here already, we can’t just ignore them.”
On Jan. 24, officers recovered 481 fake identification cards, including
Social Security cards, green cards and driver’s licenses, plus more than $7,200 in cash and 40 grams of suspected methamphetamine, the sheriff’s office said.
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