Homeland Security accepts fake ID

From Hussein Saddique
CNN

Monday, June 12, 2006; Posted: 9:40 p.m. EDT (01:40 GMT)
CNN) -- A man using a fake identification card was able to enter the Homeland Security Department headquarters in Washington, he said, even though the United States government considers the type of Mexican-issued card he used invalid.

Retired New York City policeman Bruce DeCell, who had arranged to meet with DHS officials last week to lobby for document security, told CNN he purposely used a forged version of identification that Mexican consulates in the United States issue to their nationals living here illegally.

DeCell said a friend in California bought him the fake Mexican card for $20.

"I sent him a passport-size photo and the spelling of my name, and he had the card made for me on the street," he said.

Days before his meeting with DHS officials, DeCell was asked to furnish his name, Social Security number and birth date, so they could be compared by security personnel to a valid form of picture identification. The building security accepted his matricula card, even though it listed a false date of birth, he said.

He was allowed entry into the building after walking through a metal detector, according to a statement posted on his group's Web site.

Jarrod Agen, a Homeland Security spokesman, told CNN, "In response to this incident, we are following up on the allegations, and we seek to ensure that an incident like this does not occur again.

"At no time was there a threat to the DHS building or its personnel," he said.

DeCell said he has used the card for years in airports and other sensitive locations, but was still astonished that he was able to use it to enter the headquarters of Homeland Security, the federal agency charged with determining secure IDs.

"It's very frustrating," he told CNN. "I'm an unpaid citizen who had a loss on 9/11, and they're not doing what they need to do to prevent another 9/11. It's very discouraging for me." - CNN
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Who is the genius behind creating the Department of Homeland Security? Who hired these guys? How many billions of dollars have been wasted by these incompetent buffoons? Less than 10% of cargo coming into the US is inspected, the Coast Guard alerts incoming ships to surprise inspections, FEMA sends ice for Katrina victims to Iowa, and a guy can get into Homeland Security headquarters with an obviously fake ID. I am begining to suspect that bush is using Homeland Security to pump up the numbers of jobs created rather than securing anything (other than his own job).

Do you feel safe with these bozos in charge? Why?

This doesn't surprise me one bit, but perhaps I am even more cynical. There is little that the Federal government does efficiently and less that it does well.