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News ReleaseOctober 12, 2004 PAKISTANI WHO SOLD BOGUS STATE ID CARDS REMOVED FROM U.S.DENVER – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today that a Pakistani man, who sold fake state identity cards to undocumented aliens allowing them access to secure military installations, is back in his native country after being removed from the United States. ICE officials say the removal of Raja Ur Rehman Siddiq, 40, was completed early Sunday morning, when he arrived in Pakistan on board a commercial flight escorted by ICE agents. Saddiq, who had been in U.S. government custody since April 2003, was initially convicted of illegal entry into the United States, sentenced to time served, and returned to ICE custody in January 2004. The legal permanent resident first came to the attention of ICE and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) when agents discovered he was selling “look-alike” Colorado identification cards at his “dollar store” business in Colorado Springs. While the cards closely resembled the official state IDs, they contained disclaimers warning the cards were not “government issued.” ICE’s subsequent investigation revealed that some of these cards were used by illegal aliens to gain access to secure U.S. military installations in the area. “Anyone who knowingly and indiscriminately sells phony identity cards is putting the security of our communities and even our country at risk,” said Scott Johns, Assistant Chief Counsel for ICE in Denver. “Documents like this could potentially be used by terrorists or other dangerous criminals to obscure their identities and cover their tracks.” ICE fought for Siddiq’s removal alleging that he lied on his original immigrant visa application in 2000, failing to disclose he had been prevented from illegally entering the U.S. through Hong Kong in 1999, and in l992 when he attempted to use a U.S. passport obtained from a source in Spain. During the immigration proceedings, ICE and FBI agents pointed to other factors in Siddiq’s case that also raised cause for concern, including his possession of multiple identity and travel documents from numerous countries, his role in distributing the “look-alike” ID cards, and the fact that he owned the equipment needed to produce fraudulent documents in the future. An immigration judge issued a final removal order against Siddiq in September 2004. # ICE #
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