Card Sharps

Selling green cards in Denver is easy money.

A A A Comments By Justin Berton Thursday, Dec 7 2000

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At 3 p.m., the designated meeting time, it's still snowing outside and Alejandro is nowhere in sight. At 3:20 p.m., he arrives with his coat collar up around his ears and hands pushed deep into his pockets. He extends his hand for a handshake a good three steps away and offers his customer a wide, good-to-see-you-again smile.

Alejandro slips a small manila envelope over with his left hand. He keeps his hand extended until he receives the $170 in cash. He takes the money but doesn't count it. "You go to your car. Make sure it's good," he says. Because Alejandro's customer isn't really a jittery Canadian citizen, quality is not a big issue, but he nods and returns to his car.

Jay Vollmar

The Zuni Plaza laundromat is awash in fake green cards, which are flooding the system, says the INS's John Torres.Two phony IDs made this reporter an "American."

Anthony Camera

The Zuni Plaza laundromat is awash in fake green cards.

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Clearly, the fakes are suspect. At first glance the card is passable, but closer scrutiny reveals its blemishes: The horizontal strip across the top dips to the right; the thumbprint is the size of a child's digit; the signature is hesitantly forged -- and mistakenly printed in all caps. The Social Security card, meanwhile, feels nearly as thin as binder paper and looks like it slipped out of a bubble gum machine.

When the customer looks up from his driver's seat, Alejandro is looking directly at him. Alejandro gives the thumbs-up sign and asks with a raise of the eyebrows, "Everything okay?"

Everything is okay.