Puerto Rico extends deadline for new IDs

Puerto Rican-born Marisol Mercado's identity was stolen five years ago, like so many of her fellow island natives.

Someone, somewhere got a job using her Social Security number and birth certificate.

That unknown paycheck affected Mercado's Social Security disability check, which was less than what she was supposed to get.

"They told me I was working," Mercado said yesterday in an interview conducted in Spanish. She said she is disabled.

Getting things untangled with the government was "a lot of work" and took about three years, she said.

Mercado is one of the thousands of victims the Puerto Rican government points to as examples for why it needs to invalidate current birth certificates and issue ones that are identity-theft proof.

The island government had planned to void all birth certificates as of July 1 but extended the expiration date to Oct. 1 because of the overwhelming number of applications.

It was customary in Puerto Rico to give a copy of a birth certificate to a club, an organization, a church or any activity, state Rep. Angel Cruz said yesterday at a news conference.

Now, the government has passed a law prohibiting anyone from giving away their birth certificates.

Three defendants in two cases are awaiting sentencing in federal court for attempting to defraud the IRS of $2 million by filing false tax returns, according to court records.

Also, Puerto Rican birth certificates played a part in about 40 percent of 8,000 passport-fraud cases, said Sarah Echols, spokeswoman for the Puerto Rico Affairs Administration.

Angelo Falcon, president of the National Institute for Latino Policy, is critical of Puerto Rico's implementation of its birth-certificate-replacement plan.

He said the government lacked outreach to the 1.3 million Puerto Rican-born persons now living on the mainland, failed to communicate correct information to those affected and, due to severe budget cuts, didn't have the staff to process the new certificates. (The island's residents total 3.9 million people.)

"Obviously, the government of Puerto Rico wasn't prepared. They didn't think this thing through," Falcon said.

Mercado was one of about 15 Puerto Rican-born U.S. citizens packed into Cruz's cramped offices in Fairhill yesterday. They came to apply for birth certificates with their ID and a $5 money order.

Cruz wanted community members to know:

* If a Puerto Rican driver's license is brought in, then the document will be sent to that address.

* The $5 fee is waived for veterans and those age 60 and older.

* Anyone can go to www.prfaa.com to apply for birth certificates.