Omaha.com
In Maria Delgadillo's view, she was just buying the opportunity to work.
Barbara Vidlak's Social Security number apparently was bought by an undocumented immigrant seeking work. "I was petrified," Vidlak said. "What about credit cards, doctor bills, what else? I didn't know it was so easy to get my Social Security number."
The undocumented immigrant needed to support her children - including an infant still breast-feeding - so she apparently paid a crook for a Social Security number that would land her a job as a hotel maid.
What Delgadillo didn't know is that the identification belonged to an Omaha mother raising her own two children just miles away.
In the view of the real Barbara Vidlak, who spent dizzying days tracking down her impostor, "This is bull."
"I have to pay for a credit check," Vidlak said. "I lose wages to go to court. I can't sleep. It's stressing me and my kids."
This week, the two 34-year-old women who for months worked and paid taxes under the same name crossed paths in Douglas County Court, where Delgadillo was accused of identity theft.
That misdemeanor charge is still pending, but the Immigration and Naturalization Service is moving swiftly to deport the Mexican native.
Tears flowed down Delgadillo's cheeks as she was returned, in ankle cuffs, to the cell that for more than a week has kept her from nursing her baby.
Maria Delgadillo, with a Douglas County deputy, faces a misdemeanor charge of identity theft. The Immigration and Naturalization Service is moving swiftly to deport the Mexican native, who has a newborn baby.
Vidlak stared from only inches away, finding it hard to sympathize with a situation that stole her sense of security.
It's a frustrating scenario, immigrant advocates say, fueled by an economy that depends on a foreign-born labor force increasingly reliant on an underground market.
"We've got people having to live lies to be able to do the very basic things," said Ed Leahy of the Immigrant Rights Network in Nebraska. "I wish this country would step up to the plate and say, 'We need the people to do these jobs' - because we do."
While authorities think Delgadillo did not use Vidlak's ID for any criminal act except to fraudulently gain employment, people on both sides were hurt.
Vidlak's telephone, for example, has been shut off. She had to use the bill money for credit and other checks. She also bought two paper shredders, worried that more personal information could get into the wrong hands.
Posted by Suzanne at November 23, 2002