This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 001316 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR CA/FPP; CA/VO/F/P; CA/OCS/ACS/WHA; WHA/CAR; 
DS/CR/VF 
DHS FOR HQINT, HQOAI, CAO AND FDL 
MEXICO ALSO FOR DHS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC CPAS CVIS JM KFRD TIP
SUBJECT: WESTERN HEMISPHERE TRAVEL DOCUMENT INITIATIVE 
(WHTI) 
 
REF: A. STATE 44089 
     ¶B. KINGSTON 867 
 
CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED IN ITS ENTIRETY, PLEASE 
PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Jamaica is one of the countries in the 
Caribbean which exempts U.S. citizens traveling to the island 
for tourism from the requirement of a passport or visa.  Ref 
(A) announced that effective December 31, 2005, DHS will 
require all U.S. citizens traveling to and from the 
Caribbean, including Jamaica, to have a passport or other 
acceptable travel document.  The GOJ has informed Post that 
this requirement will impede visitor flows to Jamaica from 
the U.S. where more than half of U.S. tourists enter without 
passports.  Nevertheless, Post strongly endorses the proposed 
WHTI schedule due to the high rate of document fraud that 
exists in Jamaica, including the use of fraudulent U.S. birth 
certificates and driver licenses, as well as photo-subbed 
U.S. passports.  End Summary. 
 
NEW IMMIGRATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE U.S. AND JAMAICA 
 
¶2. (SBU) Since the introduction of U.S. Visit in January 
2004, and biometrics in Kingston in June 2004, Post has 
noticed an increase in false claims to U.S. citizenship 
cases.  Investigative tips from multiple criminal 
intelligence sources suggested that vendors refrained from 
aggressive fraud efforts to alter or counterfeit U.S. visas 
and moved to selling U.S. birth certificates.  The shift was 
due largely to the fingerprint verification requirement for 
visas on issuance at Post and again at the Ports of Entry. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Another reason vendors resorted to selling false 
U.S. birth certificates was due to a change in accountability 
methods used by Jamaican Immigration.  In October 2004, 
Jamaica instituted an INL-funded computerized entry and exit 
system to reinforce immigration accountability.  In the past, 
illegal workers and overstays would remain in the U.S., but 
would ship their passports to Jamaica for a fraudulent 
backdated stamp.  However, new technology in Jamaica is 
designed to track entry and exit of travelers.  Although 
there are still some problems with the GOJ's comprehensive 
and consistent use of the new system at both major airports, 
early reports indicate an increase of Jamaicans interdicted 
by airport officials for using false entry and exit stamps. 
 
¶4. (SBU) U.S. birth certificates used for travel to the U.S. 
continue to trouble fraud prevention efforts in Jamaica.  The 
frequent misuse of U.S. birth certificates and I.D. cards 
used as travel documents has peaked as the preferred method 
of criminal/impostor travel.  It is unclear and nearly 
impossible to account for the number of persons using birth 
certificates and bogus ID cards to gain entry to the U.S. 
This method of travel clearly creates a potential threat to 
U.S. national security.  Persons using U.S. birth 
certificates are rarely challenged as to the validity of 
their claim to U.S. citizenship by either local airline or 
immigration employees when departing Jamaica for the U.S. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Birth certificates are one of the many "breeder" 
documents used to obtain entry to the U.S. from Caribbean 
countries.  Once in the U.S., those same persons obtain other 
vital documents to legitimize their illegal stay, i.e., 
social security cards and driver's licenses.  Increasingly, 
illegal document vendors choose to purchase or steal U.S. 
birth certificates or obtain copies of authentic certificates 
using fraudulent means.  It is well worth the effort as the 
prices on the street bring lucrative profits.  An authentic 
U.S. birth certificate not only provides the bearer with a 
new identity, but the false claim of U.S. citizenship 
bypasses the risk of being photographed and fingerprinted at 
Ports of Entry.  Thus, it has become the preferred reentry 
method for Jamaica's legions of criminal deportees as well as 
for economic migrants.  Given the multi-ethnic composition of 
Jamaican society, U.S. birth certificates -- as well as 
easily obtainable false Jamaican passports -- present a 
vulnerability from third country nationals seeking to enter 
the U.S. or Canada posing as American citizens.  We see 
increasing evidence of organized alien smuggling involving 
South Asian, Chinese and Cubans who transit Jamaica using 
false U.S. identification or passports of visa waiver 
countries. 
 
CHILD MIGRATION/TRAFFICKING 
 
¶6. (SBU) Apart from adult deportees, economic migrants and 
possibly terrorists, we are concerned about the prevalence of 
U.S. birth certificates to move illegally Jamaican children 
to the U.S.  The practice is not uncommon, but it can be more 
difficult to detect through questioning than might be the 
case with an adult impostor.  Jamaica is about to be 
designated a Tier 3 country for trafficking in persons, 
primarily based on evidence of minors involvement in the sex 
and pornography trade, and by the GOJ's lethargic response in 
addressing it.  Although we believe that the vast majority of 
Jamaican children smuggled into the U.S. through the false 
identity of an American birth certificate are kids joining 
parents already living illegally in the U.S. or who are 
circumventing a long wait for a priority date for legal 
immigration, we cannot rule out some instances of child 
smuggling for more nefarious purposes.  Jamaican Lee Boyd 
Malvo is a classic example. 
 
STATISTICS 
 
¶7. (SBU) ACS has approximately 5-8 possible fraudulent 
passport and CRBA cases still pending from 2004, whereby the 
applicant never returned with additional documentation 
requested by the ACS officer. 
 
  -- In FY-2004, there were 120 lost and 90 stolen passport 
cases reported to ACS.  Airline and immigration officials at 
Kingston's international airport forwarded to Post 
approximately 20 suspected fraudulent documents seized by 
airline and immigration officials.  Airline officials 
informed those travelers to appear at the Embassy's fraud 
section to reclaim their documents.  Most never came. 
 
¶8. (SBU) DHS Kingston intercepted approximately 100 travelers 
at Kingston's international airport in FY-2004 with 
questionable birth certificates.  Only half were identified 
and relatively few are prosecuted by the GOJ. 
 
¶9. (SBU) COMMENT:  Post fully understands the concern of the 
GOJ for its potential loss of U.S. tourist revenue.  However, 
with the increased use of fraudulent U.S. documents, Post 
concurs with the WHTI implementation date proposed for the 
use of passports for travel to Jamaica and the rest of the 
Caribbean.  Though Jamaica is considered a low terrorism 
threat country, a terrorist with a good command of the 
English language could enter Jamaica on almost any type of 
passport and then use a U.S. birth certificate to assume the 
identify of a U.S. citizen.  Lax document inspection 
procedures, compounded by corruption among immigration and 
airport employees, facilitates illegal migration as well as 
narcotics trafficking and weapons smuggling at both of 
Jamaica's international airports.  The problem is more acute 
at Montego Bay's Sangster Airport, the facility through which 
most U.S. unpassported tourists travel and which, given its 
greater distance from Kingston, is more difficult for Embassy 
Kingston staff to monitor.  Although several Mission elements 
are working with the GOJ to address airport (and seaport) 
security issues, from our perspective the implementation of 
WHTI as scheduled goes a long way towards rectifying one of 
our major homeland security concerns. 
TIGHE