PR extends deadline for voiding birth certificates

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Thursday, 09.23.10
PR extends deadline for voiding birth certificates
The Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Puerto Rico is giving islanders one more month to use their original birth certificates before they are no longer recognized, as offices struggle to handle a flood of applications for new, more secure documents.

Thursday's announcement comes a week before the birth certificates were to be voided under a new identity fraud law affecting about 5 million people - including some 1.4 million on the U.S. mainland.

Puerto Ricans commonly use their birth certificates for a variety of everyday uses such as enrolling in schools or joining churches, sports teams and other groups.

However the documents are often loosely secured and can fetch up to $6,000 on the black market, peddled to illegal immigrants who assume false identities to be able to work and get drivers' licenses in the United States.

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/23/1838801/pr-extends-deadline-for-voiding.html