The 60 Minutes broadcast highlighted the problem at the border, with journalists observing attempts by around 600 people to enter the US during the day.
Are the passports seen in the video fake? The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs says they could also be real ones, but what is included in the program is not enough to understand.
"It is very difficult to identify whether this document belongs to anyone or whether it is fake. There is a very short frame where you can see the data of the document holder," said Madara Puķe, head of public relations at the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP), adding that the documents must be examined closeup.
However, Saeima deputy Jānis Dombrava pointed out that everything can be seen there. “It's all very clear here. Aleksandra. [Passport] Received 25/08/23 in the second branch of the PMLP. [..] You can see the personal identity number if you try hard enough,” said Dombrava.
“This is absolute disrespect. In fact, renouncing citizenship. So I will also send an application to the PMLP to revoke citizenship,“ the deputy stated.
The PMLP stressed that no conclusions could be drawn from the picture, but checked the deputy's version that the passport belonged to Aleksandra Kvirtidze. The Office acknowledged that there is no such person in the register.
Meanwhile, the MP called for a full investigation: “to check that this passport is not a forgery or otherwise illegally obtained document for which criminal responsibility is provided.”
“Sometimes there's a chance from individual cases like this to end up on the trail of something much bigger. Therefore, such cases should not be neglected,” believes Dombrava.
The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs noted that it is under the responsibility of the State Police, and this particular case has already been reported to the police.
Overall, Latvian passport forgery is not popular. Fewer than 20 criminal proceedings related to passport fraud have been launched since 2019.
