Birth certificates and the Puerto Rican Community

There was an article written by Emily Ngo on March 10, 2010 for AMNY (AM New York, the free newspaper) about how Puerto Rican's identity theft has increased due to stolen birth certificates. The community critized the Puerto Rican government of allowing this to happen and putting everyone at risk.This has created a lot of panic that has many running to getting new documents.There is a black market in the price range of $5000 to $10000 per birth certficate. Government officials in New York stated that the public is overreacting. That once you are settled in New York that no one will request a birth certificate. In my opinion, these officials are underreacting. If someone's identity is stolen it can create distruction which takes time and money to resolve. For more information, go to the Puerto Rican Federal Affairs website http://www.prfaa.com. They represent the government of P.R. before the federal, state, and local government. Their goal is to improve the quality of life for all Puerto Ricans.