MINNEAPOLIS - State and federal law enforcement agencies joined with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to sign a charter signaling the formation of a new ICE Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force.

The mission of the task force is to combat the growing problem of document fraud and immigration benefit fraud. The Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force (DBFTF) in Minnesota is one of 10 others formed around the country this summer. The other related ICE task forces are located in: Atlanta, Ga.; Boston, Mass.; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colo.; Detroit, Mich.; Los Angeles, Calif.; New York, N.Y.; Newark, N.J.; Philadelphia, Pa.; and Washington D.C.

Some of the principal signatories who joined with ICE today to form the Minnesota Document and Benefit Fraud charter are: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota; U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service; U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS); U.S. Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration; Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General; the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension; and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. The task force includes Minneapolis-based special agents and analysts assigned to ICE's Office of Investigations and its Field Intelligence Unit.

"Today's signing marks an important step toward ensuring the integrity of this nation's identification systems," said Mark Cangemi, s pecial a gent in c harge of ICE's Office of Investigations in the Twin Cities. "Vulnerabilities in our document or benefits systems can create threats to our national security. ICE plans to further expand this task force by partnering with other agencies that encounter issues of identity fraud in their communities."