An increasing number of people with others' documents have been caught at U.S. border in recent years as a result of improved technology and intensified crackdown on illegal crossings, U.S. media reported Wednesday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has reported a rise in so-called imposters -- someone who uses other person's legitimate documents to enter the country illegally -- and fraudulent document cases in the U.S. ports of entry in recent years, according to the newspaper Houston Chronicle.

The number of people caught at the U.S. ports with fraudulent, stolen or purchased documents increased from about 23,500 in 2006 to more than 28,000 in 2008, an increase of about 19 percent, the newspaper quoted CBP data as reporting.

About 90 percent of cases involved documents seized at ports of entry from imposters with legitimate documents, such as U.S. passports, green cards and border crossing cards, CBP officials said.

With enhanced document security and advancement of biometric technology, many illegal immigrants and smugglers choose to use genuine documents from someone else rather than attempting to create counterfeit identification, Warren Burr, a CBP official, was quoted by Houston Chronicle as saying.

William Molaski, director of the U.S. port of entry in El Paso, Texas, attributed the increase in seizure of fraudulent and imposter documents to such factors as improved technology and training at the ports, increased border enforcement and a reduction in the number of acceptable identification documents travelers can use to enter the country.

Source: Xinhua