Read more: State, Economy, Salvation Army, Social Security, Immigration, Toys
(AP) -- HOUSTON (AP) - Families signing up their children for The Salvation Army's Angel Tree program in the Houston area will no longer have to give a Social Security number.
Some had seen the practice as a way to check immigration status, but the charity said it was a way to cut down on fraud.
The Christian charity says the number could be a child or parent's and was enough to register the entire family.
It was used to check if families were going to various Salvation Army centers and registering at each one, said spokesman Juan Alanis. Social Security numbers were never used to verify legal status, the Salvation Army said Thursday.
The charity accepts consular identification cards, school records and birth certificates as forms of ID, Alanis said.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
(Copyright ©2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
