This month’s guest star is Lara Callahan, an acclaimed actress from the Showtime drama, The Tudors. Her character, Jacinda Ortega, was one of the true victims of identity theft in the show and was left with a foreign name, an American one, and no real identity of her own. With the assistance of a new partner, Paul Danziger (Glen Murray), she escaped to Mexico, taking with her the only true memory she had of her time in the United States – her daughter. In this article, we’ll take a brief look at how this crime affected Lara and how she coped.
When faced with the prospect of losing her daughter, Jacinda made the decision to go into hiding. Born in California, Lara was raised in Texas, earned a degree in journalism, and spent some time in Europe before meeting and falling in love with Danziger. Although she had already lived in different states for most of her life, she suddenly realized that moving from one state to another would be a drastic change in her life. Her marriage to Danziger was intended to be a temporary measure, but when he decided to move to Mexico, it became a more permanent change. This meant that without a clear sense of citizenship, her life would be in danger.
The first obstacle faced by Lara was getting a copy of her birth certificate, which would verify her nationality. After doing some research, she learned that her birth records could be found online. She was able to use her new digital file to prove that her true identity was not in any danger, but she still had problems applying for a Mexican social security card. As her financial support for her husband was minimal, this proved to be a major stumbling block. Her American birth provided proof that she was a citizen of the United States, but without this national ID, her work was uncertain in Mexico and her Spanish work visa wouldn’t help either.