Senate intern, a sex offender, faces deportation

December 12, 2012 @ 1:58 pm


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Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Robert Menendez employed as an unpaid intern in his Senate office an illegal immigrant who was a registered sex offender, now under arrest by immigration authorities, The Associated Press has learned. The Homeland Security Department instructed federal agents not to arrest him until after Election Day, a U.S. official involved in the case told the AP.

A Homeland Security spokesman, Peter Boogaard, said Wednesday that it was "categorically false" that the department delayed the arrest of Luis Abrahan Sanchez Zavaleta, 18, until after the election.

Sanchez, an immigrant from Peru, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in front of his home in New Jersey on Dec. 6, two federal officials said. Sanchez, who entered the country on a now-expired visitor visa from Peru, is facing deportation and remains in custody. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of Sanchez's immigration case.

Boogaard said in a statement that ICE followed standard procedures working with local prosecutors before taking what he described as appropriate enforcement action.

Menendez, D-N.J., who advocates aggressively for pro-immigration policies, was re-elected in November with 58 percent of the vote. He said his staff was notified about the case Monday, he personally learned about the case from AP's reporting and knew nothing about whether DHS delayed the arrest. The senator said his staff asks interns whether they are in the country legally but cannot check to be sure.

"We certainly wouldn't have known through any background checks since he is a minor about any sex offender status," Menendez said in an interview Wednesday with MSNBC. "Once it came to our attention, our New Jersey staff director let the young man go."

Online jail records did not indicate whether Sanchez has an attorney. Sanchez declined to be interviewed from jail.

The prosecutor's office in Hudson County, N.J., said Sanchez was found to have violated the law in 2010 and subsequently required to register as a sex offender. The exact charge was unclear because Sanchez was prosecuted as a juvenile and those court records are not publicly accessible. The prosecutor's office confirmed to AP that Sanchez registered as a sex offender, although his name does not appear on the public registry. The acting county prosecutor, Gaetano Gregory, is a Republican.

Authorities in Hudson County notified ICE agents in early October that they suspected Sanchez was an illegal immigrant who was a registered sex offender and who may be eligible to be deported. ICE agents in New Jersey notified superiors at the Homeland Security Department because they considered it a potentially high profile arrest, and DHS instructed them not to arrest Sanchez until after the November election, one U.S. official told the AP. ICE officials complained that the delay was inappropriate, but DHS directed them several times not to act, the official said.

It was not immediately clear why federal immigration authorities would not have been notified sooner about Sanchez's status.

During discussions about when and where to arrest Sanchez, the U.S. reviewed Sanchez's application for permission to stay in the country as part of President Barack Obama's policy to allow up to 1.7 million young illegal immigrants avoid deportation and get permission to work for up to two years. As a sex offender, he would not have been eligible. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which oversees the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, notified Sanchez of that shortly before his arrest, one official said.

Menendez said the arrest spoke to the need for comprehensive immigration reform that brings illegal immigrants out of the shadows.

"It does speak volumes about why we need comprehensive immigration reform," the senator said. "I can't know who is here to pursue the American dream versus who is here to do it damage if I cannot get people to come forth out of the shadows, go through criminal background checks and then determine who is here to pursue the dream and make sure that those who are here and have criminal backgrounds ultimately get deported."

During the final weeks of President George W. Bush's administration, ICE was criticized for delaying the arrest of President Barack Obama's aunt, who had ignored an immigration judge's order to leave the country several years earlier after her asylum claim was denied. She subsequently won the right to stay in the United States after an earlier deportation order, and there was no evidence of involvement by the White House.

In that case, the Homeland Security Department had imposed an unusual directive days before the 2008 election requiring high-level approval before federal agents nationwide could arrest fugitive immigrants including Zeituni Onyango, the half-sister of Obama's late father. The directive from ICE expressed concerns about "negative media or congressional interest," according to a copy of that directive obtained by AP. The department lifted the immigration order weeks later.

___

Follow Alicia A. Caldwell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/acaldwellap


(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (9)


  • Add A Comment

  • HLC wrote...
    With any kind of luck.
    December 12, 2012 11:36 am
    Someone high in the white house will be the next illegal arrested.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • wsualumn wrote...
    HLC
    December 12, 2012 6:43 pm
    Brilliant! And guys like you can't figure out why Obama was re-elected. Let me guess, you are a "Tea Party" guy.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rangerhawk wrote...
    wsualumn
    December 12, 2012 11:49 pm
    Forget HLC's comment for a minute. What's your take on the story?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • wsualumn wrote...
    Hawk
    December 13, 2012 5:08 am
    It sounds like there needs to be reform and this has been an ongoing problem. There were problems under the last president as you can see near the end of the story. The timing was similar. A senate intern usually comes with strong recommendations. We have had students serve as pages for congress in our area and I don't know how much detailed background checks were done on these high school students. I'd also like to know what his crime was. Some 18 year olds can get charged with a crime that is trivial by yesterday's standards. Example: an 17 year old having sex with his 15 year old girlfriend. Not trivial to me(especially if it were my daughter), but trivial to others. Is it a more serious crime? Child molestation? A lot of questions not clear. How old was he when he entered this country? 5 years or 15 years?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Concerned US Citizen wrote...
    Why?
    December 13, 2012 11:23 am
    Why was this 2 time CRIMINAL allowed t even stay in our country. 1st he was an ILLEGAL, that was one crime and the 2nd was a sex offender. Why wasn't he deported the minute he was convicted? Is this what our president's back door amnesy DREAM ACT is allowing to stay in our country? What happened to e-verify? A US Senator doesn't even know who is working in his office!! What kind of security is that. I thought Napolitano said our borders were secure If a senators own office isn't secure why should anyone believe our borders are secure.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HLC wrote...
    wsudrinker
    December 13, 2012 12:29 pm
    I don't understand what you mean. You must be assuming I'm refering to Obozo. What if I'm not?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • wsualumn wrote...
    HLC
    December 13, 2012 8:45 pm
    You are Hilarious with the term "Obozo!" How did you come up with that one? Limbaugh? Bill Law? At a Tea Party function? Dude, you are so FUNNY!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HLC wrote...
    WSU I am just and independant american voter and veteran.
    December 14, 2012 12:16 pm
    I vote for whom I think will do best for the country. I've voted for a few democrats includeing Bill Clinton and I may have voted for Hillary, not sure. But Obama is a bozo who could care less for this country. Try Dreams From My Father on although you would likely agree with all he writes. The man is a socialist and is only concerned with his celebrity. Alas Obozo.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • wsualumn wrote...
    HLC
    December 14, 2012 4:54 pm
    Name me his socialist programs that he has been trying to pass. Are you going to tell me Romneycare? I know that FDR has gone down as a socialist in the eyes of many conservatives. Do you dislike that socialist program called social security? Just curious.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }