Gov't arrests illegal immigrant, registered sex offender working for US senator

[The Straight Story]

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. 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.

Luis Abrahan Sanchez Zavaleta, an 18-year-old immigrant from Peru, was arrested by U.S. 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.

A spokesman said the Homeland Security Department would provide a statement later Wednesday.

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 Monday, and 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.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/govt-arrests-illegal-immigrant-senate-intern

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Grist for the Fux mill.

[joeybee12]

2. Technically, he doesn't work for him...he's not paid...

I suppose Menendez is right...you're not paying someone so there aren't the usual checks on employment status.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. I think it needs to read

INTERNING for a US Senator.

[OldDem2012]

4. Bizarre. Given where they work, how is it possible interns can be hired without any kind of.....

....background check? That doesn't make any sense to me.

[alp227]

5. Oh c'mon, the DHS wanted the ICE to wait till after the election?

I thought DHS was supposed to be free from political influence!!

(Oh, I think the nuts forgot that deportations under the Obama administration were more than under any previous administration. But they can cry about corruption based on this one case.)

(UPDATE) Found this from the AP exclusive story:

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.

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

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.

I doubt that waiting until election day is standard procedure.

[alp227]

6. MSNBC's Tamron Hall asked Menendez about the story

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101786159