December 08, 2008

The Ultimate Definition Of Irony

Woman in charge of keeping out illegal aliens busted for hiring illegal aliens.

Lorraine Henderson, the Boston area port director for the Customs and Border Protection Division of the US Department of Homeland Security, was arrested at her home shortly before 8 a.m. after an eight-month undercover investigation during which a cleaner wore a wire.

Federal prosecutors said Henderson - who directs 190 armed officers who oversee ports of entry in Rhode Island and Connecticut as well as Massachusetts - became a target after she ignored a warning from a fellow employee that her regular cleaner was an illegal immigrant from Brazil.

"She's supposed to be deporting aliens, not hiring them," said Assistant US Attorney Brian T. Kelly, chief of the public corruption unit.

As Boston area port director, Henderson oversees the inspection and admission of foreign nationals at sites such as Logan International Airport, T.F. Green International Airport in Rhode Island, and Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. She can also grant or deny waivers to illegal immigrants seeking to enter the country.

US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan said in a statement that it was unconscionable for any Customs and Border Protection employee to be "violating the same immigration laws that they are charged with upholding."

Looking drained after spending six hours in custody, Henderson, 50, clad in a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans, briefly appeared before US Magistrate Judge Robert B. Collings yesterday in Boston on a charge of encouraging an illegal immigrant to stay in the United States.

She was released on a $25,000 unsecured bond after saying little in court and declining to talk to reporters. As is customary when federal defendants are charged through a criminal complaint, she did not enter a plea in her initial appearance.

Oscar Cruz, a federal defender, represented Henderson at the hearing, but she said she expected to hire a private attorney. Cruz did not address the substance of the charges at the hearing.

Posted by: eddiebear at 09:26 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 328 words, total size 2 kb.

Comments are disabled. Post is locked.
14kb generated in CPU 0.0078, elapsed 0.1614 seconds.
61 queries taking 0.1553 seconds, 133 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.