This is only part of the story. It is how Figueroa was discovered that will really raise eyebrows. Her brother, reportedly a member of the United States Air Force, was applying to get a passport, when federal authorities discovered his sister was working as a police officer.
According to NBC, Figueroa claims that she was unaware that she was not a US citizen and that she provided the police force with a written affidavit when she was hired and testified to investigators that she was born in the United States.
The reality is that Figueroa was born in Sinaloa, Mexico. Apparently her parents brought her to the country illegally and forged documents, including a birth certificate and social security card. It’s possible the parents never told her that she was not a citizen. However, it begs the question, if her brother is serving in our armed forces and applying for a passport, is he also an illegal with forged documents, and does this constitute a national security issue?
Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves told the Associated Press, “We believe the affidavit and information she gave us at the time. And, she was under the impression that she herself was an American citizen.”
“”She told us she was always under the impression through her mother that she was born in this country, and she did not really find out until this summer … that she was an illegal alien through, I believe, a confrontation with her mother,” Graves added.
Figueroa, 42, resigned on Monday even though she apparently discovered she was illegal back in the summer. If she had not stepped down she would have been subject to being fired. A criminal investigation is underway to discover just what took place.
”We are absolutely having in-depth discussions right now to prevent this from happening again,” Grave told AP.
The Associated Press reports:
Figueroa “had an exemplary record” and the circumstances of her departure don’t put any investigations or prosecutions at risk, Graves said.
He said the Department of Public Safety was informed of Figueroa’s status Aug. 22, and she was placed on administrative leave with pay Sept. 4.
“It was pretty clear as it went up the chain (of command) that she would be terminated,” he said.
According to Graves, Figueroa previously worked for the federal Bureau of Prisons as a secretary and for the Pima County court system as a secretary and an officer. When Figueroa was hired to the state police force, she submitted a birth certificate from Texas and a driver’s license and high school diploma from California, Graves said.
KVOA was the first to report the matter, and said that “DPS officials say it’s unclear whether criminal charges will be filed in the case.”
The Examiner adds:
According to estimates, 14 million people live in families in which the head of household or the spouse is in the U.S illegally. Illegal immigrants who have came to the U.S. in recent years tend to be better educated than those who have been in the country a decade or more. A quarter of all immigrants who have arrived in recent years have at least some college education. Nonetheless, illegal immigrants as a group tend to be less educated than other sections of the U.S. population: 49 percent haven’t completed high school, compared with 9 percent of native-born Americans and 25 percent of legal immigrants.
Arizona implemented two laws which address the issue of illegal immigration. In April 2010, SB 1070 and HB 2162 laws added new state requirements, crimes and penalties related to enforcement of immigration laws and were to become effective on July 29, 2010.
