Trio Charged with Amnesty Fraud : Case Against Mexican Citizens Believed First Filed in U.S.

U.S. authorities said Friday that three Mexican citizens arrested in San Diego this week are apparently the first people in the nation to be charged with involvement in a fraudulent application for legal U.S. residence under the so-called amnesty provisions of the new immigration law.

Federal officials, while encouraging undocumented residents to come forward and apply for amnesty, have repeatedly warned that they will deal sternly with applicants who submit fraudulent applications.

Duke Austin, an INS spokesman in Washington, said that the San Diego case was probably the first in the nation in which anyone had been formally charged with submitting fraudulent documents--although other cases are under investigation.

Nearly 500,000 Applications

Nationwide, the INS has received almost 500,000 amnesty applications since May 5, when the process began. More than 98% have been recommended for approval, Austin said.

Experts have predicted that the amnesty process--which generally opens the way to legal status for illegal aliens who have been living in the United States since 1982--would be a bonanza for an already booming market in forged immigration-related documents. Amnesty applicants must show some documentary evidence, such as rent receipts, to back their claims that they have been living in the United States since 1982.

In an effort to encourage amnesty applicants, immigration officials have vowed that all applications will remain confidential, and that unsuccessful applicants would not be subject to deportation based on truthful information submitted in connection with their applications.

However, authorities have also warned that the confidentiality rule is subject to one major caveat: fraudulent information submitted by applicants will be used in criminal prosecutions.

“We have said all along that this is the only way . . . (applicants) can be set up for deportation or prosecution,” said Harold Ezell, western regional commissioner for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, who spoke during a news conference held here to announce the arrest.

The applicant in question is Juan Marcos Torres Rueda, a 23-year-old undocumented restaurant worker, who is believed to be from Tijuana. Also arrested were Maria Soledad Hernandez Santellano, 29, and her mother, Nicolasa Santellano Moreno, 52, who live in San Diego on permanent legal resident status.

Charged with Conspiracy

The three suspects--the women are accused of helping Torres Rueda doctor his application--were arraigned Friday on federal conspiracy charges before U.S. Magistrate Irma Gonzalez in San Diego. Each faces a maximum sentence of five years in jail and a fine of up to $250,000.

Authorities said Torres Rueda submitted an amnesty application at the INS legalization office in San Diego on June 10, stating that he had lived in San Diego since 1981. In support of his application, he submitted copies of handwritten receipts and affidavits indicating his presence in San Diego since 1981, as well as purported copies of his tax returns between 1981 and 1986.

Torres Rueda’s nervousness while being interviewed by INS employees was an “initial key” that his application might be amiss, said James Turnage, district director for the INS in San Diego.

INS investigators determined that the signatures on some of Torres Rueda’s documents were forged. In addition, a check of INS computers showed that in 1986 Torres Rueda had been issued a border crossing card--an INS document issued to residents of Mexican border areas that allows limited entry into the United States. At that time, Torres Rueda stated that he was living in Tijuana--a situation that would disqualify him as an amnesty applicant.

Falsity Acknowledged

On June 25, according to court documents, Torres Rueda admitted under oath before an INS questioner that he had not entered the United States until 1986. Torres Rueda also acknowledged that the receipts and affidavits submitted in connection with his application were false.

On Aug. 6, court documents show, Hernandez Santellano and Santellano Moreno admitted to an INS investigator that they had submitted false affidavits stating that Torres Rueda had lived in the United States since 1981. On Thursday, federal authorities arrested the two women and Torres Rueda at two different San Diego residences. Torres Rueda was ordered held on cash bail of $7,500. The two women were being held on bail of $10,000 each.

Apart from the criminal charges, Torres Rueda is subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of the criminal case. Because of their permanent legal resident status in the United States, authorities said, the women are not likely to be deported.