Deportation Officer Arrested for Harboring Illegal Alien, Lying to Feds

A deportation officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was arrested today after surrendering to charges of harboring his girlfriend, an illegal alien, and lying about his ownership of a local hair salon, authorities said.

Arnaldo Echevarria, 37, of Somerset, has been charged by criminal complaint with one count of harboring an illegal alien and one count of making false statements, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Echevarria, a deportation officer with ICE, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, received permission from his superiors in December 2012 to open a hair salon in West Orange. He said the business would not interfere with ICE matters and would not involve illegal aliens. Echevarria, however, hired his girlfriend at the time, an illegal alien, to manage the salon, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.

Echevarria’s girlfriend entered the United States illegally, using a name and ID from a person in Puerto Rico to acquire a Pennsylvania ID card, authorities said. Echevarria allegedly knew his girlfriend and another salon employee were living in the country illegally.

He took measures to conceal her illegal status, including signing the lease for her apartment and placing her cable and electric bills in his name, driving her and other salon employees to and from the salon each day, and paid employees in cash, never asking them to fill out employment eligibility paperwork, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The charges of harboring an illegal alien and making false statements are each punishable by a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the gain or loss from the offense.

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