U.S. Customs Official Charged With Hiring Illegals

Michael Sullivan, U.S. Attorney in Boston, called the official`s actions `unconscionable`.

A senior U.S. border patrol official was charged on Friday with hiring three illegal immigrants to clean her home and advising one of them on how to avoid detection by the authorities.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security charged Lorraine Henderson, port director for southern New England, with employing an illegal immigrant from Brazil in her Salem, Massachusetts, home for nearly two years. She also briefly employed two other illegal immigrants whose nationalities were not stated.

Henderson, who worked for the department's Customs and Border Protection arm, continued to pay the Brazilian woman, even after a colleague warned her not to, according to court documents.

When the unidentified Brazilian woman asked Henderson for advice on her immigration status, Henderson was reported to have told her, "You have to be careful, 'cause they will deport you."

Henderson was also said to have advised the woman, "Don't leave (the country) ... cause once you leave, you will never be back."

Michael Sullivan, U.S. Attorney in Boston, called the official's actions "unconscionable".

"For any member of Customs and Border Protection to allegedly compromise their authority ... violating the same immigration laws that they are charged with upholding is unconscionable," he said.

The colleague, who also was not named, hired the Brazilian woman on Henderson's recommendation, but fired her after learning of her illegal status. Homeland Security investigators later made contact with the Brazilian woman, who agreed to record several conversations with Henderson.

A message left on Henderson's phone on Friday seeking comment was not immediately returned.

If convicted of the charge of harboring an illegal alien, Henderson faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.