Border Patrol agent charged with smuggling, faking citizenship

[ConfuZed]

SAN DIEGO - A Border Patrol agent was charged Friday with smuggling illegal immigrants and forging a birth certificate to get hired.

Oscar Antonio Ortiz, a Mexican citizen who was born in Tijuana, allegedly secured his job with the Border Patrol in 2001 by using a fake birth certificate that stated he was born in Chicago.

Authorities say the number on his birth certificate corresponds to that of another person who was born one month before him.

Ortiz, 28, pleaded not guilty to charges of migrant smuggling and making a false citizenship claim. U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony Battaglia scheduled a hearing Wednesday to consider bail.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/12315292.htm

[Eugene]

1. Unbelievable.

The feds fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book
because they cut corners on background checks.
It's frightening to think who else might have
slipped though.

From the article:

T.J. Bonner, who heads a labor union of Border Patrol agents, said the
FBI used to perform background checks on prospective employees but
turned that work over to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

"It's a two-minute phone call to verify whether the number (on the birth
certificate) matches the name," said Bonner, president of the National
Border Patrol Council. "Any rookie who is trained in immigration law
could have figured that out."

Who would have thought that getting a driver's license
would require tougher citizenship checks than getting a badge?