A Department of Homeland Security supervisor was arrested Wednesday, accused of using his position to falsify documents to allow illegal immigrants to become U.S. citizens.
It was the second embarrassing arrest in three months for the often-criticized department charged with overseeing the nation’s security.
Robert T. Schofield, a supervisor at the Citizenship and Immigration Services, an arm of DHS, was arrested at his Fairfax office by federal agents Wednesday on federal immigration document fraud charges.
Schofield was arrested with an alleged co-conspirator, Qiming Ye, who was charged with passport, identification and visa fraud charges. Schofield has been with immigration services since 1976, and was responsible for reviewing applications submitted by immigrants requesting adjustments to the immigration status.
In their investigation, DHS and FBI agents learned that Schofield had been accused earlier of accepting bribes over a 10-year period, according to the affidavit. In fact, he had been demoted from the Washington office after he fled to East Asia where he made $36,000 worth of unauthorized purchases on his government-issued credit card, according to the affidavit.
Investigators say they believe Schofield allowed at least 23 immigrants to become U.S. citizens, according to the affidavit.
DHS spokesman Jarrod Agen said that in a department with thousands of employees, there are going to be some transgressions, and the department would investigate them. He didn’t know whether Schofield had been suspended.
In April, DHS spokesman Brian J. Doyle, 55, of Silver Spring, was arrested on charges of using his computer to seduce a child after he allegedly had sexually explicit conversations with a detective posing as a 14-year-old girl.
