Democratic Senate Staffer Caught Posing As Lawyer For Four-Time Deported Illegal, DHS Alleges

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused a Senate staffer in Democratic Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s office of impersonating an attorney in an effort to spring a repeatedly deported illegal immigrant from federal custody.

DHS officials say the aide inserted himself into an active immigration case involving Jose Ismeal Ayuzo Sandoval, a 40-year-old Mexican national who has been removed from the United States four times and has a prior DUI conviction, according to a letter that Fox News obtained Wednesday. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons detailed the incident in a letter to Duckworth, saying that the staffer’s behavior crossed a line that endangered officers and undermined federal procedures.

“At approximately 1:29 p.m., an individual identified as Edward York, who according to publicly available information, is employed as a Constituent Outreach Coordinator for your Senate office, entered the field office lobby, and in a discussion with a federal officer, claimed to be Mr. Ayuzo’s attorney. Mr. York demanded to speak with his ‘client,’” the letter states.

Lyons told Duckworth that the staffer used that false claim to gain access to the detainee and push for his release.

“This staff member allegedly did so to gain access to the detainee and seek his release from custody, and he accomplished it by falsifying an official Department of Homeland Security form,” the letter says.

Once inside the building, York persuaded Ayuzo to sign a G-28 form, the official document that authorizes an attorney to act on a client’s behalf in immigration matters. The form allows the representative to receive federal notices, file documents and communicate directly with government agencies. Despite obtaining a legitimate signature during the meeting, York later attempted to turn in a version of the G-28 that lacked Sandoval’s signature, according to Lyons.

Four days later, another form surfaced.