Feds Arrest Illegal Alien Allegedly Working In Prison After Ditching National Guard

Federal authorities arrested an illegal alien in Minnesota who allegedly worked as a state correctional officer while falsely claiming U.S. citizenship and abandoning his post in the National Guard.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took Morris Brown, a 45-year-old Liberian national, into custody Jan. 15 in Minneapolis as part of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS’s) “Operation Twin Shield,” an enforcement effort targeting suspected immigration fraud in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

DHS officials say Brown overstayed a student visa, falsely claimed U.S. citizenship on official documents and attempted to game the immigration system for years after losing lawful status.

“Operation Twin Shield continues to deliver results as the Department of Homeland Security relentlessly pursues those who seek to cheat our immigration system,” said USCIS Director Joseph Edlow. “This alien tried every trick in the book to remain in the United States after losing legal status. We will use every tool at our disposal to ensure he faces justice for his many violations of the law.”

Brown entered the United States in 2014 on a non-immigrant student visa. Federal officials terminated the visa in 2015 after he failed to enroll in a full course of study, stripping him of lawful status. Despite lacking legal authorization, Brown enlisted in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in 2014. He went absent without leave the following year.

Authorities later apprehended him and discharged him in 2022 under other than honorable conditions, according to DHS. In 2020, Brown applied for lawful permanent residence under the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness program. USCIS denied the application after investigators found he misrepresented key facts, including failing to disclose prior military service and falsely claiming U.S. citizenship.