A staff member of far-left Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois falsely presented himself as a lawyer to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the hope he could spring an illegal alien criminal from custody.
The accusation comes from acting ICE chief Todd Lyons, who leveled the allegations in a letter to the senator.
Duckworth has been pressing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for answers about the “deeply troubling use of force” in Chicago during illegal-alien roundups, but apparently has serious management issues in her own office.
The Letter
Fox News reported that the staffer, Edward York, “told federal agents he was the attorney of Jose Ismeal Ayuzo Sandoval — a 40-year-old illegal immigrant previously deported four times to Mexico and who had a DUI conviction,” Fox News reported of the letter.
That was a lie, Lyons reported to Duckworth. At about 1:30 p.m., “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,’” Lyons told the senator.
York hoped to spring the drunk-driving four-time deportee by creating a false record.
The ploy worked. York met Ayuzo, who signed a G-28 form that allows a lawyer to represent a client on immigration problems, “empowering them to receive official correspondence, communicate with government agencies on their behalf and more,” Fox reported.
But York wasn’t the only party to the skullduggery. A law firm in Collinsville, Illinois, was also part of the plan, according to Fox:
After attaining a release order, the staffer then tried to submit the form without Sandoval’s signature, even after having completed the G-28 form in person, [Lyons’] letter said.
“Four days later, a Suarez Law Office in Collinsville, Illinois filed a G-28 electronically that did not have Mr. Ayuzo’s signature, even though Mr. York, who claimed to work for the law firm, had already obtained a signed form.” …
“It appears as if Mr. York may have collaborated with the firm to cover his misrepresentation.”
A big problem for York, Ayuzo, and the law firm? ICE couldn’t validate him as a lawyer.
As if that weren’t bad enough, the Montgomery County Illinois Democrats Facebook page explained that the staffer went to an ICE field office “with a packet of documents and a release order with the intention of misrepresenting himself to law enforcement,” Fox reported of Lyons’ letter.
Lyons expects a reply from Duckworth, who didn’t respond to Fox’s inquiries, by November 17.
DHS posted video of the staff member’s subterfuge.
“This @SenDuckworth staff member allegedly claimed to be the lawyer of a 40-year-old illegal immigrant who had been deported to Mexico 4 times and had a DUI conviction, in order to seek his release from custody,” DHS reported on X:
He accomplished this by falsifying an official Department of Homeland Security form.
We look forward to a response from Senator Duckworth.
Possible Charges
Pretending to be an attorney and lying on a federal form are serious state and federal crimes. In Illinois, as one commentator noted, York could be charged with the unauthorized practice of law. Federally, the crime is impersonating an attorney, which carries a three-year prison sentence. An additional charge could be acting as an attorney, while a federal employee, for prosecuting any claim against the United States — five years in prison.
So pretending to be an attorney might involve three crimes.
And prosecutors might not be finished yet, should Lyons’ allegations be tried in court.
Other federal crimes and possible sentences include:
- document fraud — five years;
- making a materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement — five years;
- obstructing a federal proceeding — five years;
- witness tampering — 20 years;
- instigating or assisting escape — one year;
- conspiracy to commit offense or defraud the United States — five years;
- aiding and abetting — sentence depends on underlying crime; and
- bringing in and harboring certain aliens — five to 10 years.
Illinois could charge him with aiding escape, which carries a sentence of three to seven years.
What Duckworth Isn’t Concerned About
For her part, in a letter to the DHS inspector general, Duckworth complained that DHS and ICE are enforcing immigration law, citing the case of a teacher whom federal agents arrested. That supposedly traumatized the “toddlers and young children” who saw the arrest.
But she is, apparently, not troubled by individuals such as Alan Eduardo Garcia, a violent illegal alien from Mexico. He was hiding out in Chicago.
As ICE reported last week, this upstanding fellow’s rap sheet “includes arrests and convictions for felony strangulation, domestic battery, disorderly conduct, battery causing bodily injury, and aggravated battery against a handicapped or pregnant person. He also faces pending charges for unlawful use of a firearm. Garcia entered the United States illegally and previously held Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status, which was denied in 2019.”
When agents tried to arrest him on October 8 “during a vehicle stop,” the agency continued, he rammed a government vehicle and fled the scene, forcing Customs and Border Protection to track him from the air. The helicopter “lost sight of him due to his reckless driving at speeds over 100 miles per hour, endangering public safety, including children in the area,” ICE reported:
On Nov. 5, ICE officers observed Garcia exiting his apartment and entering his vehicle. Garcia again attempted to assault officers by striking their vehicles and fleeing at high speed. He abandoned his vehicle and fled on foot, barricading himself inside his apartment.
When he climbed to a third-floor balcony to flee, agents blocked him from jumping and killing himself.
