Edgar Covarrubias-Padilla, a 27-year-old California immigrant who worked as a camp counselor for two years, has been charged with child molestation and distribution of child pornography, however, months before he was arrested, federal investigators identified him as being a "potentially egregious public safety," yet still allowed to keep his job and work permit through the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Responding to an inquiry from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed that it had awarded Covarrubias-Padilla with DACA status on May 22, 2013, reports Breitbart.
Then on Nov. 17, 2014, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) became aware that Covarrubias-Padilla was under investigation for child molestation, according to Grassley's office.
However, ICE apparently failed to inform USCIS that Covarrubias-Padilla was under investigation, and he was allowed to keep his DACA status and continue working as a camp counselor, where he had allegedly molested and victimized children. USCIS finally found out about the investigation on March 31, 2015.
Covarrubias-Padilla was arrested May 7 and charged with child molestation, distribution of child pornography and two other felonies, according to The Daily Caller. It was only then, on May 13, seven days after his arrest, that his DACA status was terminated.
"These allegations are deeply troubling because, if true, they suggest that DHS was aware for months or years that Mr. Covarrubias-Padilla posed a public safety threat to the children he was monitoring, yet took no action to revoke his DACA authorization," Grassley wrote to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson in May.
Grassley sent another letter to Johnson on Thursday asking a number of questions relating to how Covarrubias-Padilla managed to slip through the cracks.
"It is now clear that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had begun investigating Covarrubias-Padilla for child exploitation as early as November of 2014, yet he was allowed to maintain his DACA status for another six months," Grassley wrote. "The Committee has documentation of a TECS record in Covarrubias-Padilla's A-file that reads, 'Suspect of Ongoing Criminal Investigations Relating to Child Exploitation' placed November 11, 2014. Covarrubias-Padilla was arrested on May 7, 2015."
"Although the Director's response letter states that 'ICE field offices typically apprise USCIS when a recipient of DACA or an immigration benefit is an investigative target,' in this case, USCIS failed to learn of the investigation until months later on March 31, 2015. Despite both components' knowledge of Covarrubias-Padilla's investigation by March of 2015, and a referral to the Background Check Unit (BCU) as a 'potentially egregious public safety case,' the revocation of DACA did not occur until May, 13, 2015, several days after his arrested."
Read the rest of Grassley's letter here.
