Covering Up Illegal Status of Father Results in Clearance Denial

With all of the talk about border security and undocumented illegal immigrants I found a recent Department of Energy appeals case apropos’ to the discussion. The statement of reasons and initial denial cited security concerns under foreign influence and personal conduct. Here is a quick summary of the case:

The DOE contractor submitted his SF-86 application to DOE personnel security and on it, listed that his mother was a foreign national undocumented alien living in the U.S. and his father was also a foreign national, but living in his native country. However, during the course of the investigation it came to light the father was also an undocumented alien living in the U.S. illegally. It seemed kind of odd he would list correct information for his mom, but not the dad, right? The investigator on the case thought so too and queried the applicant on it. The applicant told the investigator he knew his father was in the U.S. illegally and that the father was also helping others get into the U.S. illegally by providing false driver’s licenses. The applicant was quoted in the interview as saying “family came first” and because the father was helping his mother financially, the applicant did not want to do anything to jeopardize that.

Needless to say, this was a classic example of why foreign influence is of concern to national security. Throw in the fact the applicant lied about his father’s whereabouts and extent of contact, this was an easy case for the appeals judge to weigh in on and deny the applicant eligibility for a clearance.