Illegal immigrant had access to Parliament

LONDON, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- An illegal immigrant had access to the British Houses of Parliament for nearly two months prior to finally being apprehended this month.

The parliamentary access issue came to an official end Jan. 31 when Home Secretary Jacqui Smith learned of 31-year-old Elaine Chaves Aparecida's actions, but it took more than a week for the news of the immigrant to reach the public, The Mail on Sunday said.

The Brazilian immigrant apparently had been working in the Houses of Parliament for several weeks, using a fake pass to bypass House of Commons security.

An alleged memo to Home Office Minister Liam Byrne caused the embarrassing security news to be leaked to the public Saturday.

That memo reportedly asked all government ministers to not mention the security lapse unless specifically asked by members of the British media, the BBC said.

The mistake only intensifies the controversy surrounding the British government since it was learned that the Security Industry Authority had not been appropriately checking employment applicants' citizenship status.