U.S. Customs official arrested

BOSTON, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The Boston-area port director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been arrested on charges she hired undocumented immigrants to clean her condominium.

Lorraine Henderson was arrested Friday, capping an eight-month undercover investigation, The Boston Globe reported Saturday.

Henderson, who directs 190 armed officers who oversee ports of entry in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, became the target of an investigation after a fellow employee told her that her regular cleaner was an illegal immigrant from Brazil.

"She's supposed to be deporting aliens, not hiring them," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kelly.

On Friday, Henderson, 50, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert B. Collings in Boston on a charge of encouraging an illegal immigrant to stay in the United States. She was released on a $25,000 unsecured bond.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan said in it was unconscionable for any Customs and Border Protection employee to be "violating the same immigration laws that they are charged with upholding."