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Niagara Falls, N.Y. - U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced the arrest of a citizen of Colombia who made a false claim to U.S. citizenship.

On February 14, CBP officers encountered a 20-year-old male claiming to be Luis Daniel Mendez- Nieves at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing in Niagara Falls, N.Y. The subject presented a Florida drivers license as proof of identity and advised the primary CBP officer that he was a U.S. citizen born in Puerto Rico.

The subject told the CBP officer that he was enroute to Montreal, Quebec to visit his girlfriend, but was refused entry by Canadian authorities due to his inability to provide an address for his girlfriend and his lack of documentary proof of citizenship. The subject was then referred to secondary processing for verification of his immigration status.

During the secondary interview, Mendez- Nieves was again questioned about his place of birth, in which he replied Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. However, throughout the secondary interview, the subject was unable to answer simple questions that would confirm his claimed identity and residency in Puerto Rico. A physical inspection of the vehicle was conducted, which resulted in discovery a Columbian passport, a photo copy of a Puerto Rican birth certificate and U.S. Social Security card.

The photocopy of the Puerto Rican birth certificate and Social Security card bared the name of Luis Daniel Mendez- Nieves. The Colombian passport’s biographical page contained a photo of the subject, but baring the name Daniel Ibagon Cardenas.

When confronted with the information found in the vehicle, the subject recanted his claim to U.S. citizenship and advised CBP that his true identity was in fact that of Daniel Ibagon Cardenas, a Colombian national with no legal immigration status to be in United States. Record checks revealed that Ibagon Cardenas entered the United States legally on January of 2002 as a visitor for six months, but failed to depart after the duration of his stay. He told CBP officers that he purchased the photocopied Puerto Rican birth certificate and Social Security card for approximately $3,000 from an unknown man in Orlando, Fla. The subject stated that he then obtained a Florida drivers license with the fraudulent documentation.

As Ibagon Cardenas willfully misrepresented himself as a citizen of the United States, he was arrested by CBP officers for false claim to U.S. citizenship, fraud and false statement. He was also charged with misuse of a passport, as he had attempted to obtain a US passport using his fraudulently obtained documentation. Ibagon Cardenas is being held at the Federal Detention Center in Batavia, N.Y., pending prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Western District of New York Office.

“As of January 31, 2008, oral claims to citizenship are no longer accepted, and travelers now have to present documentary proof of their citizenship,” said James T. Engleman, CBP director of field operations for the Buffalo Field Office. “This case is an excellent example of the importance of this change in policy.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.