CBP Officers in Buffalo Arrest Imposter on False Claim to Citizenship/ Fraud and False Statements

Lewiston, N.Y. - U. S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced the arrest of a citizen of Honduras on charges of false claim to United States citizenship.

On November 13, CBP officers encountered a 26-year-old male as he applied for admission into the United States at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge border crossing in Lewiston, N.Y. The subject stated that he was a United States citizen born in Puerto Rico, and presented a social security card and Texas driver’s license as proof of citizenship and identity. The subject advised CBP officers that he was enroute from his home in Massachusetts to visit his girlfriend in Michigan, but made a wrong turn and ended up crossing the international bridge in Lewiston. The subject was referred to CBP secondary inspection to verify his claim to U.S. citizenship. 

During the secondary interview, the subject was again questioned about his place of birth, in which he replied Puerto Rico. However, throughout the interview the subject was unable to answer simple questions that would confirm his claimed identity and residency in Puerto Rico. A query of the subject’s fingerprints resulted in the discovery of a record indicating that the prints were not those of a United States citizen but rather belonged to Marlon Bulnes-Macias, a Honduran citizen who had been previously deported from the United States in 2007.

Mr. Bulnes-Macias later admitted his true identity, and advised CBP officers that after being deported, he reentered the United States illegally on foot in Texas sometime in 2008. He claims that he purchased a Puerto Rican birth certificate and social security card, which enabled him to obtain a Texas driver’s license. He later moved to Massachusetts where he lived and worked illegally in the construction industry. Mr. Bulnes-Macias was being held at the Batavia Federal Detention Facility pending case review by the U.S. Attorney’s Office

On November 19, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York charged Mr. Bulnes-Macias with fraud and false statements, false claim to Unites States citizen and reentry after deportation. Mr. Bulnes-Macias was arraigned today in Federal Court and remains in custody without bail.

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.