Paraguay named illegal immigrant as US consular offical;, now jailed

Paraguay named illegal immigrant to consular postl

ASUNCION, Paraguay — Paraguay named an undocumented U.S. immigrant to run its consulate in New York, discovering his illegal status only when the man returned home to get his diplomatic papers and was denied a U.S. visa.

Paraguay’s foreign ministry acknowledged Wednesday that it was a mistake to name Augusto Noguera as the consulate’s “first official,” but said President Fernando Lugo annulled the decision as soon as he was informed of the U.S. Embassy’s visa denial.

Vice Foreign Minister Manuel Maria Caceres told The Associated Press that the decision to name Noguera as a diplomat on Sept. 21 was made in good faith since the ministry didn’t know of his legal status in New York.

Despite the visa denial, Noguera tried to return to his wife and three U.S.-born children, ages 10, 9 and 3, by crossing into the U.S. near Tijuana, Mexico, was detained by U.S. officials and is held in Chula Vista, California, Caceres said.

Paraguay’s Los Angeles consul, Ruben Benitez, is arranging legal assistance for Noguera and making sure that his family has what it needs. “We are watching closely so that Noguera has a fair process,” Caceres said.

Noguera had been in the U.S. for about 17 years, working in construction and becoming a pillar of New York’s 20,000-strong Paraguayan community, according to Liberal Party Rep. Elvis Balbuena, who had lobbied for Lugo to name Noguera to the post.

Noguera directs he party’s committee in New York as well as the Casa Paraguaya, a community center in Flushing, New York. Paraguayans who promised to support Lugo during his presidential campaign wanted Noguera to run the consulate, Balbuena told The AP.

Balbuena has called for Lugo to expel the U.S. consular official who denied the visa.