Arizona police officer identified as illegal migrant

A detective on Arizona’s state police force has resigned over her Mexican nationality, a U.S. media outlet reported on Friday.

It turned out that Carmen Figueroa was living in the country illegally after being brought to the U.S. from Mexico by her family at a young age, reported AP news.

Arizona authorities said her status was revealed when the State Department processed a passport application submitted by her brother, who was serving in the U.S. military.

Figueroa, 42, resigned on Monday, as Arizona law requires police officers to be U.S. citizens and she failed to meet this qualification.

She worked in southern Arizona and was with the department for 10 years, mostly as a Tucson-based highway patrol officer. She became a criminal investigations detective in 2010.

By Sung Jin-woo and news reports
(jinwoo0120@heraldcorp.com)