US Customs officer loses job and citizenship over his Mexican birth certificate
SAN BENITO, Texas - Raul Rodriguez had worked for U.S. Customs for 18 years when internal investigators confronted him last year with a document he had never seen before: His Mexican birth certificate.
Rodriguez, 51, a customs officer in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, felt the blood drain from his face. He had lived in the United States as long as he could remember and had no idea he was actually born across the border in Matamoros, Mexico.
"It was my worst fear," he said Friday in an interview at his San Benito home.
The Navy veteran was not charged with a crime but he was fired by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in July, lost his health insurance and had his residency application rejected this month. He and
