Inland Republican congressional candidate Paul Chabot on Monday denounced an award nomination for a federal immigration official who has been criticized for stonewalling agents on the hunt for a suspect connected to the Dec. 2 San Bernardino terror attack.
Irene Martin, who oversaw the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (UCSIS) field office in San Bernardino, was nominated for a valor award, although she did not receive it, according to a statement from the agency
“This would not happen on my watch. It is a disgrace to learn that a person who acted improperly, lied to, and hindered investigators would be considered for such an accommodation,” Chabot said in an e-mailed statement.
Chabot is running against Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Redlands, for the 31st Congressional District, which includes Redlands, Rancho Cucamonga, Loma Linda and Grand Terrace. Aguilar’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The San Bernardino immigration field office is about two miles from the Inland Regional Center, where Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, opened fire during a holiday gathering of Farook’s co-workers from the San Bernardino County public health department.
Fourteen people were killed and 22 wounded. Farook and Malik died hours later in a shootout with police.
Martin could not be reached for comment Monday. The immigration agency responded to a request for an interview with her by sending a statement.
In its statement, the immigration agency said Martin was nominated for the award in March “based solely on her actions to ensure the safety, security, and well-being of her employees and USCIS’s customers who were in the waiting rooms on December 2, 2015 ... when the field office was in lockdown.”
Martin “took it upon herself to go to the parking lot to escort an employee back to the office to ensure the employee’s safety during the lockdown. The employee was returning from lunch and would not have otherwise been able to seek secure shelter in the (USCIS) building,” the statement read.
“Furthermore, Ms. Martin took the time to address USCIS’s customers and seek their patience through the lockdown,” the statement added. “Finally, she made arrangements for a counselor to address the staff understanding how stressful this event may have been for her employees.”
A review board considered Martin’s nomination “and Ms. Martin was not recommended to receive the award,” the statement read.
According to a homeland security inspector general report issued June 1, five armed federal agents in tactical gear arrived at the immigration field office around 12:30 p.m. Dec. 3 looking for Enrique Marquez Jr. of Riverside and his wife, Mariya Chernykh.
The agents believed the couple would be at the center, where they had a scheduled appointment. Agents sought to prevent another attack and detain Marquez and Chernykh for questioning.
Marquez currently faces federal charges of terrorism conspiracy and illegally obtaining the assault rifles used in the attack. He also is accused of entering a sham marriage with Chernykh, whose sister is married to Farook’s older brother.
Martin made the agents wait roughly an hour while she sought authorization to allow them to search the building, even though the agents said they were looking for Marquez and Chernykh in connection with the terror attack, the report found.