An illegal immigrant in New York is serving as an Obamacare navigator, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, a non-profit limited immigration group.
According to a CIS report, Maria Marroquin — identified as an illegal immigrant as recently as March 2013 — from Peru is also the “Health Education Organizer” for the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC-NY).
ROC-NY is listed as a subcontractor for the “New York Health Benefit Exchange: In-Person Assistors and Navigators.”
“IPA/Navigators will provide in person application assistance to individuals, families and small businesses and their employees at initial enrollment and when renewing coverage. IPA/Navigators remove barriers to the application process by providing assistance in multiple languages, in community based settings during non-traditional hours such as evenings and weekends,” The New York health care exchange explains.
When reached by The Daily Caller for comment Marroquin would not speak about her immigration status or Obamacare position, instead telling TheDC she would “call back.”
Multiple attempts to reach Marroquin after the fact were unsuccessful. She reportedly applied for President Obama’s “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” program in September 2012.
Monday, Michael Volpe — writing for TheDC — highlighted another Obamacare outreach worker in Lawrence, Kansas with an outstanding arrest warrant.
Rosilyn Wells was certified to assist Obamacare signups as well — thanks to an HHS grant — despite a 2003 bankruptcy, a 2007 civil charge from Midwest Checkrite, and the aforementioned outstanding arrest warrant.
As Volpe pointed out, the House Oversight Committee recently issued a report highlighting the personal security risks involved with handing over sensitive consumer information to such workers — who are not required to undergo background checks.
“[T]he main concern for consumers is the heightened risk of identity theft and financial loss from a poorly managed outreach campaign,” the Oversight Committee report read. “Navigators and Assisters will come into contact with a plethora of personally identifiable information (PII), including an applicant’s Social Security number, date of birth and income, as well as the PII of everyone in an applicant’s household.”
James R. Edwards Jr., a CIS fellow and the author of the report on Marroquin explained to TheDC that the main concern with having an undocumented immigrant as a navigator is identity theft.
“If you are illegally present then you might be inclined to use some of those folks who you are supposedly helping, use their information for your own or somebody else’s benefit,” Edwards explained to TheDC.
A spokesperson for HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
