Policeman Mistaken for Illegal Alien : INS Fails to Make Clean Airport Sweep

Two plainclothes Immigration and Naturalization Service agents, making a sweep for illegal aliens at Los Angeles International Airport, were swept up by airport police themselves in a case of mistaken identity, authorities said Thursday.

It was the INS agents who made the mistake.

Approaching Los Angeles Airport Police Officer Victor Guirguis, who was reportedly doing paper work at a Traveler’s Aid booth in a terminal Wednesday evening, the INS agents asked him where he was born.

When Guirguis reportedly said “Egypt,” the INS agents, who had been tipped that some private security guards working at the airport were illegal aliens, apparently thought they had a suspect.

They asked to see Guirguis’ green card.

Guirguis, a U.S. citizen, as are all Los Angeles airport police, apparently thought they were kidding.

“It is alleged that he thought it was not a serious deal,” said INS District Director Ernest Gustafson.

Gustafson said his agents reported that Guirguis told them: “No. Come back tomorrow and I’ll show it to you.”

Because a legal immigrant must carry his green card with him at all times, Gustafson said, the INS agents thought they had probable cause to hold Guirguis.

They relieved him of his gun.

It was then, Gustafson said, that Guirguis proclaimed he was a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Airport spokesman Tom Winfrey confirmed that Guirguis also asserted at that point that he was a graduate of the Los Angeles Police Academy.

As the INS agents prepared to take Guirguis away, a fellow airport police officer, Michelle Louis, radioed colleagues to alert them that an officer needed assistance, said Winfrey, confirming the account of an eyewitness.

When the other officers showed up, they took the INS agents into custody and held them until other INS officers arrived.

The INS agents who seized Guirguis were in a group of 20 sent to the airport in response to complaints from citizens that illegal aliens were working as parking lot attendants, food service workers and security guards, Gustafson said.

“We made five arrests,” he said, “and we would have made more had we not aborted this because our officers were in some type of jeopardy.”

Gustafson, who would not disclose the names of his agents, vowed that they would be back to conduct more airport sweeps.

Times staff writer George Fry contributed to this story.