Serial Immigration Fraudster Working as a Minnesota Corrections Officer Arrested

MINNEAPOLIS — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) Operation Twin Shield is yielding yet more results with the arrest of a Minnesota correctional officer and AWOL National Guard member masquerading as a U.S. citizen despite having no legal status in the United States. The serial fraudster was identified as part of the major enforcement operation that targeted suspected immigration fraud in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area last fall. Through the joint efforts of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies USCIS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Morris Brown, a 45-year-old illegal alien from Liberia, was arrested on January 15 in Minneapolis by ICE for multiple violations of U.S. immigration law, including overstaying his student visa and making false claims to U.S. citizenship. “Operation Twin Shield continues to deliver results as the Department of Homeland Security relentlessly pursues those who seek to cheat our immigration system,” said USCIS Director Joseph Edlow. “This alien tried every trick in the book to remain in the United States after losing legal status. We will use every tool at our disposal to ensure he faces justice for his many violations of the law.” Brown last entered the U.S. in 2014 on a non-immigrant student visa that was terminated in 2015 because he failed to enroll in a full course of study. Despite not having legal status, he joined the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in 2014 but went AWOL the next year. He was ultimately apprehended and discharged from the military under other than honorable conditions in 2022. Brown applied for a Green Card in 2020 under the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness program. USCIS denied his application due to misrepresentations, including his failure to disclose prior military service and his false claim to U.S. citizenship. In 2024, in another commission of fraud, he applied to naturalize as a U.S. citizen based on prior military service. During Operation Twin Shield, USCIS investigators looking into Brown’s application for citizenship found evidence of marriage fraud and prior instances where he falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen in official documents. They also learned he was working as a corrections officer for the state of Minnesota—despite having no legal immigration status—by claiming to be a U.S. citizen. USCIS referred his case to ICE, and Brown now faces removal proceedings and potential criminal prosecution for immigration fraud, false claims to U.S. citizenship, and related offenses. Protecting American communities is a priority for USCIS. To report suspected immigration benefit fraud or abuse to USCIS, please use the USCIS Tip Form. Americans can see more public safety threats arrested in their communities at wow.dhs.gov.