Baseball Player Tejada Could Face Additional Immigration Problems
An ESPN report on Houston Astros shortstop, Miguel Tejada, found that the baseball player lied about his age and the spelling of his name in his contact for the ball club. However, according to Tejada, he only lied to the team and not to immigration authorities on his immigration paperwork. Tejada originates from the Dominican Republic and has legal permanent resident status in the U.S.
According to baseball records, Miguel Tejada is 31 years old. According to the athlete’s birth certificate, he is 33 and his last name is spelled Tejeda.
Intentionally lying on immigration forms is a crime. However, according to immigration authorities a false date of birth and misspelling of one letter in a name are not enough for charges to be filed.
Tejada is already under suspicion of drug use and lying to federal agents about his and other baseball payers’ drug use. In 2005, when he testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Tejada was asked if he knew of players who took steroids. Tejada denied having any knowledge of drug use. However, some of his former teammates from the Oakland A’s said that Tejada discussed steroid use with them and even bought the drugs from them as well.
Under immigration law, obstruction of justice is considered to be a crime involving moral turpitude. Under the law, if a legal permanent resident had their green card for less then five years and then committed a crime of moral turpitude, they can be deported from the US.
Chairman of US House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Henry Waxman (D-CA) asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate whether Tejada lied in 2005 to federal agents investigating whether former Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles player Rafael Palmeiro perjured himself during the hearings on steroids in baseball in March 2005. In those hearings, Palmeiro denied using steroids. However, several months after the hearings, he tested positive for steroids. After the test, Palmeiro claimed he tested positive because Tejada gave him steroid-tainted B-12 vitamins.
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