Dallas County sheriff's jail guard arrested for being in country illegally

02:57 PM CDT on Friday, July 9, 2010
By KEVIN KRAUSE / The Dallas Morning News
kkrause@dallasnews.com

A Dallas County sheriff’s jail guard was arrested at work this morning by federal immigration officers for being in the country illegally and faces deportation, county and federal officials said.

Maria Elvia Ross, 34, was taken into custody by officers with U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement sometime after 10 a.m., officials said.

Maria Ross Ross, who was hired in 2001, has served on Sheriff Lupe Valdez’s quality assurance team that oversees improvements to sanitation in the jails.

Ross' citizenship problem came to light when she underwent a background check after recently applying to be a sheriff's deputy, Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price said.

"I think it was a shock to all of us," he said.

Price said the department should have caught it when Ross was originally hired in 2001, when Jim Bowles was sheriff.

"The system we have for vetting people is a lot better," Price said.

Ross recently divorced Dallas County sheriff’s deputy, David Ross, whom she married in 2005.

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kim Leach said the matter is under investigation and declined further comment.

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