Owner of Mexican Store charged with visa fraud
June 29, 2007

BANGOR, Maine --A co-owner and founder of a Washington county store designed to serve the needs of the area's growing Hispanic community has been arrested by federal agents on charges of fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents.

Doris Amanda Ayala Escalante, 39, was scheduled to appear Friday in U.S. District Court.

Escalante and her husband, Juan Manuel Centeno Perez, 46, opened the Mexican Store on U.S. Route 1 in Harrington in 2000. Perez has not been charged.

The couple appear to be under investigation for helping illegal aliens live and work in Washington County, the Bangor Daily News reported.

Escalante and Perez were described last week in court documents in an illegal immigration case as "labor contractors" for ISF Trading Inc., a sea cucumber processing plant in Lubec.

Authorities apparently have been investigating the couple since January 2005 when 17 illegal aliens were taken into custody after the van they were in broke down in Machias. The van, according to court documents, belonged to Perez.

The charges against Escalante allege that she had two sets of documents -- one in her real name and another under an alias.

Escalante, according to court documents, used the name Amanda Ayala Centeno in 1993 to obtain immigration documents in addition to getting a Social Security number, an alien registration number and a work permit, or green card, in her own name six years later. She allegedly updated information under both names between 2000 and 2004.

There was no indication as to why Escalante had or needed two sets of documents.

A growing number of Spanish-speaking workers have been employed in Washington County's blueberry fields, wreath-making operations, sardine factory and sea cucumber processing plant in recent years.

To meet the needs of that population, the couple opened the Mexican Store, which features a grocery store and restaurant with Latin American cuisine. The store also offers services that allow workers to send money home between harvests.

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