Man reports no problems after SSN was used by woman later deported

“I come from a family of illegal immigrants, but they got their situation right.”

The man whose Social Security number was used by a woman to get hired at a Phoenix-area water park, a case that drew national attention when she was deported in February, said Thursday the fraudulent use of his number has done him no damage.

Alex Andrade, 32, of Tucson, was the person whose Social Security number Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos used to get a job as a custodian at Goflland Sunsplash in Mesa.

Garcia de Rayos was convicted of a felony for criminal impersonation for using the number. She was arrested in a sweep of the park conducted by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in 2008.

That felony led to the deportation of the 32year-old mother of two in February after what had been a routine check-in with immigration officials. She has been living in central Mexico with relatives. Her husband and two teenage children, both U.S. citizens, have remained in Arizona.

The deportation made national news as it was seen as the first to come under President Donald Trump’s orders to deport immigrants convicted of any crimes.

Andrade said he was never notified by law enforcement that his number was used. The arrest report for Garcia De Rayos listed no victim.

Andrade, who is on disability from an industrial accident to his shoulder,visited the Social Security office in person in recent weeks to make sure all was well with his account. He said he explained the situation to workers there.

“They told me there was nothing that showed on their records,” he said by telephone from Tucson. He said he was advised to check his credit reports. “It was still normal,” he said.

Andrade said he still doesn’t know what happened to any reported wages Garcia de Rayos earned using his number. Her family said she worked at the park for more than a decade. Andrade said employees at the Social Security office have given him advice, but he hasn’t been able to get solid answers.

“I’m still going to keep looking until I figure it out,” he said. “I don’t want it to just come up and bite me in the ass.”

Andrade said he had mixed feelings about the punishment given to Garcia De Rayos. He wasn’t sure the crime merited deportation, but wasn’t willing to see her as an innocent.

“On one hand, she did use my Social Security number and could have screwed me over,” he said. “But, she used my Social and I’m still here.”

Andrade was informed by a Republic reporter in February that his number was used by Garcia de Rayos. The number appeared in court records. Andrade said Thursday that it took him weeks to find the time to visit his Social Security office in person.

In the meantime, he saw a television interview with Garcia De Rayos’s husband. “He kept on saying his wife didn’t do anything illegal and it didn’t affect anybody or hurt anybody,” Andrade said. “It bugged me because I didn’t know (at the time) if it affected me yet or not.”

Andrade said he also sees the situation as the son of someone who crossed the border illegally. Andrade, who was born in Arizona, said his father came over from Mexico without authorization while he was in his 20s. Andrade said his father gained legal status in the 1980s. He believed it was through the amnesty program enacted by thenPresident Ronald Reagan.

“I come from a family of illegal immigrants, but they got their situation right,” he said. “They didn’t use fake Socials or anything like that.”