The illegal immigrant accused of shooting an off-duty border officer in a Manhattan park was only vetted using Zoom before being released into the US under the Biden administration, The Post has learned.
Dominican Republic national Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez, 21, waltzed across the US-Mexico border into Arizona in April 2023 — during the raging migrant crisis that saw federal agents take drastic measures in an attempt to free up resources.
That month alone, the US saw a wave of more than 183,000 migrants come across the southern border.
“The whole system was overwhelmed by what the Biden administration was allowing,” Charles Marino, former senior law enforcement adviser to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, told The Post.
“The endgame was to facilitate the processing of as many illegals into the country as possible,” Marino said.
Overwhelmed Border Patrol agents recruited support from their colleagues up north at the US-Canada crossing, who interviewed illegal border crossers over Zoom to speed up their release, federal law enforcement sources said.
One Homeland Security source fumed that the virtual questioning “was a nightmare” and that it simply “can’t” ensure proper vetting.
Mora Nunez was nonetheless released into the US due to a lack of detention space at the border — with a notice to later appear in front of an immigration judge, sources said.
He was instructed to report to his local Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, too, but doesn’t appear to have done so, according to the sources.
Border agents also didn’t take a DNA sample from Mora Nunez — standard practice to find out if someone has a criminal history in the US — due to a shortage of swabs at the time, sources said.
Mora Nunez’s name was run through law enforcement databases by the agents, and no criminal history turned up at the time.
An immigration judge ordered that the Dominican national be deported in 2023, after he failed to show up to court.
Still, Mora Nunez stayed in the US, racking up a slew of arrests in New York City and at least one in Massachusetts — but was let go each time, authorities said.
Questioning over Zoom is no longer employed now that the influx of migrants has eased under President Trump.
He is now accused of shooting the off-duty 42-year-old officer in the face as he sat with a female companion in Fort Washington Park on Saturday night.
An alleged accomplice, Christhian Aybar-Berroa, 22, also an illegal migrant from the Dominican Republic, helped with the botched robbery, officials said.
Both are expected to face federal charges.
The CBP agent, who has not been publicly identified, fired back with his own gun during the confrontation, hitting Mora Nunez three times, authorities said.
The suspects were later seen fleeing on a moped, and Mora Nunez was taken into custody after walking into a Bronx hospital with gunshot wounds.
The victim was saved by NYPD cops who were responding to a nearby mugging in the area, where the same suspects are believed to have stolen a woman’s cellphone just five minutes before the shootout, said Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
The federal agent underwent surgery Sunday and was in stable condition, sources said.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Trump unleashed on the problematic catch-and-release system that allowed Mora Nunez to stay in the country.
“Last night, in New York City, an incredible CBP Officer was shot in the face by an Illegal Alien Monster freed into the Country under Joe Biden,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social Post Sunday.
“He was apprehended at the Border in April 2023 but, instead of being deported, was RELEASED,” Trump continued. “The CBP Officer bravely fought off his attacker, despite his wounds, demonstrating enormous Skill and Courage.”
