So Mr. Sanchez, in late 2000, was sent back for another week in a grim detention center in Lower Manhattan, severed from his family and livelihood, because his fingerprints had been mistakenly placed on the official record of another man.
I tend to ask "cui bono?" when faced with the odd in government, and this:
Leo Rosario, a drug dealer and a prime candidate for deportation
suggests the possibility of bribery or other form of collusion and corruption.
Your sugestion needs to be considered, but I think a boneheaded clerical error is just as likely, especially in departments with strict rules about overtime and clock punching.