SAN DIEGO -- Administrators at the University of California, San Diego are investigating a professor who created a controversial cell phone GPS tool that could help illegal immigrants cross the U.S.-Mexico Border.

Associate Professor Ricardo Dominguez spoke to 10News' Ariana Duarte about the investigation and why he said he is being unfairly targeted.

Dominguez said his goal was two-fold: to save the lives of those attempting the dangerous journey and to make a political statement.

"The idea was to deal with the humanitarian crisis in the desert; that is people are dying of dehydration," said Dominguez.

The device has drawn worldwide attention, but it has also captured the attention of UCSD administrators, who have since launched an investigation to determine whether the $5,000 used for the project was appropriately spent.

"Because they felt that taxpayer monies were being misspent on this particular project," said Dominguez.

"Are they?" asked Duarte.

"No, I don't think so," replied Dominguez.

The phone is not the only item agitating the administration. Dominguez also helped launch a virtual sit-in which bogged down UC President Mark Yudof's website during protests earlier this year.

Dominguez contends he did nothing wrong and accused administrators of targeting him for challenging the school's operations.

"This is to make other faculty, tenured faculty, aware that there are limits and you can be investigated," said Dominguez.

The investigation will also examine whether the virtual sit-in broke any computer hacking laws. If the investigation determines Dominguez committed a violation as part of the sit-in, he could lose his job.

10News contacted UCSD administrators, but they would not comment on the case against Dominguez.

However, they issued the following statement which read, in part: "University of California policies protect the academic freedom of our faculty within the confines of the law … and the faculty code of conduct."