I'm surprised Chavez didn't support "child labor."
NY TIMES was on to her right away.
Illegal Immigrant Lived With Chavez
January 8, 2001
"Mr. Eskew added that Ms. Chavez had driven the woman to job interviews and English classes and had helped her learn to ride the subway in Washington"
By STEVEN A. HOLMES
WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 — For at least a year in the early 1990's, Linda Chavez, President-elect George W. Bush's choice for labor secretary, had an illegal immigrant from Guatemala living in her home, Bush officials said today.
Tucker Eskew, a spokesman for the Bush transition office, said the woman, whom he declined to identify, lived with Ms. Chavez for about one year, from 1991 into 1992.
Mr. Eskew said that the woman had performed chores around the house in Bethesda, Md., on "an irregular basis" and that Ms. Chavez had "provided her with spending money from time to time."
Mr. Eskew added that Ms. Chavez had driven the woman to job interviews and English classes and had helped her learn to ride the subway in Washington.
Mr. Eskew and a close friend of Ms. Chavez denied that her relationship with the woman had been one of employer-employee. "Ms. Chavez did not employ this woman as a housekeeper or anything else," Mr. Eskew said.
Efforts to reach Ms. Chavez, who now lives in Virginia, were unsuccessful tonight.
The situation, which was first reported by ABC News today, harks back to problems that President Clinton had with two of his early nominees for attorney general.
Democrats called today for an investigation into Ms. Chavez's relationship with the woman and suggested that if she had in fact employed her, then the Bush administration ought to reconsider the selection, which has already been opposed by some Democrats and labor unions because of Ms. Chavez's opposition to the minimum wage and affirmative action.
"The labor secretary ought to set the example, ought to be able to enforce all of the laws, said Senator Tom Daschle, Democrat of South Dakota, the majority leader until Jan. 20. "If she hasn't been able to do that in the past, one would have serious questions about whether she'd be able to do it in her capacity as secretary of labor."
John J. Sweeney, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., said he expected the disclosures increased the chances of persuading Congress to block Ms. Chavez's nomination.
"If these allegations are true," Mr. Sweeney said tonight, "then I think it's really unfortunate that somebody who has been nominated to be secretary of labor has violated the law in an area that has become so important, the area of obeying the nation's immigration laws."
Mr. Sweeney said he was concerned that someone selected to head an agency responsible for protecting workers' rights and benefits might not have paid required taxes, including
Social Security and unemployment insurance taxes, for the work the immigrant did for her.
"I think that it adds to the negative record that she has on so many of the issues that she's going to be responsible for enforcing," Mr. Sweeney said of Ms. Chavez.
Ms. Chavez's defenders characterized her action as a humanitarian gesture in keeping with what they say is a pattern of helping people in need.
"She did let a woman who was being badly abused live in her house," said Abigail Thernstrom, an author and friend of Ms. Chavez. "She had other employment and was not working for Linda. Eventually, she went back to Guatemala."
Mr. Eskew said Ms. Chavez was not aware of the woman's legal status at the time she was sheltering her and only realized after the women had departed from her home that she was
here illegally. Mr. Eskew said Ms. Chavez realized the woman's immigration status after the woman had returned to Guatemala and called Ms. Chavez seeking her help to re-enter the United States.
But Ms. Thernstrom said it was her recollection that Ms. Chavez was aware that the woman was not in this country legally.
"I'm pretty confident that Linda did know," Ms. Thernstrom said. "But the Democrats are the first ones to say if a woman shows up at a shelter for battered women, people shouldn't ask to see their green cards. I think this is going to backfire on them."
The Washington Post reported tonight that the woman who had stayed with Ms. Chavez was Marta Mercado, who had returned legally to the United States and was living in Beltsville,
Md. Attempts to reach her tonight were unsuccessful.
A number of Democrats today called for an investigation of Ms. Chavez's relationship with the woman, asking whether she actually employed the immigrant and, if so, did she pay
Social Security taxes.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who, until Jan. 20 is chairman of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said he would hold hearings
on Ms. Chavez's nomination on Jan. 16-17 and expects the issue of her relationship with the Guatemalan immigrant to come up.
"This is a very troubling new allegation which needs to be fully addressed at the time of the hearings," Mr. Kennedy said through a spokesman. "It's already an extremely troubling nomination because of her long-standing hostility to the basic rights of American workers."
In 1993, the nomination of Zoë Baird, a corporate lawyer in Connecticut, for attorney general was scuttled when it was revealed that she had employed illegal immigrants and had
failed to pay Social Security taxes on their wages.
Shortly after the Baird nomination died, another potential attorney general, Judge Kimba M. Wood of Federal District Court in Manhattan withdrew her name after accounts that she too had employed an illegal alien, even though it was legal for her to do so at the time.
Mr. Eskew said today that Ms. Chavez had employed other women in her home as housekeepers, and that she always paid Social Security taxes. The spokesman declined to
say whether the transition team knew of this situation before it designated Ms. Chavez as its choice for labor secretary.
Seeking to underscore their point that Ms. Chavez has a history of helping people, especially
immigrants in need of assistance, friends and transition team officials provided names of
individuals whom she has helped.
One, Ngxia Bui, a computer specialist at the Justice Department who lives in Maryland, said
in an interview this evening that Ms. Chavez had taken him and his brother, Nxan, into her
home in 1979. Mr. Bui said he fled Vietnam in 1978.
According to Mr. Bui, he was placed in Ms. Chavez's home by Catholic Charities. While he
was there, she helped him learn English, become accustomed to American culture and select
an English name, Benson. He said he left after a year.
"She is a wonderful lady and also her whole family," Mr. Bui said. "I have everything now
because of her. She taught me many things to be happy."
Ms. Chavez also has provided help to the children of Ada Iturrino, a single mother from
Puerto Rico who has lived in New York for 26 years. Ms. Iturrino said that for at least five
years — she cannot recall exactly when — Ms. Chavez took in her two children, Joshua,
now 15, and Kristen, now 10, during the summer. The children lived in Ms. Chavez's home
for two weeks as part of the Fresh Air Fund program that takes inner city children out of
their environment for a time.
Ms. Iturrino said Ms. Chavez grew close to her children and has for a number of years paid their tuition in parochial school in New York. She added that the children continue to visit Ms. Chavez during summer vacations.
"They've become very close to her and her family," Ms. Iturrino said. "They're beautiful people."
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