Friday, December 01, 2006

Governor Hypocrite


Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at the Republican Governors Association conference, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006, in Miami. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
Halo supplied by AP, not God.

Maybe I should start calling the Mittwit "The Mittocrite". Or maybe just Mitt, the lawn man. He's not going to be President. His position on illegal immigration seems to be, Keep those illegal immigrants out. Except the ones who do the grounds of my estate.

Boston Globe: Illegal immigrants toiled for governor
Guatemalans say firm hired them


As Governor Mitt Romney explores a presidential bid, he has grown outspoken in his criticism of illegal immigration. But, for a decade, the governor has used a landscaping company that relies heavily on workers like these, illegal Guatemalan immigrants, to maintain the grounds surrounding his pink Colonial house on Marsh Street in Belmont.

The Globe recently interviewed four current and former employees of Community Lawn Service with a Heart, the tiny Chelsea-based company that provides upkeep of Romney's property. All but one said they were in the United States illegally.

The employees told the Globe that company owner Ricardo Saenz never asked them to provide documents showing their immigration status and knew they were illegal immigrants.

"He never asked for papers," said Rosales, who said he had paid smugglers about $5,000 to take him across the US-Mexican border and settled in Chelsea.

The workers said they were paid in cash at $9 to $10 an hour and sometimes worked 11-hour days.

Romney never inquired about their status, they said.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The theme is pretty obvious. Nothing makes the media happier than being able to call a conservative a hypocrite. The theme is particularly juicy when the conservative is as squeaky clean as Gov. Romney. Next week they'll tell us that he's slept in a hotel with illegal immigrants on the staff and bought fruit picked by one.

Quick, everyone off the bandwagon!

The fact is that even the most militant anti-immigrant nutcase will have to deal with companies that employ illegal workers. It's not a case of hypocrisy. With the ubiquitous nature of illegals in our society due to our broken borders, it's simply a fact of life in America today. Instead of expecting Gov. Romney to run around demanding to see the papers of workers that aren't even under his employment, let's look at which candidate is working towards a solution that will actually fix the problem while those currently in government work towards making it worse.

~~~Thomas