In the latest controversy surrounding one of Donald Trump’s cabinet picks, it turns out that the president’s choice to head the labor department hired an undocumented immigrant to clean his house.
According to a new report from the Huffington Post, potential Trump Labor Secretary and chief executive of CKE Restaurants, Andrew Puzder, may find his nomination in jeopardy after telling the Senate that he hired an undocumented immigrant as “household help.”
This is what Puzder told the Senate, according to the report:
“My wife and I employed a housekeeper for a few years, during which I was unaware that she was not legally permitted to work in the U.S. When I learned of her status, we immediately ended her employment and offered her assistance in getting legal status. We have fully paid back taxes to the IRS and the State of California and submitted all required paperwork,” he said.
As the Huffington Post notes, “Hiring undocumented workers has sunk nominees in the past,” but the Trump team says “previous rules for vetting and strict ethics no longer applied” when it comes to their nominees.
This is no surprise given the questionable ethics of the man in the Oval Office, but it’s still a stunning admission for an administration to make.
It’s also surprising given the fact that Trump has made “illegal immigration” the centerpiece of his agenda, and now he decides to look the other way when choosing a labor secretary who hired an undocumented worker as his personal labor.
More importantly, as the Huffington Post noted, Puzder also told the Senate he offered the undocumented woman “assistance in getting legal status,” a policy Trump opposes.
At the end of the day, though, Puzder may have bigger things to worry about than his history of hiring an undocumented housekeeper.
As the Huffington Post also noted, Puzder’s ex-wife “accused him of domestic violence in a sworn affidavit,” and his restaurants “have been found guilty of an extraordinary number of labor violations.”
For someone vying to head the U.S. Department of Labor, Puzder certainly has a lot of problems in his own personal labor department.