NPR: Romney and His Illegal Immigrant Gardners

Romney and His Illegal Immigrant Gardners

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has fired the landscaping company that cuts his grass in Massachusetts. The move comes more than a year after the Boston Globe broke the news that Community Lawn Service of Chelsea, Massachusetts was employing illegal immigrants.

Romney says he warned the company last year that the legal status of his gardeners was very important to him, but granted the firm a second chance. He fired the company Tuesday after being confronted by the Globe with credible evidence that undocumented workers were still tending his lawn.

Romney has loudly criticized Republican rivals Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani over illegal immigration. He faults Huckabee for trying to grant in-state tuition fees to illegal immigrants while Governor of Arkansas and says Giuliani ran a "sanctuary city" as Mayor of New York. Giuliani fired back during a televised debate last week, with a not-so-subtle dig at the landscaping flap. Giuliani accused Romney of owning a "sanctuary mansion."

Finding a replacement firm with only authorized workers may not be easy. A 2005 study by the Pew Hispanic Center found 25% of all landscapers in the US were in the country illegally.

- Scott Horsley

6:56 AM ET | 12- 5-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Am I supposed to be concerned that poor Mr. Romney will discover that "finding a replacement firm with only authorized workers may not be easy"? Boo hoo hoo! Lawncare doesn't seem important enough to be above the law, so how about prosecuting employers who knowingly and willingly employ illegal workers? I really don't care about the financial ramifications, the law doesn't have a "if it costs too much, don't bother" clause. At my company, by law, I can't hire a qualified American that fails to pass a drug-test, but it seems I can hire any number of illegals because I don't have to test them at all. "Too expensive" is simply not an excuse for allowing people to circumvent the LAW. If you don't like the law, change it, but until you do, the law must be enforced and obeyed.

Sent by Daryn Guarino | 9:34 AM ET | 12-05-2007

Uh, oh. Could this start the domino effect we needed to expose the truth about illegal workers? Our candidates had better check out the kitchens of the restaurants they eat in, because the use of illegals for things like washing dishes is status quo. I know--I used to work in the food business. Oops, don't go in that Big Box store, because you might learn more than you bargained for seeing the guys doing the floor maintence! I did a short stint at Home Depot and we all loved our floor cleaner guy, but one day he stopped coming, and found out the company contracting out had a few illegal workers.

I think the negative image Romney portrays far outweighs other factors. I would rather him look like a hippocrite than fire a small business person relying on a certain client base, but then did anyone expect a candidate with his hand reaching for a piece of the corporate money-pie to be for the small business owner, anyway?

Mitt, I hope you read this, because we ARE paying attention that you fired that small business owner AFTER the fact only to think it will make you look like less of a hippocrite than we already know you are.

Sent by Diane Oraif | 11:47 AM ET | 12-05-2007

After you've spent a billion putting a twenty foot high fence up along the length of the border.....

...and the inevitability of NAFTA finally ushers in the Amero and opens both the Canadian and Mexican border to free trade traffic.....

.....you can spend two billion taking the fence down.

And if the Democrats should have been asked any questions about immigration, they should have been asked about NAFTA and the coming of the Euro.

And if you hold a debate for the Republicans, well, asking Romney about his gardeners is something you can find on either Fox or Air America.

fred call

Sent by fred call | 9:45 AM ET | 12-06-2007

I'm not a hawk on the "illegal" thing, but I am concerned whenever we catch a candidate playing the finger pointing game. "Romney says he warned the company last year..." So he's saying it's not my fault! What can we expect him to say when something else goes wrong on his watch? Maybe something like, "IT'S NOT MY FAULT." Hmmm.

Sent by GJ | 11:01 AM ET | 12-06-2007

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