Thread: Maid seems safe from deportation for now

Maid seems safe from deportation for now

Posted at 11:49 PM on Friday, Oct. 01, 2010
By Susan Ferriss / The Sacramento Bee - Fresno Share


SACRAMENTO -- Nicky Diaz Santillan has been outed across the nation as an illegal immigrant who used fake ID to gain employment with California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman.

But immigration law experts say authorities are unlikely to move in to deport or prosecute Whitman's former housekeeper any time soon. Diaz Santillan, they say, is probably safe -- for now.

"I think that everyone is almost frozen in time now," said Kevin R. Johnson, an immigration law professor and dean of the University of California at Davis School of Law.

Johnson said Diaz Santillan does expose herself to deportation by publicly offering her story and admitting she was undocumented when she went to work for Whitman, a Republican, in 2000.

But Johnson said it would be politically difficult for federal officials to seize Diaz Santillan now. "It would look like they are going after a whistle-blower, and just five weeks before the election," he said. "Imagine the backlash."

Other illegal immigrants who have gone public for various reasons eventually ended up deported, Johnson said, including a woman who lived in a church for months to avoid authorities.

But others have been left alone, including some undocumented students who have lived here since childhood.

If Diaz Santillan also goes ahead with her plan to file a legal complaint against Whitman for alleged wage abuse, then the housekeeper could get a reprieve while that legal action is pending, said Bill Hing, another immigration expert and professor at the University of San Francisco.

Immigration authorities over the last decade, almost by tradition, Hing said, "don't touch" undocumented workers while a case is pending.

"But I have seen them [immigration officials] go after immigrants after things are settled," Hing said.

Johnson said that historically, cases of prosecution of a single worker for using a fake document to get a job -- a common practice for more than 20 years -- have been rare.

Only in recent years, during the end of the George W. Bush administration, did authorities mount a few showcase prosecutions of meat-packing workers charged with using fake Social Security numbers.

Felony charges for using a fake number can result in prison time.

Hing said that when it comes to fake documents, investigators typically are interested in prosecuting manufacturers and rings that sell false ID cards on the black market.

A statement by Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, seemed to echo that.

Kice's statement said that ICE is focused on "enforcement that prioritizes efforts to target dangerous criminal aliens and others who present the greatest risk to our communities."

ICE focuses on identifying "employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers and engage in related crimes such as worker exploitation, visa fraud and human smuggling and trafficking," the statement continued.

Hing recalled that the trade in fake documents began to proliferate after the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. That act made it illegal to knowingly hire undocumented workers and required employers ask applicants to provide certain forms of ID to prove legal status.

But the 1986 law doesn't require that employers authenticate ID cards. They only have to see them and record information on a form.

Whitman has said that she was "deceived" by Diaz Santillan and that she believed the housekeeper's documents were authentic.

In meetings with reporters this week, Diaz Santillan's attorney, Gloria Allred, was asked about the timing of the housekeeper's decision to go public and whether Diaz Santillan was getting paid.

Allred said Diaz Santillan was not getting paid by anyone, and that the housekeeper had only recently contacted her.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/10/01/210 ... z11Dx4E300

But Johnson said it would be politically difficult for federal officials to seize Diaz Santillan now.

WHY? Since when does politics trump the rule of law?

Allred said Diaz Santillan was not getting paid by anyone, and that the housekeeper had only recently contacted her.

I am SURE that this woman thought to contact GLORIA ALLRED all by herself.

Originally Posted by Newmexican

Allred said Diaz Santillan was not getting paid by anyone, and that the housekeeper had only recently contacted her.

I am SURE that this woman thought to contact GLORIA ALLRED all by herself.

you are right on that part & I still don't by this story & now they both get off free whitman's don't get fine & the Illigal immigrant is home free .
this is not right at all ICE do your job

Whitman has said that she was "deceived" by Diaz Santillan and that she believed the housekeeper's documents were authentic.

Once again it falls in the lap of American citizens. We are constantly being duped by illegal immigrants. They can lie, provide false documents and it is still our fault.

I watched Gloria on Greta last night and it boiled down to Americans have to remember every conversation and piece of paper they touch with immigrants. No matter what law illegal immigrants break they will take no responsibility, they are always the victim and all accountability lies with the American citizen. If the Whitman's had handled the situation different and demanded more proof that she was legal, they would have been charged with racial profiling.

As far as I see the Whitmans are a perfect example of what everyday Americans go through with illegal aliens. I only wish it would affect more politicans.

Thank you Diaz and Gloria, Meg just got my vote.

Originally Posted by Newmexican

Allred said Diaz Santillan was not getting paid by anyone, and that the housekeeper had only recently contacted her.

I am SURE that this woman thought to contact GLORIA ALLRED all by herself.

OReilly last nite said that Aldred and Brown go back about 30 years and that she has volunteered for his campaign as well as donated money in the past to Brown

Most people will stop hiring illegal aliens the first time you put them in jail.

For those who don't we have prisons.

With fake drivers license and fake SS card, the woman has committed a felony.

Is Allred harboring a felon? She should be turned over to ICE for deportation.

Whitman and Brown both support amnesty so I can't vote for either of them.

“With a fake drivers license and Social Security card did this nanny vote ?

How many like her are in California ?â€