Lawn work at Romney's home still done by undocumented immigrants

[HughMoran]

Source: Boston Globe

Lawn work at Romney's home still done by undocumented immigrants

December 4, 07 06:23 PM

By Maria Cramer and Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff

Mitt Romney, who has taken a tough stance against illegal immigrants in his quest for the Republican presidential nomination, has continued to employ a company that uses illegal immigrants to do lawn work at his home.

Responding to inquiries from the Globe, Romney tonight fired the company, which he has taken flak previously for using, for failing to comply with the law.

"After this same issue arose last year, I gave the company a second chance with very specific conditions. They were instructed to make sure people working for the company were of legal status," the former Massachusetts governor said in a statement. "We personally met with the company in order to inform them about the importance of this matter. The owner of the company guaranteed us, in very certain terms, that the company would be in total compliance with the law going forward."

Romney has made illegal immigration a central campaign issue in his bid for the nomination. At last week's Republican debate in St. Petersburg, Fla., Mitt Romney was quick to attack Rudy Giuliani for safeguarding illegal immigrants in New York City.


Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2007/12/lawn_work_at_ro.html

---

Edit - updated with link & full story excerpt.

:rofl:

The hypocritical Republican syndrome strikes again!

:rofl:

[WileEcoyote]

1. ROLF

I used to admire the lawns in Belmont, MA.

[AlCzervik]

2. Tonight he fired them? wow, way to be pro active there Willard.

what a hoot!

[Bluestar]

3. What arrogance! Old Mitt thought he could get away with it

Finally, the press doing their job!

[Submariner]

4. Romney brought this on himself

He is only a pseudo-Mass resident. He only moved here for a high-profile governorship to launch is bogus prez bid, and then went around the country bad mouthing our state. We residents and the Boston Globe don't take kindly to carpetbagger dimwits, so it's payback time. Bye Mittens. Go back to Utah or where ever your draft-dodging ass came from.

[HughMoran]

5. He's gonna be beaten with this from now until it's over...

he should just quit now.

[Kali]

7. hell, he's got relatives in Mexico

still Romneys in the Mormon town of Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua

[fenriswolf]

6. wonder if the owner of the company

told mitt that it would be no problem as long as mitt didn't have a problem with his rates going up.

[Joanne98]

8. Romney fires landscapers for illegal immigrants

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Tuesday fired a landscaping company for using illegal immigrants to work on his lawn, a week after a tussle with rival Rudy Giuliani over the issue.

Romney said in a statement released by his campaign that he had given the company, Community Lawn Service of Chelsea, Massachusetts, a second chance last year to get rid of its undocumented workers, but it had failed to do so.

"Today I fired a landscaping company that I learned was employing people who are not permitted to work here in the United States," the former governor of Massachusetts said.

At a debate last week in St. Petersburg, Florida, Romney accused Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, of turning a blind eye to illegal immigration in New York.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN0455219020071204

[marmar]

9. Romney and Giuliani have reverse fine wine syndrome.....

.... They get worse with time.

[Eurobabe]

11. chuckle, good one.

[Eurobabe]

10. I read Rummy fires landscapers....

:rofl: time to go to bed.

[Botany]

12. As a landscaper may I say

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[superconnected]

13. Good luck finding a landscaping company without illegls.

And a maid firm, house painting company, construction company(not all positions), and any number of places that have spots for unskilled laborious labor.

[IsItJustMe]

49. I think the hypocracy is the issue, not finding service.

[superconnected]

52. Yes, I agree.

I don't support the guy at all.

My take was from owning a maid firm for a year once.

[MannyGoldstein]

14. Il Douche's Line Was Great

Rudy is scum, but his "sanctuary mansion" line was priceless. I think it'll be a keeper.

[bluerum]

15. He has known for over a year - probably longer. Not that I think it was

right (right in the moral ethical and humanist sense) for him to fire them.

[gratuitous]

20. Well, when a rich man paints himself into a corner

Someone is going to have to pay, and Mittens didn't get rich by taking responsibility for his own intemperate comments.

[KamaAina]

16. And the Ken Doll is just now finding this out?

Didn't this story break, like, a year ago?!

I'm kinda thinking we need a President who's a little bit more clued in than that...

[ruggerson]

17. This is Willard's finest moment

n/t

[MilesColtrane]

18. [cossel] DOWN GOES ROMNEY! DOWN GOES ROMNEY! [/cossel] n/t

[YDogg]

22. heh

[zbdent]

19. Well, he just lost a big Repuke supporter ...

I mean, if you believe all the RW bullshit, the only people hiring are Republicans ... you know, the "not poor" ...

[Ian David]

21. To which Romney should have said to Ghouliani...

"I hired them to on my home, not to run Homeland Security."

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

23. Firing the landscaper who cares for his lawn. Now, there's something the NASCAR crowd

can really go for...

What a man!!!!!

MKJ

[yellowcanine]

24. Isn't it a little late for that? What does he know now that he did not know a year ago?

Nothing. But the difference is this year he is running for President and this has become an issue. Romney is so transparent we should start calling him "cellophane man."

[lpbk2713]

25. Am I the only one who doesn't see a *Recommend* check box in this thread?

Just curious. :shrug:

[JCMach1]

26. Mittens is finished!

[mikelgb]

27. it's a job no american would want to do...

[Proud2BAmurkin]

28. what happened to "trust but verify" ROFL

:rofl:

[progressoid]

29. Oh shit. This is too funny.

[tridim]

30. Can't one of his all-American sons mow the lawn? nt

[tanyev]

41. Aren't they still risking their lives riding in an unarmored RV in the Midwest?

[bhikkhu]

31. The only papers the Founding Fathers had for their landscapers

were deeds of sale. Just saying.

[rodeodance]

32. Romney fires landscaper over illegals

Source: ap

Romney fires landscaper over illegals
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=post&forum=102

By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer 22 minutes ago

MEREDITH, N.H. - Republican Mitt Romney, ridiculed by rival Rudy Giuliani for employing illegal immigrants at his "sanctuary mansion," said Tuesday he had fired the landscaper for his suburban Boston home after learning for a second time about undocumented workers laboring on the property.


In a statement issued after he concluded his campaign appearances for the day, Romney said: "After this same issue arose last year, I gave the company a second chance with very specific conditions. They were instructed to make sure people working for the company were of legal status.

"We personally met with the company in order to inform them about the importance of this matter," he said. "The owner of the company guaranteed us, in very certain terms, that the company would be in total compliance with the law going forward."

Romney termed the recurrence "disappointing and inexcusable." The company, Community Lawn Service of Chelsea, Mass., did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Read more: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=post&forum=102

[goodgd_yall]

33. I wonder how he found out the workers were illegal immigrants

Or did someone find out for him? It's too bad when you can't just hire someone without somebody butting in about legal status. But then again he's a Republican and running for president, so I shouldn't give a damn. But just saying, for the average person....

[Enrique]

34. but he was "offended" at Giuliani's suggestion

that a homeowner might be held accountable for his servants' immigration status.

[Stardust]

35. To be honest, there wouldn't be any landscaping companies if they didn't

hire undocumented workers. The labor would be so costly as to be un-affordable. Probably the same thing for many industries. A sticky wicket, this immigration thing.

[Zookeeper]

37. That may be true in CA....

but, it's not true where I live. I know that Californians (and I used to be one) have become so accustomed to cheap labor that they can't imagine paying a decent wage, but when I travel through the upper Midwest, I still see U.S. Citizens doing "the jobs that Americans won't do." Fast food, cleaning motel rooms, cooking, heavy labor, construction, landscaping, etc.

That is less true now in Mpls./St. Paul, though. The roofing businesses are now using mainly illegal workers and putting long-time roofers out of business. Some house-painters and carpenters are starting to lose work, as well, as we've had a rather rapid influx of non-citizen cheap labor. And the meat-processors in the western part of the state replaced their Union workers with (mostly) Mexican citizens over a decade ago.

What has been the norm in CA and the Southwest for decades, doesn't (or didn't) apply to the rest of the country.

[calmblueocean]

36. As someone who has never hired a landscaper to trim the lawn at my mansion, I say, "Hee hee!"

That's what happens when you practice the politics of do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do.

[sss1977]

38. He should thank giuliani for the tip off I guess

Who knew mansion gardeners could be illegal immigrants? Craziness... learn something new with each Republican debate.

[chelsea0011]

39. So let me get this straight. Having illegal aliens working on his lawn

has been an issue for years since the Boston Globe broke this story years ago. Rudolph calls him out in the debate and lo and behold he still is hiring the same landscape company that the Globe had showed hired illegals years ago. Now that's either great leadership or the landscaper is well-priced and Romnet knows a good deal when he sees it.:sarcasm:

[polmaven]

40. To be straight on the time line

it was last year....in the summer of 2006...that the first story was written in the Globe.

It was brought up in the first place because Mittens was taking such a hard line on illegals, and authorizing state police to arrest them.

It appears now that Incurious Mitt wants to replace Incurious George. "Gee, did I ask? Duh, no, why would I do that?" :silly:

[chelsea0011]

48. I stand corrected.

[MannyGoldstein]

42. More immigrant woes for Romney

Source: The Boston Globe

Standing on stage at a Republican debate on the Gulf Coast of Florida last week, Mitt Romney repeatedly lashed out at rival Rudy Giuliani for providing sanctuary to illegal immigrants in New York City.

Yet, the next morning, on Thursday, at least two illegal immigrants stepped out of a hulking maroon pickup truck in the driveway of Romney's Belmont house, then proceeded to spend several hours raking leaves, clearing debris from Romney's tennis court, and loading the refuse onto the truck.

In fact, their work was part of a regular pattern. Even after a Globe story in December 2006 highlighted Romney's use of a landscaping company that employs illegal immigrants to tend to his grounds, Romney continued to employ Community Lawn Service With a Heart - until yesterday. The company continued to employ illegal immigrants.

...

Just before Romney fired him, Saenz, the Colombian-born owner of the landscape company, who is a US citizen, spoke fondly of Romney yesterday. He went so far as to endorse him for president.

Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/12/05/more_immigrant_woes_for_romney/?page=1

---

:popcorn:

[C_U_L8R]

43. compassionate conservatism at work (and home)

fire em all

how kind (not)

[MADem]

44. NH news covered this last night...rather GLEEFULLY, too, and in detail. NT

[happygoluckytoyou]

46. IN A RELATED STORY -----------> "and i'm not making this up"

ok..maybe i'm making this up

1) mitt's son pitt was seen mowing the lawn wearing a "vote for rudy" t-shirt
2) mitt complains that rudys series of 3 wives proves he cannot multitask like a mormon
3) baseball commissioner supports romney "anyone named mitt can't be all bad"
4) mitt admits renting a shotgun, killing critters, and takes a shot at rudy's face
5) mitt fired juan the gardener, hired sundeep (H1B) the gardener

[bunkerbuster1]

45. Anti-Catholic Bigotry!

Many of these workers are Catholic, right? Perhaps Mitt, who is going to be walking in the shoes of JFK's September 12, 1960, address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association when he gives The Big Mormons-aren't-Teh-Skary speech tomorrow, maybe Mitt can work that angle?

Let us know how that works for ya, Mitt. See ya in the funny papers.



see also
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/40/story_4080_1.html

[happygoluckytoyou]

47. MITT CRIES.... WHY WON'T THEY LEAVE ME A-LAWN

[noamnety]

50. I don't think the article is accurate.

"After this same issue arose last year, I gave the company a second chance with very specific conditions. They were instructed to make sure people working for the company were of legal status," the former Massachusetts governor said in a statement. "We personally met with the company in order to inform them about the importance of this matter. The owner of the company guaranteed us, in very certain terms, that the company would be in total compliance with the law going forward."

[HughMoran]

51. Funny how they look the other way when it involves their own lifestyle

I really do hate hypocrites.

[sarcasmo]

53. Priceless.