News

July 5, 2008

Hackett admits he employed illegal immigrant

Congressional hopeful says he discharged housekeeper after learning her status.

By Bill O'Boyle boboyle@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer
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Chris Hackett said he recently discharged a housekeeper after learning the woman was an illegal immigrant.

“It is true,” Hackett said Thursday. “We recently became aware that a person who worked for us on a very sporadic basis that she is not legally able to work in this country.”

Hackett, who is seeking the Republican nomination to run for Congress in the 10th District, said the illegal status of the employee, who worked in his home, came to his attention late last week.

He did not reveal the woman’s name and did not turn her over to federal authorities. He didn’t feel it was required of him to report her to authorities. He said he paid her by check, and did not withhold Social Security or other payroll deductions.

“She was doing light housekeeping,” Hackett said. “I called her over the weekend and told her we won’t be using her services any longer.”

Last week a Hackett supporter chastised Hackett’s political opponent, Dan Meuser, for a fine levied against Meuser’s company, Pride Mobility Products, more than a decade ago. Pride Mobility was fined $41,000 for hiring illegal immigrants. Pride appealed the fine and agreed to pay $23,000 in 1997.

Meuser maintains the illegal immigrants provided false Social Security numbers and identification when they were hired.

Hackett said there is a “world of difference” between the two situations.

“People who hire help like housekeepers or yard workers generally don’t check if they are legally allowed to work in this country,” Hackett said. “Dan Meuser’s company got fined and the truth is that you only get fined if you knowingly hire illegal immigrants. I think that’s an important point here.”

Meuser’s campaign reacted strongly to the news about Hackett.

“Chris Hackett and his campaign have spent weeks attacking Dan Meuser, all the while concealing Hackett’s real record on illegals,” said Meuser campaign spokesman Eric Wallace. “Chris Hackett has displayed a pattern of hypocrisy throughout this campaign that the public is getting to see firsthand regarding this issue. It’s only a matter of time before Hackett brings his negative and hypocritical campaign to the airwaves, despite his promise to run a positive campaign.”

As proprietor of One Source Solutions, a temporary employment agency, Hackett said he occasionally received calls from authorities when names of former employees did not match their Social Security numbers.

“Yes, we probably hired some people who gave us false IDs and may have been illegals,” Hackett said. “But their status was discovered after they left our employ. Again, their hiring was done without knowledge of their status. My company was never fined, and that’s the key point here.”

The winner of the Republican primary will face Democrat Chris Carney in November.

10th District

•Encompasses parts of Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming and Tioga counties and all of Bradford, Montour, Northumberland, Pike, Snyder, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Union, Wayne and Wyoming counties.

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