WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Labor Department has admitted to employing an undocumented immigrant as a house cleaner, a revelation that has derailed Cabinet nominees in previous administrations.
Andrew Pudzer, chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants Inc, is one of several Trump nominees who faced strong opposition from Senate Democrats and progressive groups. He has criticized an overtime rule championed by the Obama administration and opposed raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
In a statement, Pudzer said he and his wife had employed a housekeeper for a few years without being aware that she was not legally permitted to work in the US.
“When I learned of her status, we immediately ended her employment and offered her assistance in getting legal status,” he said in the statement. He said he paid back taxes for employing the maid to the US Internal Revenue Service and to California. The statement was first reported by Huffington Post.
The disclosure came as Senate Democrats held an all-night session in a final attempt to block the nomination of Betsy DeVos, the millionaire school-choice champion whom Trump nominated to be education secretary.
Last week, an aide for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions said the panel would not “officially” schedule a hearing on Pudzer until it receives his paperwork from the Office of Government Ethics.
Some political strategists said that could signal trouble for the fast-food executive.
Wilbur Ross, Trump’s pick for commerce secretary, said during his confirmation hearing last month that he recently fired a household employee who could not provide proof of legal status.
A Senate panel approved his nomination. However, previous presidential appointees have run into problems over immigrant labor.
Linda Chavez, nominated for labor secretary in 2001 by Republican President George W. Bush, allowed a Guatemalan woman who was in the US illegally to live in her home and gave her spending money.
Zoe Baird, Democratic president Bill Clinton’s nominee for attorney general in 1993, withdrew from consideration after she admitted hiring two illegal immigrants as a driver and a nanny and not paying their Social Security taxes.
Another Bush nominee, former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, withdrew his name from consideration for homeland security secretary in 2004 after he disclosed that questions had been raised about the legal status of a former housekeeper and nanny.
Trump nominee admits to employing illegal immigrant
Trump nominee admits to employing illegal immigrant
Terror at Friday prayers: Witnesses describe blast rocking Islamabad mosque
- The Daesh group has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist communications
ISLAMABAD: A worshipper at the Shiite mosque in Islamabad where dozens of people were killed in a suicide blast on Friday described an “extremely powerful” explosion ripping through the building just after prayers started.
Muhammad Kazim, 52, told AFP he arrived at the Imam Bargah Qasr-e-Khadijatul Kubra mosque shortly after 1:00 p.m. (0800 GMT) on Friday and took up a place around seven or eight rows from the Imam.
“During the first bow of the Namaz (prayer ritual), we heard gunfire,” he told AFP outside the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital, where many of the wounded were brought for treatment.
“And while we were still in the bowing position, an explosion occurred,” he said.
Kazim, who is from Gilgit-Baltistan in northern Pakistan and lives in Islamabad, escaped unharmed, but accompanied his wounded friend to the PIMS hospital for treatment.
“It was unclear whether it was a suicide bombing, but the explosion was extremely powerful and caused numerous casualties,” Kazim said.
“Debris fell from the roof, and windows were shattered,” he added. “When I got outside, many bodies were scattered... Many people lost their lives.”
The Daesh group has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist communications.
Another worshipper, Imran Mahmood, described a gunfight between the suicide bomber, a possible accomplice and volunteer security personnel at the mosque.
“The suicide attacker was trying to move forward, but one of our injured volunteers fired at him from behind, hitting him in the thigh,” Mahmood, in his fifties, told AFP.
“He fell but got up again. Another man accompanying him opened fire on our volunteers,” he said, adding the attacker “then jumped onto the gate and detonated the explosives.”
As of Saturday morning, the death toll stood at 31, with at least 169 wounded.
The attack was the deadliest in the Pakistani capital since September 2008, when 60 people were killed in a suicide truck bomb blast that destroyed part of the five-star Marriott hotel.
Lax security
Describing the aftermath of the attack, Kazim said unhurt worshippers went to the aid of those wounded.
“People tried to help on their own, carrying two or three bodies in the trunks of their vehicles, while ambulances arrived about 20 to 25 minutes later,” he told AFP.
“No one was allowed near the mosque afterwards.”
Kazim, who has performed Friday prayers at the mosque “for the past three to four weeks,” said security had been lax.
“I have never seen proper security in place,” he told AFP.
“Volunteers manage security on their own, but they lack the necessary equipment to do it effectively,” he said.
“Shiite mosques are always under threat, and the government should take this seriously and provide adequate security,” he added.
