tags: Press Releases

Does NV GOP Candidate Brian Sandoval Have a Meg Whitman Problem?

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Housekeeper’s Allegations Against Sandoval Shine New Light on Politician’s Disturbing Immigration Record

Washington, DC – Allegations that the Nevada Republican nominee for Governor, Brian Sandoval, may have employed an undocumented household worker is shining new light on the candidate’s disturbing immigration policy positions, and inviting comparisons to California Republican nominee for Governor, Meg Whitman.  According to Think Progress, “Ana Padilla, a Nevada woman who immigrated from Guatemala illegally in 1986, has come forward to claim that Nevada GOP gubernatorial nominee Brian Sandoval employed her while she was undocumented, and ‘never asked me for documentation.’”

Though the latest allegations against Sandoval have yet to be substantiated, unlike Whitman’s, there are clear similarities between the two cases.  Sandoval and Whitman have both adopted hard-line immigration positions, expressing support for policies that are heavy on enforcement and light on practical solutions.  It is deeply disturbing that many of the politicians who run as immigration hardliners have previously benefited from the dysfunctional system.  As America’s Voice has highlighted, Sandoval is an adamant opponent of comprehensive immigration reform, stating, “With tighter border control and stepped up enforcement on employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers, the problem would subside.”  Despite his Latino background, Sandoval also supports the Arizona, “papers, please” immigration law and, when asked how he would feel if he his children were stopped in the street and asked for their papers, he had the audacity to say, “my children don’t look Hispanic.”

The Sandoval allegations follow on the heels of last week’s revelations that anti-immigration cable loudmouth Lou Dobbs relied for years on undocumented labor, as well as the fallout over Meg Whitman’s immigration hypocrisy in recent weeks.  Whitman trumpeted that she would be “tough as nails” on undocumented immigrants and their employers, while failing to admit that she had relied on an undocumented housekeeper for nine years.

According to Lynn Tramonte, Deputy Director of America’s Voice, “The allegations against Brian Sandoval need to be sorted out.  But if true, they would fit an all-too-familiar storyline, where immigration reform opponents talk tough during campaign season, and privately benefit from the broken system.  This is hypocrisy of the highest order.  Voters want policymakers who want to confront the issue head on and advance a practical solution–comprehensive immigration reform—not politicians who exploit the issue.”

Read more about the immigration stances of Brian Sandoval, Meg Whitman, and others in the America’s Voice report, “The Power of the Latino Vote in America.”

 America’s Voice — Harnessing the power of American voices and American values to win common sense immigration reform

 www.americasvoiceonline.org

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