Sec. of Labor nomination brings criticism on Bush

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - President-elect Bush stuck by his embattled labor secretary nomination yesterday, declaring "I've got confidence in Linda Chavez" despite the revelation that she had sheltered and paid an illegal immigrant in her home.

Bush, who said he learned of the case Sunday night, indicated he was not swayed by opposition to her confirmation. "I strongly believe that when the Senate gives her a fair hearing, they'll vote for her," he said.

The president-elect faced barrages of questions on the subject on two separate occasions yesterday, 12 days before his inauguration. He said of Chavez, "I firmly believe she'll be a fine secretary of labor."

Democrats promised a vigorous examination of the case. Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the committee considering the Chavez nomination, called the new information "very troubling."

Bush aides were reviewing FBI interviews with Chavez and the immigrant, Marta Mercado, as well as their own discussions with Chavez, to determine whether the nominee had abided by the law and had been forthcoming. They said so far there was no evidence of a violation.

Knowingly housing an illegal immigrant is against the law, but authorities usually go after smugglers who violate "harboring" statutes, not people who let undocumented aliens stay at their homes.

But for Chavez, providing shelter and money to a Guatemalan women - she said she was driven by compassion - has added controversy to her quest to win confirmation. She already was being strongly criticized by unions and some Democrats for past statements on such issues as affirmative action and the minimum wage.

At the start of the Clinton administration, Zoe Baird's nomination for attorney general was derailed because she had employed an illegal immigrant as a nanny.

Chavez was critical of Baird when that case came to light. Discussing the Baird nomination in 1993, Chavez said on PBS: "I think most of the American people were upset during the Zoe Baird nomination that she had hired an illegal alien. That was what upset them more than the fact that she did not pay Social Security taxes" on the nanny's wages.

Bush's aides said Chavez helped Mercado for charitable reasons. Chavez told The Washington Post:

"If someone came to me needing shelter and needing a helping hand even under the same circumstances, I would try to help them."

According to several Bush aides, Chavez told his advisers she did not know Mercado was in the country illegally until the woman had left her home. Mercado said in published reports that she told Chavez of her illegal status three months after moving into her home.

"The exact date of that has not been determined, at which point she actually did know that information," said Ari Fleischer, a Bush transition spokesman.

An Immigration and Naturalization official said that if Chavez knew Mercado was undocumented she might well have been in violation of the immigration law, which carries fines starting at $2,000 per charge.

"It's very rare that an individual would be prosecuted for this, " said Jeanne Butterfield, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. "On the other hand, if you are a Cabinet secretary you have to expect that you are going to be under a lot of scrutiny."

Mercado lived at Chavez's Maryland home in 1991 and 1992. She helped Chavez around the house and received sums of $100 to $200, according to Mercado's account and Bush aides. Neither woman considered the arrangement as employment.

Employers are supposed to check on whether workers have documents. Exempt are housekeepers who provide "sporadic, irregular and intermittent service," according to federal statute.

As part of the vetting process, Chavez was asked about domestic employees, but she was not questioned about every "act of compassion," said Tucker Eskew, a Bush spokesman.

Chavez did not return messages left for her at the Center For Equal Opportunity, a Virginia nonprofit group she heads. Mercado could not be reached for comment.

Mercado told the Post that she informed Chavez of her illegal status about three months after moving into her home in late 1991.

A spokesman for Democratic Sen. Kennedy, Jim Manley, said the case would be pursued in confirmation hearings and Chavez would also be questioned about her strongly conservative views on affirmative action, her opposition to a minimum wage increase and other issues.

Another case that could come up: In 1986, during a failed run for the Senate, Chavez acknowledged that she defaulted on "a couple of thousand dollars" in government student loans used to pay for college. She told the Post that she paid them back a decade later, only after she had become a federal employee and was tracked down.

Chavez is not the only nominee who assisted an illegal alien. New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman, Bush's nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, disclosed in 1993 that she and her husband had employed two Portuguese natives for more than three years when they were in the country illegally.

Whitman didn't pay taxes on their wages for part of that time, but later said she paid the outstanding taxes. The couple, who obtained legal residency in 1991, still work for Whitman.