Homeland chief Michael Chertoff had home cleaned by illegal immigrants
BY CELESTE KATZ
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Updated Friday, December 12th 2008, 2:30 AM
Wong/Getty
Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff
When Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff said recently that "we need to make sure our own house is in order," he should have taken himself literally.
Since 2005, Chertoff has employed Maryland-based Consistent Cleaning Services - and its staff of illegal immigrants - to clean his suburban Washington home.
Chertoff didn't know that some of the company's workers, who passed security checks by the Secret Service, were undocumented.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency under Chertoff's command, fined the cleaning company owner, James Reid, $23,000 for employing undocumented workers.
Some workers had fake documents, and others produced no proof of being able to work in the U.S. legally.
Reid told The Washington Post the fines could drive him out of business. He couldn't resist a swipe at Chertoff's agency.
"Our homeland security can't police their own home," Reid said. "How can they police our borders?"
Chertoff spokesman Russ Knocke said that "as customers, the Chertoffs obtained assurances from Mr. Reid that any personnel he dispatched to their home were authorized to work in the United States."
The Secret Service conducts security checks of workers, not evaluations of their immigration status.
BY CELESTE KATZ
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Updated Friday, December 12th 2008, 2:30 AM
Wong/Getty
Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff
When Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff said recently that "we need to make sure our own house is in order," he should have taken himself literally.
Since 2005, Chertoff has employed Maryland-based Consistent Cleaning Services - and its staff of illegal immigrants - to clean his suburban Washington home.
Chertoff didn't know that some of the company's workers, who passed security checks by the Secret Service, were undocumented.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency under Chertoff's command, fined the cleaning company owner, James Reid, $23,000 for employing undocumented workers.
Some workers had fake documents, and others produced no proof of being able to work in the U.S. legally.
Reid told The Washington Post the fines could drive him out of business. He couldn't resist a swipe at Chertoff's agency.
"Our homeland security can't police their own home," Reid said. "How can they police our borders?"
Chertoff spokesman Russ Knocke said that "as customers, the Chertoffs obtained assurances from Mr. Reid that any personnel he dispatched to their home were authorized to work in the United States."
The Secret Service conducts security checks of workers, not evaluations of their immigration status.