Senate scrutinizes Bersin on household hires

Senate scrutinizes Bersin on household hires    The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday released a memo documenting discrepancies in Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin’s statements regarding compliance with immigration laws for verifying employment eligibility of a nanny and nine other household workers dating back to 1993.
   Bersin is scheduled for a confirmation hearing before the committee on Thursday and the immigration issue is expected to be raised.
   “During the vetting process, the committee routinely applies greater scrutiny to a nominees activities that bear a relationship to the duties of the position the nominee seeks,” the memo stated. CBP is one of several agencies responsible for enforcing immigration laws.

Bersin

   Bersin was nominated by President Obama on Sept. 29 to lead CBP, but questions about whether Bersin properly documented workers’ residency status contributed to a lengthy delay in his confirmation. Obama circumvented Congress two months ago and appointed Bersin to the post using a procedural loophole in the law. Last month, the administration resubmitted his nomination to the committee.
   As previously reported by AmericanShipper.com, Bersin failed to complete and retain I-9 forms used to document that new employees are authorized to work in the United States. He also failed to disclose three of six housecleaners on staff since 2006, and subsequently characterized the other three as independent contractors even though tax records show he never treated them as such, according to the memo.
   Bersin, who spent more than a year as an assistant secretary of Homeland Security in charge of coordinating law enforcement initiatives on the Southwest border, apologized for making misstatements in his responses to questions from the committee, it said. He claimed he and his wife, Lisa Foster, checked the paperwork of new hires, but didn’t realize I-9 forms were required for household employees.
   He was credited with paying all employment taxes in full and on time.
   His previous position did not require Senate confirmation.
   The Finance Committee memo can be found here. ‘ Eric Kulisch