GOP candidate Meg Whitman said her former housekeeper - whom she once described as a member of the family - should be deported because she is an illegal immigrant.
"Well, the answer is: It breaks my heart, but she should be deported, because she forged documents and she lied about her immigration status," she said on Fox News as published in Friday's Los Angeles Times.
Whitman is 10 percentage points behind Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown in the latest poll, and her blunt comments could sway some voters one way or the other.
The candidate has insisted that she didn't know her nine-year employee, Nicandra Diaz Santillan was in the U.S. illegally until the housekeeper admitted it last year. When Whitman found out, she fired Diaz Santillan.
But Whitman took that stance a step further Wednesday when she said the former employee should be booted back to her home country.
"The law is the law, and we live in the rule of law." said Whitman. "It's important."
Will voters interpret her latest statement on Diaz Santillan as a lack of compassion, or a commitment to enforcing the law?
I think most people will see it as a lack of compassion, and Whitman will lose votes. Here's why.
As a reporter for 15 years and a columnist for five, I found that readers could take a tough stance on illegal immigration in the abstract. When I wrote about legislation that sought to legalize the undocumented, for example, the barrage of e-mails, letters and voice mails was almost immediate.
Deport them all. Prosecute them as criminals. Even shoot them in the streets. These were some of the comments I often received.
But when I once wrote an column on the plight of an illegal immigrant family with names, faces, and the usual emotional trials, opinions softened. One reader who typically ranted against illegal immigration argued that this particular family should be allowed to stay in the U.S. because "They are invested in America."
People respond to human stories. Painting these immigrants as human beings instead of mere statistics seemed to touch readers' hearts.
With that in mind, it's difficult to see how Whitman can benefit politically from her latest statement on Diaz Santillan. We know the former housekeeper's story in detail from media coverage.
Latino voters, who tend to get riled enough to go to the polls when immigration is an issue, already back Brown over her by two to one. Whitman's remarks will only solidify their opposition to Whitman.
But I think the rest of the voters will recoil, too.
And the statement will cost cost her valuable support.
You can read more about Whitman's comments here:
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