Wood Outlines Legality of Sitter’s Employment

Here is a transcript of a statement released Friday by federal Judge Kimba M. Wood, who withdrew her name from consideration for attorney general:

After consultation with the White House, I have decided to withdraw my name from consideration by the President for nomination to the post of attorney general. The reasons for this decision are as follows:

On Jan. 29, I met with the President at the White House to discuss the possibility of my appointment. In the course of a wide-ranging discussion of policy issues, I was asked if I had a “Zoe Baird” problem. I said I did not, and I do not.

First, since I hired my baby-sitter in March, 1986, I have submitted all required forms and paid all required taxes on her behalf. Second, I complied fully with all immigration laws and made all filings and disclosures that should be made in compliance with the immigration laws.

My hiring of my baby-sitter was legal in March, 1986 (prior to the fall 1986 enactment of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, which rendered hiring illegal aliens unlawful if they were hired after IRCA’s passage), and my employment of her continued to be legal after the passage of IRCA, because IRCA explicitly excluded from its provisions employers whose employees were hired prior to its passage.

In March, 1986, it was lawful to openly employ aliens who were in the country, like my baby-sitter, on an expired visa, as long as all required taxes and forms were filed. However, although all of my acts were lawful, my baby-sitter, like anyone pursuing legalization, was not legally in this country from 1980 until she obtained legal residency in December, 1987, through the IRCA amnesty program.

I maintained and provided seven years of records with respect to my baby-sitter and other household help. These records included my federal Social Security, FUTA (Federal Unemployment Tax Act) and W-2 filings and payments, and my state unemployment compensation, disability insurance and workers’ compensation filing and payments, as well as the files I kept relating to my baby-sitter’s immigration status, including my application for labor certification and her application for federal amnesty pursuant to IRCA.

In sum, I maintained appropriate records and made all required filings and payments for the seven years that my baby-sitter has been in my employ.

Thus, I have fulfilled every legal requirement with respect to the employment of our baby-sitter. Nevertheless, and after further consultations, I have concluded that in the current political environment, proceeding further with the possibility of my nomination would be inappropriate.