Last week, Hillary Clinton gave a speech at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at the gala for the New York Historical Society. During the Q&A following her speech, Clinton took the time to praise President Obama's executive order that shielded five million illegal immigrants from being deported. Clinton claimed that the executive order was about protecting livelihoods, including, "people, I would venture to guess, who served us tonight," referring to the employees of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
Hillary Clinton now on immigration order: "This is about people's lives, people, I would venture to guess, who served us tonight."
— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) November 22, 2014Here's where it gets awkward: according to a letter emailed to The Weekly Standard, the hotel specifically goes out of their way to ensure that their employees are in fact legal residents of the United States:
“Mandarin Oriental, New York does not knowingly employ illegal and/or undocumented immigrants. We require all employees to provide proof of their eligibility to legally work in the U.S.,” said Tammy Peters, a spokesperson for the hotel, in an email to THE WEEKLY STANDARD. “All wait staff and catering staff are employed through our hotel and we do not use outside contractors for such services.”
Employing someone who is illegally in the United States is a crime.
It's quite odd that Clinton would take a look at her (presumably Hispanic) waiter at the gala and assume that they must be in the country illegally. It's a slap in the face to hardworking people who waited and worked hard to move here legally. While Obama referred to illegal immigrants as fruit pickers and maids during his speech, it's important to note that people of all legal statuses are employed at these positions.