Dr. Oz Committed to Immigration Enforcement?

Democrats and Republicans are fighting for the control of Congress in the midterm elections.  In Pennsylvania, the fight over a Senate seat is garnering considerable attention.

Business Insider reported that, in a tweet, Mehmet Oz, the Trump-backed Republican nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania, vowed to “fight to end illegal immigration” should he be elected.  As it turns out, an Oz family business faced a record-breaking fine from the U.S. government for hiring undocumented workers.

“As your United States Senator, I will fight to end illegal immigration and soft-on-crime policies that release dangerous, undocumented criminals into sanctuary cities,” Oz tweeted.

Asplundh Tree Experts, Co., a business for which Oz is listed as a shareholder on FEC documents, settled with U.S, Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2017 after an investigation and audit revealed the hiring of undocumented workers.

“Asplundh Tree Experts, Co. , , , pleaded guilty today to unlawfully employing aliens,” an ICE press release announcing the settlement read, “in connection with a scheme in which the highest levels of Asplundh management remained willfully blind while lower level managers hired and rehired employees they knew to be ineligible to work in the United States.”

The company, which has donated $12,000 to Oz’s Senate campaign, was fined $80 million dollars and paid an additional $15 million dollars “to satisfy civil claims arising out of their failure to comply with immigration law.”

“Neither Dr. Oz nor Lisa Oz have even worked at the company or had any involvement in decision-making regarding its business practices, period,” campaign spokeswoman Erin Perrine told The New York Post.

KJ