Mayor Personally Hires Illegals for Village Work, Party Affiliation not Mentioned

July 20th, 2007 5:26 AM

Mayor George Darden, of Spring Valley, New York, is a Democrat who has been caught hiring illegal immigrants to work for his suburban village but you wouldn't know he is a Democrat by the coverage his story is getting. In fact, of the several stories thus far, not one even mentions his Party. But, an even bigger mystery is why this story isn't getting wider notice?

On the 17th this story of a Mayor of a New York city personally approaching illegal immigrants on street corners and hiring them to work for the village was first reported in local papers. It seems awfully shocking that an elected official would personally violate so many US immigration and work laws all at one time, yet no mention of the man's Party has surfaced nor have we heard much from this story on a national level. How much hype would this story get from the AP, do you imagine, if this Mayor had been a Republican? And why has several days gone by with so few MSM outlets picking this story up? Perhaps that this Mayor isn't a Republican the national media finds it less than compelling?

In any case, here is the meat of the thing:

Darden spoke after The Journal News reported that Felix Sandoval, an undocumented day laborer from Guatemala, identified Darden as the man who hired him and several friends for demolition work.

"He came on Sunday in his suit," Sandoval said. "He came and he said to me, 'Do you work?' ... He gave me a paper with how much he was going to pay us" _ $10 an hour.

Asked if he was sure it was Darden, Sandoval said yes and produced one of the mayor's business cards from his wallet, the report said. The Journal News had first reported on Tuesday that illegal immigrants had been hired by the village for the project.

Seriously, imagine if this was a Republican Mayor?

But he is not. He is a Democrat, not that this fact seems to make it into any of the stories.

The AP starts their coverage with no mention of the Mayor's Party, nor any mention throughout.

SPRING VALLEY, N.Y. -- The mayor of a suburban village refused Thursday to address a report that he had personally recruited illegal immigrants for a public works project. He denied, however, that any such immigrants had been hired "intentionally and knowingly."

The AP's short report doesn't mention Darden is a Democrat, either.

The New York Journal News has a few stories and none of them mention the Mayor's Party affiliation, granted they are a local paper and people would presumably already know this Mayor's Party.

Spring Valley hires undocumented workers for project

Dept. of Labor will look into Spring Valley's hiring of illegal immigrants

But, I have yet to see this story on a wider release. This one seems a naturally topical story about immigration, their illegal working, taxes... any number of topics relevant to one of today's hot button issues. But, so far, little to nothing is seen on a larger scale release.

Don't you wonder why that is?