In a story that is sure to warm the hearts of undocumented workers and Lou Dobbs haters everywhere, the Nation reports that – after a yearlong investigation — it that the former CNN host, who made a career out of railing against illegal immigrants, employed at least five of his own.
According to the Nation, Dobbs, who has “not ruled out a possible Senate or even presidential run in 2012,” has “relied for years on undocumented labor for the upkeep of his multimillion-dollar estates and the horses he keeps for his 22-year-old daughter, Hillary, a champion show jumper.”
One employee interviewed by the magazine said he worked for Dobbs “for more than two years without documents until he was finally able to obtain a guest-worker visa designed for seasonal foreign workers — the same kind of visa denounced as a form of ‘indentured servitude’ on [Dobbs'] CNN show.”
He currently hosts a daily, two-hour syndicated radio show, "Lou Dobbs Radio," from New York. Representatives there did not immediately return a request from TheWrap seeking comment.
UPDATE: Lou Dobbs responds to charges on his radio show.
Dobbs — whose conservative views on illegal immigration and border security made him an increasingly weird fit at CNN — left the network last November.
At the time, he said that "strong winds of change in this country" had convinced him that he needed to become more involved in "constructive problem-solving."
“Some leaders in the media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond my role here at CNN,” he said.
In a statement, then-CNN president Jon Klein said Dobbs "has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere."
Last October, shortly before he left CNN, police in New Jersey investigated an alleged gunshot fired at Dobbs’ New Jersey home. He told his radio listeners it was “part of an ongoing assault against anyone who opposes amnesty or leniency toward illegal immigrants.”
Advocacy groups, such as the League of United Latin American Citizens, had been protesting Dobbs’ views — and Dobbs said the gunfire "followed weeks and weeks of threatening phone calls."
"They've created an atmosphere and they've been unrelenting in their propaganda," Dobbs said.
