Two points:
The timing of the smear campaign probably has less to do with the last debate and more to do with the debate on Univision, the Spanish network, that is scheduled for a few days from now. The idea is to put Whitman on the spot regarding illegal immigration issues.
Regarding the fake IDs presented by the housekeeper, it is interesting to note that federal law does not allow the employer to choose what documents are presented by the employee. There is a list of acceptable documents. Unless a document is clearly a fake, the employer can be sued for asking for additional proof that an employee is here legally and has the right to be employed in the U.S.
Paying $23 per hour will probably get Whitman a lot of Hispanic votes. I’m sure it’ll get her a lot of Spanish applicants.
Wouldn’t it be cool if it could be proven that Allred had hired legal immigrants but only paid them minimum wage.
She hired through an agency. It is the agency's responsibility to check the docs and validate them. That is why the wage is so high -- the agency is getting a cut of that. I will bet that Whitman paid the agency directly, and the agency cut a check to the worker, after deducting fees for taxes, health insurance, and their cut. Whitman could have bought the contract from the agency with a large fee up front.
The last time I hired through an agency, the fee was around $8000 and the worker went to jail a month later. We worked with him through his incarceration, and he came back a year later. That was when we finished with the payments to the agency. The employee stayed less than a year, and he left on good terms with us. I'm still mad at the agency, however, and I will not use them again.