A former California Republican Party official who resigned last year in a controversy over his immigration status had no valid visa or work permit during his high-profile career as a Washington lobbyist for conservative icon Grover Norquist, newly filed court records show.
Michael Kamburowski, an Australian citizen who served briefly as chief operating officer of the state GOP, worked from 1995 to 2000 as a vice president of Americans for Tax Reform in Washington, D.C., an organization headed by Norquist - an architect of modern conservatism who has advised President Bush and top GOP political leaders.
For Norquist, Kamburowski lobbied Congress on dozens of issues, including immigration reform, according to his resume. He also directed the Norquist organization's Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, an effort to rename public buildings to honor the former president.
But when he went to work for Norquist, Kamburowski had no legal right to live or work in the U.S., according to documents filed recently in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., in connection with a wrongful-arrest lawsuit he filed against U.S. immigration officials.
Adam Radman, a communications director at Americans for Tax Reform, responded to requests for comment Wednesday with an e-mail referring all questions to Kamburowski.
Kamburowski's lawyer, Michael DiRaimondo, didn't return a reporter's phone call.
Kamburowski quit his post with the state GOP in June after The Chronicle disclosed that he had sued the federal officials who jailed him in 2004 in an attempt to deport him.
At the time, he said he had a valid work permit when he was hired by state party Chairman Ron Nehring, who has done consulting work with Norquist. Kamburowski refused to discuss his immigration status when he first came to the United States in 1995 and was hired by the Norquist organization.
But documents filed late last year in the lawsuit - including portions of Kamburowski's pre-trial testimony - show that he remained in the United States illegally to work for Norquist after he came to this country on a tourist visa.
"I was out of status" when he was hired by Norquist, he testified.
Immigration experts said that when it hired Kamburowski, the Norquist organization either failed to comply with federal laws requiring it to verify his work status or was badly hoodwinked.
With control of illegal immigration a hot-button topic for Republicans in the 2008 election, the apparent violation by one of the nation's leading conservative voices underscores the challenges of the issue, political insiders say.
The Kamburowski case "shows that the illegal immigration debate is far more complicated than just a bunch of people coming across the Mexican border," said Bill Whalen, Hoover Institution research fellow and Republican strategist. "It's an onion with so many layers to it, and it's not simple as saying 'Build a fence and deal with the Mexican problem.' "
Norquist is a longtime anti-tax activist and a confidante of both Bush and Karl Rove, Bush's former political strategist. His Americans for Tax Reform organization has a staff of 15 people, according to its web site, and lobbies Congress on issues related to federal tax policies.
Kamburowski also had no Social Security number, records show. Experts said that should have tipped off the Norquist organization that he was ineligible to work, but "maybe he just made up a Social Security number like the Mexican migrants do," Lawler said.
In 2004, he was arrested and jailed for a month on the old deportation warrant. He later sued the government, claiming he was illegally imprisoned and saying he was fired from his job as a result of his arrest. The immigration officers denied wrongdoing. The case, which is still unresolved, was pending when he obtained his $130,000-per-year post with the state party in March 2007.
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?
f=/c/a/2008/02/21/MNQBV5RJR.DTL&tsp=1">Text</a>
This is rich. The guy is here illegally and is hired by Grover Norquist to lobby Congress on immigration reform? The irony is too much.
This is why we need to toughen the laws against hiring illegals, right now they do nothing to the employers.
Then this guy sues the federal govt and is hired by the state GOP?
What about lawsuit abuse? Oh, I guess that's just for liberals.
I really like the part where he was in charge of the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, what better way to honor Reagan than to have an illegal in charge of the project to name public buildings after him.
The Republican party is in a free fall, doesn't look good for the next election.
Michael Kamburowski, an Australian citizen who served briefly as chief operating officer of the state GOP, worked from 1995 to 2000 as a vice president of Americans for Tax Reform in Washington, D.C., an organization headed by Norquist - an architect of modern conservatism who has advised President Bush and top GOP political leaders.
For Norquist, Kamburowski lobbied Congress on dozens of issues, including immigration reform, according to his resume. He also directed the Norquist organization's Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, an effort to rename public buildings to honor the former president.
But when he went to work for Norquist, Kamburowski had no legal right to live or work in the U.S., according to documents filed recently in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., in connection with a wrongful-arrest lawsuit he filed against U.S. immigration officials.
Adam Radman, a communications director at Americans for Tax Reform, responded to requests for comment Wednesday with an e-mail referring all questions to Kamburowski.
Kamburowski's lawyer, Michael DiRaimondo, didn't return a reporter's phone call.
Kamburowski quit his post with the state GOP in June after The Chronicle disclosed that he had sued the federal officials who jailed him in 2004 in an attempt to deport him.
At the time, he said he had a valid work permit when he was hired by state party Chairman Ron Nehring, who has done consulting work with Norquist. Kamburowski refused to discuss his immigration status when he first came to the United States in 1995 and was hired by the Norquist organization.
But documents filed late last year in the lawsuit - including portions of Kamburowski's pre-trial testimony - show that he remained in the United States illegally to work for Norquist after he came to this country on a tourist visa.
"I was out of status" when he was hired by Norquist, he testified.
Immigration experts said that when it hired Kamburowski, the Norquist organization either failed to comply with federal laws requiring it to verify his work status or was badly hoodwinked.
With control of illegal immigration a hot-button topic for Republicans in the 2008 election, the apparent violation by one of the nation's leading conservative voices underscores the challenges of the issue, political insiders say.
The Kamburowski case "shows that the illegal immigration debate is far more complicated than just a bunch of people coming across the Mexican border," said Bill Whalen, Hoover Institution research fellow and Republican strategist. "It's an onion with so many layers to it, and it's not simple as saying 'Build a fence and deal with the Mexican problem.' "
Norquist is a longtime anti-tax activist and a confidante of both Bush and Karl Rove, Bush's former political strategist. His Americans for Tax Reform organization has a staff of 15 people, according to its web site, and lobbies Congress on issues related to federal tax policies.
Kamburowski also had no Social Security number, records show. Experts said that should have tipped off the Norquist organization that he was ineligible to work, but "maybe he just made up a Social Security number like the Mexican migrants do," Lawler said.
In 2004, he was arrested and jailed for a month on the old deportation warrant. He later sued the government, claiming he was illegally imprisoned and saying he was fired from his job as a result of his arrest. The immigration officers denied wrongdoing. The case, which is still unresolved, was pending when he obtained his $130,000-per-year post with the state party in March 2007.
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?
f=/c/a/2008/02/21/MNQBV5RJR.DTL&tsp=1">Text</a>
This is rich. The guy is here illegally and is hired by Grover Norquist to lobby Congress on immigration reform? The irony is too much.
This is why we need to toughen the laws against hiring illegals, right now they do nothing to the employers.
Then this guy sues the federal govt and is hired by the state GOP?
What about lawsuit abuse? Oh, I guess that's just for liberals.
I really like the part where he was in charge of the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, what better way to honor Reagan than to have an illegal in charge of the project to name public buildings after him.
The Republican party is in a free fall, doesn't look good for the next election.
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