Saudi mom dodges jail in nanny slave case

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

A Saudi Arabian mother who was accused of enslaving her children's nanny avoided prison time Friday when a federal judge sentenced her to five years of probation.

The sentence stems from an agreement that allowed Sarah Khonaizan, 36, to enter a guilty plea to a charge of harboring an illegal immigrant. The government, in exchange, dropped kidnapping, conspiracy to kidnap, criminal extortion and false imprisonment charges.

Prosecutors say Khonaizan and her husband, Homaidan Al-Turki, kept an Indonesian woman in their home for four years and forced her to perform long hours of housework and child care for $2 a day.

Last month, Al-Turki, 37, who also was accused of sexually molesting the woman, was convicted of more than a dozen felony counts in state court. Al-Turki faces between 96 years to 12 consecutive life sentences on the unlawful sexual contact charges alone.

U.S. District Judge Walker Miller on Friday ordered Khonaizan to pay $26,275.09 in restitution.

Khonaizan and her husband had previously reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor that required them to pay the woman $64,000.

"I did not realize at the time she was unhappy. I am sorry," Khonaizan wrote in a statement.

Khonaizan's lawyer, Forrest Lewis, said she plans on going back to Saudi Arabia with her five children after she completes her sentence, although the government could choose to deport her sooner.

Khonaizan cried after the court hearing as several young girls hugged her. She is scheduled to appear in Arapahoe County District Court next week to be sentenced on state theft charges associated with her failure to pay the woman fair wages.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/loca...4879003,00.html

Sarah Khonaizan, left, 35, of Saudi Arabia, holds her daughter's hand, center, as she walks into federal court with an unidentified woman, right, Friday, July 28, 2006, in Denver for sentencing. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Justice is partially served.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Justice is partially served.

Actually, I didn't realize harboring an illegal immigrant was already a crime.

[samir_shannon 0]

she covers her face in shame. she should have gotten 15 years in prison. stupid B!@#$.

[Ban Hammer 13,676]

Prosecutors say Khonaizan and her husband, Homaidan Al-Turki, kept an Indonesian woman in their home for four years and forced her to perform long hours of housework and child care for $2 a day.

"I did not realize at the time she was unhappy. I am sorry," Khonaizan wrote in a statement.

[almaty 19]

chopf##ks

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Fixing America's Nanny Problem

By Rich Benjamin

San Diego Tribune

Former Homeland Security nominee Bernard Kerik joined Zoe Baird, Kimba Wood and Linda Chavez in the historical dustbin of failed Cabinet nominations due to "nanny problems." Putting aside his questionable business dealings that led to an internal New York City investigation, Kerik's nomination to a post that oversees immigration law dissolved, because he employed an illegal immigrant and failed to pay taxes on her behalf.

The media emphasize Kerik's withdrawal as "the first major blunder" in the Bush administration's second-term transition and dwell on the Republicans' damage control. In focusing on these inside-the-Beltway dynamics, the media miss the real story. The real story is the lack of affordable child care for most "average" Americans; this country's exploitation of immigrant labor (and often native, too); and the virtual impunity of Kerik's misconduct. After all, a law enforcement official failed to pay taxes, disclosing his illegal action, according to reporters, on the suspicion that the media was poised to out him, anyway.

Sixty-four percent of mothers with a child under age six are in the work force. The legions of working families who must pay for their child care spend $303 per month on average, or roughly 9 percent of their income. Ranging from $4,000 to $10,000 a year per child, full day-care costs can rival the bill for one year at a public university.

Since one-third of American families with young children earn less than $25,000, it does not take a Nobel Laureate in mathematics to figure out that child care has become prohibitively expensive for many working families. The cost of child care has been rising at about 3 percent to 8 percent annually for several years, outpacing overall inflation.

Not only does the high cost of child care disturb, so does its low pay. Child care teachers typically earn about $14,000 a year. Both citizens and immigrants -- legal and illegal -- who work in the domestic service industry under current law occupy fertile ground for exploitation.

Most child-care workers receive minimal or no benefits, and certainly no paid vacation leave. No wonder the "industry" posts a 27 percent annual turnover rate, which adds to parents' other frustrations: inexperienced and formally untrained providers, long commutes to services and lax government licensing and regulation in many states.

Low-paid service jobs -- particularly the educators and custodians of America's children -- should be everyone's problem. Given their discernible services to economic growth and quality of life for other Americans, working-poor and middle-class families should not have to go without key necessities of life, namely affordable child care.

Well-to-do private employers can import, hire, exploit and, in effect, fire immigrant workers at will. The country's unrealistic, ineffective immigration policy must be overhauled to recognize the contributions of undocumented immigrant labor and bring it into the legal fold.

Our immigration laws, directly and inherently, condone the exploitation of immigrant labor, by tipping the scales in favor of private industry. Americans' voracious appetite for cheap labor should be checked by legal protections for those whose hard work makes invaluable contributions to our standard of living.

In rare form, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was particularly forgiving and dismissive of someone's illegal behavior. Praising Kerik, his former protege, the former mayor intoned, "This is a sad day for him and his family. But we all have complex lives. Sometimes it trips you up." If Baird, Wood, Chavez, Kerik and the hordes of other well-heeled professionals who've employed illegal labor have "complex" lives, imagine the lives of the millions of working-poor Americans and immigrants whose exploitation permits this nation's elite a standard of living historically unparalleled.

As David Callahan illustrates in his deft study, "The Cheating Culture," America fosters a double standard pitting a Winning Class against an Anxious Class. The former has the money and clout to cheat with minimal to no consequences, while the latter believes that misconduct is the only way to succeed in an economically perilous nation, with widening income gaps.

Most lawmakers ignore the long-standing and worsening child-care problem. We know that working parents' acute need for quality, affordable child care drives them outside the law. It's time for policy and the law to face this reality. That involves a strategic child and elder care tax credit for households earning less than $100,000; increasing the minimum hourly wage to $8.40 (and indexing it to inflation); and replacing the Earned Income Tax Credit with more valuable subsidies, which strategically target benefits to the spiraling costs of living necessities for families of various sizes in different locations.

[KarenCee 3]

Prosecutors say Khonaizan and her husband, Homaidan Al-Turki, kept an Indonesian woman in their home for four years and forced her to perform long hours of housework and child care for $2 a day.

"I did not realize at the time she was unhappy. I am sorry," Khonaizan wrote in a statement.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight....she had NO idea the poor girl was unhappy. Yeah....and the moon is made of goat cheese.

[Ban Hammer 13,676]

Well-to-do private employers can import, hire, exploit and, in effect, fire immigrant workers at will.

it should be noted that the above is pretty much the case with any usc.

[Traviesa 0]

Justice is partially served.

Actually, I didn't realize harboring an illegal immigrant was already a crime.

It is. Javier's cousin got like 5 years probation for it.

[hafiz 1]

*

Edited August 2, 2006 by hafiz

[Artegal 1]

The media emphasize Kerik's withdrawal as "the first major blunder" in the Bush administration's second-term transition and dwell on the Republicans' damage control. In focusing on these inside-the-Beltway dynamics, the media miss the real story. The real story is the lack of affordable child care for most "average" Americans; this country's exploitation of immigrant labor (and often native, too); and the virtual impunity of Kerik's misconduct. After all, a law enforcement official failed to pay taxes, disclosing his illegal action, according to reporters, on the suspicion that the media was poised to out him, anyway.

Sixty-four percent of mothers with a child under age six are in the work force. The legions of working families who must pay for their child care spend $303 per month on average, or roughly 9 percent of their income. Ranging from $4,000 to $10,000 a year per child, full day-care costs can rival the bill for one year at a public university.

Since one-third of American families with young children earn less than $25,000, it does not take a Nobel Laureate in mathematics to figure out that child care has become prohibitively expensive for many working families. The cost of child care has been rising at about 3 percent to 8 percent annually for several years, outpacing overall inflation.

Not only does the high cost of child care disturb, so does its low pay. Child care teachers typically earn about $14,000 a year. Both citizens and immigrants -- legal and illegal -- who work in the domestic service industry under current law occupy fertile ground for exploitation.

Most child-care workers receive minimal or no benefits, and certainly no paid vacation leave. No wonder the "industry" posts a 27 percent annual turnover rate, which adds to parents' other frustrations: inexperienced and formally untrained providers, long commutes to services and lax government licensing and regulation in many states.

Low-paid service jobs -- particularly the educators and custodians of America's children -- should be everyone's problem. Given their discernible services to economic growth and quality of life for other Americans, working-poor and middle-class families should not have to go without key necessities of life, namely affordable child care.

Well-to-do private employers can import, hire, exploit and, in effect, fire immigrant workers at will. The country's unrealistic, ineffective immigration policy must be overhauled to recognize the contributions of undocumented immigrant labor and bring it into the legal fold.

Our immigration laws, directly and inherently, condone the exploitation of immigrant labor, by tipping the scales in favor of private industry. Americans' voracious appetite for cheap labor should be checked by legal protections for those whose hard work makes invaluable contributions to our standard of living.

In rare form, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was particularly forgiving and dismissive of someone's illegal behavior. Praising Kerik, his former protege, the former mayor intoned, "This is a sad day for him and his family. But we all have complex lives. Sometimes it trips you up." If Baird, Wood, Chavez, Kerik and the hordes of other well-heeled professionals who've employed illegal labor have "complex" lives, imagine the lives of the millions of working-poor Americans and immigrants whose exploitation permits this nation's elite a standard of living historically unparalleled.

As David Callahan illustrates in his deft study, "The Cheating Culture," America fosters a double standard pitting a Winning Class against an Anxious Class. The former has the money and clout to cheat with minimal to no consequences, while the latter believes that misconduct is the only way to succeed in an economically perilous nation, with widening income gaps.

Most lawmakers ignore the long-standing and worsening child-care problem. We know that working parents' acute need for quality, affordable child care drives them outside the law. It's time for policy and the law to face this reality. That involves a strategic child and elder care tax credit for households earning less than $100,000; increasing the minimum hourly wage to $8.40 (and indexing it to inflation); and replacing the Earned Income Tax Credit with more valuable subsidies, which strategically target benefits to the spiraling costs of living necessities for families of various sizes in different locations.

So most average americans hire Nannies from Overseas and are up for Cabinet Post with the President? Not likely. Also working poor already receive substantical tax credit and tax deductions for childcare etc.

The fact that a Rich Yuppy who is making multiple six figures and is a go go Fortune 500 executive hires an illegal or legal nanny or babysiter and does not pay them minimum wage or collect taxes--does not illustrate the problem with rising health care cost.

[jordanianprincess 0]

GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZ!!! 2 bucks a day? You can't even get a happy meal with that anymore.

[iceyspots 0]

Half of a happy mail isnt happy..

[Alex+R 0]

Prosecutors say Khonaizan and her husband, Homaidan Al-Turki, kept an Indonesian woman in their home for four years and forced her to perform long hours of housework and child care for $2 a day.

"I did not realize at the time she was unhappy. I am sorry," Khonaizan wrote in a statement.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight....she had NO idea the poor girl was unhappy. Yeah....and the moon is made of goat cheese.

This reminds me of when my father's clinic partner came to Minnesota from Pakistan. After a few months, he had a party for all the doctors in the clinic and their families. My mother was shocked to find that a small dog bed in the laundry room did not, in fact, belong to a dog, but to their manservant, who Irfan and his wife had brought with them from Pakistan. He cooked all their food but ate scraps afterward by himself and slept in the aforementioned dog bed.

They were very hurt when, five years later, he received his greencard and ran away to New York, never to be heard from again.