Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, who maintained a strong anti-illegal immigration stance during her short term, raised tens of thousands of dollars for her run-off campaign in the Georgia Senate from donors linked to a family business that was forced to pay more than $ 95 million in fines for illegal immigration practices and alleged discrimination in hiring, show the disclosure records.
Between late November and early December, Loeffler’s campaign received more than $ 28,000 in contributions from at least 11 members of the Asplundh family, according to new campaign funding reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission. The Asplundh family owns and operates the large private company Asplundh Tree Expert Company, which previously worked for the United States Department of Energy.
In 2017, the Pennsylvania-based tree pruning and vegetation management company had to pay the largest civil settlement ever launched by the United States Department of Immigration and Customs, after an investigation of years that resulted in the company pleading guilty to “employing illegally foreigners “. In addition, in January 2019, Asplundh agreed to pay $ 55,000 in overdue wages to resolve allegations of hiring discrimination stemming from one of its facilities in Georgia.
None of the donations to Loeffler from family members correctly listed their association with the company as required by the FEC and, instead, the Loeffler campaign wrote in the employer and occupation sections: “INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR BEST EFFORT.”
Loeffler is competing against Democrat Raphael Warnock in one of Georgia’s Senate runoff elections, which takes place on January 5.
While it is not uncommon for campaigns to fail to obtain employers or their donor occupation, all members of the Asplundh family who donated to Loeffler have already disclosed their employers and occupation for their donations to other campaigns and groups. At least three of these family members – including Christopher Asplundh Jr. – are current or former executives of the company, while several others were shareholders of the company, according to other disclosure reports.
Asplundh Tree Expert Company did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment via email. Christopher Asplundh Jr., Gregg Asplundh and Brent Asplundh were also contacted by email and had not responded at the time of publication. All three men were indicated on the company’s website as having leadership positions in 2017.
At the time the fine was announced, Asplundh said in a statement that company employees “accept responsibility for the charges as described and we apologize to our customers, associates and all other interested parties for what has happened.”
ABC News sent a detailed e-mail to two employees about the Loeffler campaign that described the company’s previous agreement on its illegal immigration practices and late payment for alleged discrimination. In addition to asking for a general comment on the company’s donations and background, ABC News also asked whether the campaign knew that members of the Asplundh family had made donations and intentionally excluded their occupations and employers; whether the campaign – given the senator’s stance on immigration and the company’s infringement in Georgia – wanted his support and donations; and if the campaign didn’t want your support or donation, they would return it.
In response, Loeffler’s deputy campaign manager Stephen Lawson replied: “[W]we are marking your email as spam. Please never send us an email again. “
In a follow-up email, a minute later, Loeffler’s press secretary, Caitlin O’Dea, wrote, “And Merry Christmas!”
According to an ICE press release, and citing court documents, the six-year investigation into the company’s immigration practices culminated in September 2017 and found that “the highest levels of Asplundh management remained blind” to one “scheme” where least level management hired and rehired workers who knew they were using fraudulent identification documents.
ICE’s acting director at the time, Thomas Homan, said that “the trial sends a strong and clear message to employers who plan to hire and retain an illegal immigrant workforce: we will find you and hold you accountable.”
Although immigration was not one of the most talked about issues during his Senate campaign, Loeffler made his conservative position on immigration clear.
On her website in the Senate, she says: “Tolerating illegal immigration serves only to undermine the law and threatens our national security.”
She also introduced a bill with Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., In August, which would allow judges to consider undocumented immigrants for contempt if they did not attend immigration hearings and would give judges the ability to issue arrest warrants. .
“I will always put American citizens first and hold illegal immigrants accountable,” Loeffler tweeted along with an article on the bill.
The January 2019 assessment by the United States Department of Labor’s Federal Contract Compliance Programs Office “found alleged violations of systemic hiring discrimination” at the Asplundh Tree Expert Company’s Macon facility. According to a press release from the Department of Labor, as of 2015, Asplundh “discriminated against 124 African-American candidates in the hiring and selection process for positions in land personnel, tree pruners and equipment operation”.
Records indicate that this is the first time the Asplundh family has made a donation to the federal Loeffler campaign. But over the years, the Asplundh family and the Asplundh Tree Expert have been active political donors to various Republican campaigns and groups. In 2016, the company gave $ 50,000 to Future54, one of the top super PACs that supported President Donald Trump’s first presidential candidacy. In September 2020, the company’s political action committee gave the Republican National Committee $ 15,000.
The Loeffler and Warnock dispute gained national attention because, along with another run-up to the Georgia Senate, it will decide to control the upper house of Congress. The senator’s Democratic challenger largely outnumbered the incumbent, according to the latest campaign financial documents.
From mid-October to mid-December, the Warnock campaign raised $ 104 million and entered the final three weeks of the second round with $ 23 million, while the Loeffler campaign raised $ 66 million during that period and entered the final three weeks of the second round with $ 21 million in the bank. In the previous months, Loeffler, fueled by nearly $ 24 million of his own contribution to the campaign, was outpacing Warnock.