Baird’s Former Nanny Agrees to Leave the Country, INS Says

NEW HAVEN, Conn. —  An illegal immigrant who once worked as a nanny for former Atty. Gen.-designate Zoe Baird has agreed to leave the country, an immigration official said Thursday.

Richard Kenney, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, said Lillian Cordero, during a meeting with immigration officials in Hartford on Tuesday, agreed to return to her native Peru.

Cordero, 32, and her former husband, Victor Cordero, 26, who worked as a chauffeur for Baird, figured prominently in Baird’s decision to withdraw her nomination last week as U.S. attorney general. Baird withdrew amid a public outcry over her illegal hiring of the Corderos as household help.

The couple, whose divorce became final this week, went into hiding after Baird withdrew her nomination. INS officials had asked the Corderos to appear in Hartford for questioning this week to determine whether they should face deportation proceedings.

Kenney said Lillian Cordero agreed to leave the United States under “voluntary departure,” which he described as a program for illegal immigrants in which they agree to leave within 30 days, and if they do, the INS closes the case.

“She just said that she would prefer to leave,” Kenney said.

Helene Pepe, Victor Cordero’s lawyer, said he returned to Peru on Monday, before his scheduled interview with immigration officials.