The illegal alien who was Zoe Baird's chauffeur said Tuesday he harbors no ill will toward Baird or her husband, even though he feels like "a hunted animal" and fears he will be deported because of the attention being given to his case.
"I don't feel like I committed any criminal act," Victor Cordero said on "CBS This Morning." "I want to stay in this country."Immigration officials have asked Cordero and his estranged wife, Lillian, to appear for questioning this week to determine whether deportation proceedings are in order.
Baird withdrew as the nominee for attorney general last week amid an outcry over her illegal hiring of the Peruvian couple as household help. As attorney general, Baird would have been responsible for enforcing immigration laws.
Cordero and his wife, who had been a nanny in Baird's home, have gone into hiding. Their attorneys refused to disclose their whereabouts.
In the television interview, taped Monday at an undisclosed site with his lawyer sitting beside him, Cordero said he has no contact with Baird or her husband since the withdrawal of her nomination, but is sorry for what happened.
"When I hear about her situation I feel responsible," he said. "I think it's my fault she is facing all this. I feel very sad for her."
In a statement issued Monday night by his attorney, Cordero said he is being hounded.
"I always felt free here until the last few weeks. Now I feel like a hunted animal," he said.
Immigration officials insisted the Corderos are being treated the same as other illegal aliens.
"Every illegal alien that we find that comes to our attention is singled out for action. That's our job," said Rick Kenney, spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.