The Department of Homeland Security has launched a formal investigation into Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell over allegations he knowingly employed a Brazilian national as a nanny after her work authorization expired, a potential violation of federal immigration law that the agency says it takes seriously, the Daily Caller reported.
The probe adds yet another layer of legal and political trouble for a congressman already engulfed in separate sexual misconduct allegations and facing calls from within his own party to abandon his bid for California governor.
DHS spokesperson Lauren Bis confirmed that United States Citizenship and Immigration Services had been gathering information on the matter and referred it to DHS law enforcement. The referral signals the federal government views the allegations as more than political noise.
Bis stated:
"USCIS has been collecting information on the allegations involving Congressman Eric Swalwell hiring of a Brazilian national as a nanny without lawful work authorization. These allegations are serious. USCIS has referred this matter to DHS law enforcement for investigation."
She added that federal law prohibits employers from knowingly hiring aliens not authorized to work in the United States, and that "no employer, including a member of Congress, is above the law."
The allegations trace back to a complaint filed on February 16 by Joel Gilbert. That complaint alleges that Amanda Raissa Barbosa, a Brazilian national, entered the United States on an au pair visa in 2021. Her work authorization reportedly expired in 2022, and Swalwell allegedly kept her on as a nanny anyway.
The New York Post reported that Barbosa appeared in Swalwell family social media posts throughout 2023 and 2024, suggesting she continued performing childcare duties during the period she allegedly lacked lawful work authorization.
Barbosa did not receive permanent work authorization until 2024, which raises a straightforward question: who was paying her during the gap years, and with what money?
The answer, according to reporting, involves campaign funds. FEC records cited by Newsmax indicate Swalwell paid the nanny tens of thousands of dollars in campaign funds between 2021 and 2022, and nearly $40,000 more after she obtained work authorization. The complaint alleges Swalwell hid her continued employment from 2023 until she received permanent authorization in 2024 by structuring the payments as reimbursements for child care expenses from his campaign.
If true, the scheme would represent not just a violation of immigration employment law but a potential misuse of campaign funds, a combination that should alarm anyone who believes elected officials ought to follow the same rules they impose on the rest of the country.
The immigration probe is not the only federal investigation bearing down on Swalwell. Just the News reported that the Department of Labor is also investigating whether Swalwell and his wife Brittany paid the live-in nanny while she was not authorized to work in the United States.
Two separate federal departments investigating the same congressman over the same nanny is not a partisan fishing expedition. It is the kind of multi-agency attention that follows when the underlying facts look serious enough to warrant it.
DHS itself posted on social media platform X to announce the inquiry. The Washington Examiner reported that the post included the blunt declaration: "No one is above the law, including a member of Congress." Complaints allege Swalwell and his wife misled officials to keep the nanny in the country after her au pair visa expired.
The nanny investigation arrives at possibly the worst moment in Swalwell's political career. Sexual misconduct allegations against the congressman became public on a Friday, and by Saturday, the Manhattan District Attorney announced it was investigating one of the sexual assault allegations, reportedly stemming from an incident after a 2024 charity event.
Swalwell has denied the sexual assault claims. In a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle, he said:
"These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the frontrunner for governor. For nearly 20 years, I have served the public, as a prosecutor and a congressman and have always protected women. I will defend myself with the facts and where necessary bring legal action."
Democrats have not rallied behind him. Members of his own party have called on Swalwell to end his gubernatorial bid, and he has since suspended his campaign amid what amounts to a full-scale Democratic revolt.
Fox News reported that the immigration and employment-law allegations surfaced while Swalwell was already facing the sexual assault claims and mounting pressure from fellow Democrats to step aside, a convergence of crises that has left his political future in serious doubt.
For those who have followed Swalwell's career, the current cascade of investigations fits a familiar pattern of conduct that raises questions about judgment and accountability.
In 2023, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy removed Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee. That move followed revelations about Swalwell's relationship with Christine Fang, who reportedly worked with Communist China's Ministry of State Security. Swalwell has denied wrongdoing in his interactions with Fang, but the episode raised bipartisan concerns about a sitting member of the intelligence committee maintaining ties to someone linked to a hostile foreign intelligence service.
FBI Director Kash Patel has since moved to declassify FBI files related to Swalwell's ties to the suspected Chinese intelligence operative, a step that could shed further light on the nature and extent of those contacts.
Now add the nanny allegations: a sitting congressman accused of employing an illegal immigrant, paying her with campaign money, and allegedly concealing the arrangement for over a year. If the facts bear out, the man who sat on the Intelligence Committee while entangled with a suspected Chinese spy also broke the very immigration laws he votes on.
Swalwell had been running to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The governor's race was already shaping up as a difficult one for Democrats. Polling experts have warned that Democrats face a real risk of an all-Republican runoff in the jungle primary, a scenario that would have been unthinkable just a few cycles ago in deep-blue California.
Swalwell's implosion only deepens that vulnerability. His suspension from the race removes a high-profile Democratic name from the field under the worst possible circumstances, and the ongoing federal investigations ensure the story will not fade quickly.
Meanwhile, the Republican side of the field has momentum. President Trump has endorsed Steve Hilton ahead of the June primary, consolidating conservative support behind a single candidate while Democrats scramble to regroup.
Swalwell did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the DHS investigation. His silence on the nanny allegations stands in contrast to his vocal denials of the sexual assault claims, a gap that invites its own conclusions.
Several questions remain unanswered. Which DHS law enforcement component is handling the investigation? What specific campaign account allegedly funded the nanny payments? And what exactly happened between 2022, when Barbosa's authorization expired, and 2024, when she received permanent work authorization?
The Washington Examiner reported that Swalwell also faces a threatened House expulsion effort, which would add a congressional dimension to the legal and political pressure already bearing down on him.
For a congressman who has spent years lecturing the country about the rule of law, accountability, and the dangers of foreign influence, the accumulating investigations tell a different story. Chinese intelligence ties. An allegedly illegal nanny paid with campaign funds. Sexual assault allegations serious enough for the Manhattan DA to open a probe. And a party that has decided, at least for now, that defending him is no longer worth the cost.
The law Swalwell is accused of breaking exists to protect American workers and the integrity of the immigration system. If a member of Congress can't be bothered to follow it in his own home, voters are entitled to ask what other rules he considers optional.