That problem is not of Whitman's making, but she has made it worse by contradicting herself. Last year, she told the San Diego Union-Tribune that she favored a "path to legalization." When confronted about that in the Republican primary, she said she didn't realize that "legalization" is a "code word for amnesty," which she opposes. She said she meant to say she supports a temporary-worker program.
That program appears nowhere in Whitman's 48-page policy booklet, which she released in March. The one page that addresses immigration (under the heading of "other priorities") sticks exclusively to enforcement measures, such as getting state and local police to undertake workplace raids, and denying undocumented students access to state colleges and universities.
As policy, a temporary-worker program preserves the cognitive dissonance of the status quo: We want you, we don't want you. If you try to apply it to the real world of Diaz Santillan, it falls apart. She worked for Whitman for nine years. There is nothing temporary about that.
Nothing unusual, either. It's not exactly surprising that Whitman employed an undocumented maid. It's common in California.