PUBLISHED TO
The group of people who gathered for a televised CNN town hall
had many things in common, but one thing stood out above it all: they
all worked for Donald Trump’s businesses while being undocumented. The
19 immigrants included former servers and housekeepers, from countries
including Mexico and Guatemala, who worked for Trump despite lacking
permission to live and work in the U.S.
“They brought with them their work uniforms and stacks of pay stubs from their former employer,” CNN reported, some having worked for him as long as a decade.
Server Jose Juarez worked at Trump’s Westchester, New York, golf club and remembers serving him his preferred Diet Cokes in iced cups. He said Trump knew he was originally from Mexico because he told him so. When asked by CNN if Trump also knew that he was undocumented, he replied, “I think so.”
Eleven of the 19 workers present were also among the employees who were abruptly—and quietly—fired from Westchester in January, just as Trump was shutting down the federal government in his quest to get his useless border wall. “Trump is a hypocrite,” said former housekeeper Margarita Cruz. “He says [immigrants] are bad people, rapists, and traffickers, but they’re honest hardworking people who worked hard for him.”
Trump’s obsession with immigrants stops when it comes to his own hiring practices. In fact, “Trump this weekend expressed concern on Fox TV about implementing, on a nationwide basis, the comprehensive worker verification program called E-Verify—a policy that, if implemented in the context of immigration reform that legalizes undocumented workers—would crackdown on unscrupulous employers just like Trump,” immigrant rights advocacy group America’s Voice said.
Trump’s hypocrisy goes far beyond his businesses exploiting undocumented labor. He ran on a “Hire American” platform, yet the Trump Organization has requested visas for foreign workers since at least 2008, reportedly pursuing at least 500 since 2010 for his Mar-a-Lago resort alone. Trump has claimed it’s because he’s been unable to find U.S.-born workers, but that, of course, is a total lie.
Records obtained last month by BuzzFeed News revealed that his businesses regularly rejected U.S.-born applicants, appearing to hire only one out of dozens of applicants from 2014 through 2018. Since becoming president, Trump has become more shamelessly brazen, requesting nearly 200 visas in 2018 for his businesses.
His brazenness has extended beyond his golf courses too, with seven undocumented workers from his Virginia winery stepping forward just this month.
Workers said vineyard management “pretends not to know” they’re hiring undocumented immigrants. "Yes, they know you are undocumented, because if you look at the Social Security papers that are handed to them, they’re false. The process is simple. They give you your application, and they find a way for you to fill it out.”
“He’s been benefitting from undocumented labor for many, many years,” said Anibal Romero, who represents several of these workers. “It’s sad that he’s been lying to the American people.” It’s those brave workers who have been exposing Trump’s outrageous hypocrisy, and it’s long past time for our country to finally put them and millions of other undocumented families onto a path to legal status and citizenship.
“They brought with them their work uniforms and stacks of pay stubs from their former employer,” CNN reported, some having worked for him as long as a decade.
Server Jose Juarez worked at Trump’s Westchester, New York, golf club and remembers serving him his preferred Diet Cokes in iced cups. He said Trump knew he was originally from Mexico because he told him so. When asked by CNN if Trump also knew that he was undocumented, he replied, “I think so.”
Eleven of the 19 workers present were also among the employees who were abruptly—and quietly—fired from Westchester in January, just as Trump was shutting down the federal government in his quest to get his useless border wall. “Trump is a hypocrite,” said former housekeeper Margarita Cruz. “He says [immigrants] are bad people, rapists, and traffickers, but they’re honest hardworking people who worked hard for him.”
Trump’s obsession with immigrants stops when it comes to his own hiring practices. In fact, “Trump this weekend expressed concern on Fox TV about implementing, on a nationwide basis, the comprehensive worker verification program called E-Verify—a policy that, if implemented in the context of immigration reform that legalizes undocumented workers—would crackdown on unscrupulous employers just like Trump,” immigrant rights advocacy group America’s Voice said.
Trump’s hypocrisy goes far beyond his businesses exploiting undocumented labor. He ran on a “Hire American” platform, yet the Trump Organization has requested visas for foreign workers since at least 2008, reportedly pursuing at least 500 since 2010 for his Mar-a-Lago resort alone. Trump has claimed it’s because he’s been unable to find U.S.-born workers, but that, of course, is a total lie.
Records obtained last month by BuzzFeed News revealed that his businesses regularly rejected U.S.-born applicants, appearing to hire only one out of dozens of applicants from 2014 through 2018. Since becoming president, Trump has become more shamelessly brazen, requesting nearly 200 visas in 2018 for his businesses.
His brazenness has extended beyond his golf courses too, with seven undocumented workers from his Virginia winery stepping forward just this month.
Workers said vineyard management “pretends not to know” they’re hiring undocumented immigrants. "Yes, they know you are undocumented, because if you look at the Social Security papers that are handed to them, they’re false. The process is simple. They give you your application, and they find a way for you to fill it out.”
“He’s been benefitting from undocumented labor for many, many years,” said Anibal Romero, who represents several of these workers. “It’s sad that he’s been lying to the American people.” It’s those brave workers who have been exposing Trump’s outrageous hypocrisy, and it’s long past time for our country to finally put them and millions of other undocumented families onto a path to legal status and citizenship.
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