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Despite its founder’s strict stance against illegal immigration, the Trump Organization has employed at least several undocumented workers over the years,according to theNew York Times.
The Timesreported Morales has provided such “outstanding” work as a housekeeper that she received an achievement certificate from the White House Communications Agency with her name on it back in July. Over her five years in the role, she’s madeDonald Trump’s bed, cleaned his toilet and dusted his trophies. She also was once instructed to wear an American flag pin with the Secret Service logo on it.
President Donald Trump.ALEX EDELMAN/AFP/Getty
Diaz was also a part of the cleaning, landscaping and maintenance staff, which she told the outlet included a number of other undocumented workers. Neither she nor Morales was sure of the exact number, but they did believe there were “many.” The New Jersey property has between 40 and 80 employees depending on the season, most of whom were not born in the U.S., according toThe Times.
The White House did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Diaz recounted several stories about working for the president, which included good tips, very meticulous cleaning practices, and a time he reprimanded her about an orange stain on his white golf shirt which she said was from his makeup and would not wash out. After training Morales, Diaz quit in November 2013.
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“I never imagined, as an immigrant from the countryside in Guatemala, that I would see such important people close up,” she said.
A story where Trump helped her clean the top of some glass windows because she’s barely 5 ft. has also stuck with her. Then, after asking her where she was from, he told her Guatemalans are hard workers.
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Trump’s words about undocumented workershave taken a toll on Morales, she said, especially when he compares Latino immigrants to violent criminals. That, along with insults about her heritage from her supervisor, prompted her to speak out, she told theTimes.
“We are tired of the abuse, the insults, the way he talks about us when he knows that we are here helping him make money,” she said. “We sweat it out to attend to his every need and have to put up with his humiliation.”
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Morales also told the outlet that she’s aware she could be fired or deported because of her remarks, but she’s seeking asylum and considering suing the Trump Organization for abuse and discrimination. She also said she’s confident her superiors — maybe even all the way up to the club’s owner — knew of her immigration status.
“I ask myself, is it possible that this señor thinks we have papers? He knows we don’t speak English,” Morales said. “Why wouldn’t he figure it out?”
According toThe Times, the hiring of undocumented immigrants, especially in the service industry, is an open secret in the U.S. Some 8 million have jobs across the country.
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In 2017, the president took steps to curb this practice with his “Buy American, Hire American” executive order. Still, theTimesreported his companies have hired “hundreds of foreigners” on guest-worker visas.
Cracking down on illegal immigration has been a tentpole of the Trump presidency, from attempts to build walls dividing the southern border of the U.S. from Mexico andthe use of tear gas on childrenin thecontroversial migrant caravan.
In an interview on Thanksgiving, Trump told reporters, “If they have to, [U.S. Border Patrol is] going to use lethal force. I’ve given the okay … I hope they don’t have to.”
source: people.com
