Trump’s New Jersey Club Benefiting From Employing Illegal Immigrants

Let’s just go ahead and close the year with another Trump legal scandal.

I mean, 2018 has been full of revelations of our president’s shifty, shady shenanigans, so what’s one more, right?

And as it is with other scandals involving Donald Trump, this one highlights his glaring hypocrisy. In this case, it amounts to, “Illegal immigrant help is ok for me, but not for thee.”

Prosecutors in New Jersey, along with the FBI, are taking a look at President Trump’s Garden State golf club, and the possibility of violations of federal immigration laws.

Imagine that.

The New York Daily News carried the story:

Anibal Romero, a Newark attorney who represents several undocumented immigrants who used to work at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, said Friday he recently met with investigators from the state attorney general’s office and handed over fraudulent green cards and Social Security numbers that management at the club allegedly procured and gave his clients, Victorina Morales and Sandra Diaz.

Before he met with the state prosecutors, Romero said he reached out to Mueller’s office because, while he wanted to contact federal authorities, he was concerned about looping in the Justice Department, which was headed by Jeff Sessions at the time.

“I wasn’t sure, one, if they’d take me seriously and, two, if this could backfire on my clients,” Romero told The News, referencing the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration agenda.

I can understand his hesitation, to be honest.

Romero reached out to special counsel Robert Mueller’s office with what he had. They contacted him shortly after and informed him that that was out of their jurisdiction.

So much for the Trumpian arguments that claim Mueller is on a “witch hunt,” or that he’s overstepped his authority. If any of that were true, he’d be all over this.

Of course, what Mueller could do, and did, was refer the case to the FBI.

It was a few weeks later when an FBI agent out of New Jersey reached out.

“He said to me that he had received a referral from Robert Mueller’s office and that he already knew the specifics and that he wanted to meet with me in person,” Romero said.

Go Mueller!

So what’s the story here?

Well, according to Romero’s clients, Trump’s management staff not only hired illegal help (that would be the same ones Trump accuses of being killers and rapists), but crafted the fake IDs and then held it over their heads, as leverage.

Morales, a Guatemalan national who is still employed at the club but has stopped going to work, and Diaz, a Costa Rican national who used to work there and has since obtained legal status, are among at least five undocumented housekeepers at the club who allege they were set up with fraudulent documents and subjected to abuse and racial harassment.

I guess if management knows they can contact the authorities at any time and turn you in, they do have a certain amount of power over you.

In Morales’ case, Romero said a supervisor compiled all of her information and then took her photo in the laundry room of the club.

A few days later, the boss — who’s not being named by The News — told Morales he had received her fake documents and said he would hold on to them.

“This was a practice and pattern,” Romero said. “My clients felt like they were trapped and they felt like the fake documents could be used against them.”

So who was crafting the fake documents? I know there are shady characters out there that specialize in these sorts of things, but I’m sure authorities looking into this would love to know who the Trump Organization has McLovin’ing their help.

Romero said Morales understands her coming forward could result in legal repercussions but says she is motivated to speak out because of the blatant hypocrisy in Trump employing undocumented immigrants at his golf club while at the same time demonizing them from his Oval Office pulpit.

That right there.

Heck, if it wasn’t for a combo of utter ignorance and a lot of hypocrisy, Trump would have no platform, at all.

For now, nobody is confirming if an investigation is under way, but a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Harry Sandick, is pointing out the serious nature of the offense.

It’s immigration fraud, and those who knowingly work, using fake documents could get prison time, fines, and even deportation.

Those supervisors that arranged for the fake documentation, however, could face the same criminal charge, along with anybody else involved in the fraud.

“Immigration crimes are hard to prosecute so the government may see something like this as a possible deterrent case,” Sandick said. “To show that even someone who works at the President’s golf club is under the microscope is very impressive and tells you that anyone can be charged.”

Romero is hoping that his clients can see some leniency, and that a bigger point is made.

“They are the victims here,” Romero said. “Any attempt at charging them would ignore the real problem.”

Not if the supervisors and any others involved in employing illegal help and faking legal documents are swept up in it, as well.

Just saying…

I’ve long said that if you want to curb illegal immigration, ending the incentives to make the journey is step 1. That means going after American employers that benefit from cheap, illegal labor.

Like the Trump Organization.

Maybe he needs to put his money where his mouth is and hire American.