Undocumented Workers at Trump Golf Clubs: Years of Employment, Supervisors Providing Fake Documents, and Mass Firings
Tier 4Documented2000-01-01 to 2019-06-30
Factual Summary
In December 2018, the New York Times reported that Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, had employed undocumented immigrants for years, with at least some supervisors aware of their immigration status. Two workers, Victorina Morales and Sandra Diaz, came forward publicly to describe their experiences, providing documentation and testimony to reporters and subsequently to congressional investigators.
Morales and Diaz, both originally from Guatemala, described a system in which supervisors at the Bedminster club were aware that employees lacked legal work authorization. According to their accounts and those of additional workers who came forward in subsequent months, a supervisor at the club facilitated the acquisition of fraudulent identity documents. Workers described a supervisor named Jorge who took identification photographs in the club's laundry room and arranged for them to obtain fake Social Security cards and green cards through a contact. The FBI subsequently obtained some of these fraudulent documents as part of an investigation into the matter.
Workers also described being subjected to verbal abuse, including racial epithets, and being threatened with deportation by supervisors who had helped arrange their employment. Morales stated that she cleaned Trump's personal residence at the Bedminster property, handled his laundry, and worked at events where Trump was present.
Following the initial reporting, additional undocumented workers at other Trump properties came forward. Reports indicated that undocumented immigrants had been employed at Trump golf clubs in New York, New Jersey, and other locations. In January 2019, multiple Trump golf clubs began conducting internal audits of employee work authorization. As a result of these audits, at least 18 undocumented workers were fired from the Bedminster club alone. Additional workers were dismissed from Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County, New York, and other Trump properties. Attorneys for the dismissed workers stated that the firings came only after press coverage exposed the employment practices, not through voluntary compliance.
The Trump Organization stated that it had used the federal E-Verify system to check the employment eligibility of its workers but acknowledged that some employees had used fraudulent documents that passed the verification process. The organization said it would implement mandatory E-Verify at all its properties going forward.
Primary Sources
1. New York Times: "Making President Trump's Bed: A Housekeeper Without Papers," December 6, 2018
2. NPR: "Trump Golf Club Allegedly Employed Undocumented Immigrants," December 7, 2018
3. NPR: "Undocumented Workers Say They Were Fired From Trump Golf Clubs," January 28, 2019
4. NBC News: "Trump golf club fired 10 workers living in the U.S. illegally, lawyer says," February 4, 2019
Corroborating Sources
1. CNN: "New York Times: Trump's Bedminster club hired undocumented immigrants, two workers claim," December 6, 2018
2. Rolling Stone: "FBI Reportedly Has Fake Green Cards Given to Undocumented Immigrants Working at Trump Golf Course," January 2019
3. Washington Post: "Trump Organization fires more undocumented workers," February 2019
4. Employment Law Handbook: "Did Trump Properties Knowingly Employ Undocumented Workers?" April 2019
Counterarguments and Context
The Trump Organization stated that it was the victim of a document fraud scheme and that workers who provided fraudulent identification had deceived the company. The organization pointed to its use of the E-Verify system as evidence of good-faith compliance with immigration law and argued that no employer can be expected to detect sophisticated document fraud. Trump's representatives noted that the firings were conducted voluntarily after internal audits, which they characterized as responsible corporate behavior. Supporters argued that the workers' decision to use false documents placed the legal responsibility on the workers themselves rather than on the employer. Critics responded that the accounts from multiple workers describing supervisors who actively facilitated the acquisition of fake documents contradicted the characterization of the Trump Organization as an unwitting victim. The pattern of employment across multiple properties over many years, the described involvement of supervisory staff in procuring fraudulent documents, and the timing of the firings only after media exposure raised questions about institutional knowledge and tolerance of the practice.
Author's Note
This entry is classified as Tier 4 because the primary evidence consists of investigative journalism and firsthand worker testimony rather than adjudicated findings. While the FBI reportedly investigated the matter, no criminal charges were brought against the Trump Organization or its supervisors in connection with the employment of undocumented workers. The workers' accounts were detailed, consistent across multiple individuals, and partially corroborated by physical evidence including fraudulent documents obtained by the FBI, but no formal legal proceeding has established the organization's institutional knowledge.