Over 20 undocumented former staff of Donald Trump’s have asked to meet with the President in order to discuss protections against deportation and ways to reform the country’s immigration system.
The former workers at the Trump Organization, including groundskeepers, maids and kitchen staff, sent a letter to the White House on Wednesday, asking that Trump recall their years of service and “do the right thing” for them and others who have come in the country illegally.
“We are modest people who represent the dreams of the 11 million undocumented men, women and children who live and work in this country,” the group of 21 people wrote in the letter. “We love America and want to talk to you about helping to give us a chance to become legal.”
The Washington Post reports that dozens of people have come out in the past year with their stories about working for President Trump’s organization. A number of those people said Trump’s harsh rhetoric against illegal immigrants made them speak out. Some have even said their employers were familiar with their status but hired them regardless.
The Trump Organization denied those claims, saying that the immigrants used fake documents and that once the company discovered the scam it fired them.
Over the past few months, the Post has reported multiple times on the Trump Organization’s use of undocumented immigrant labor which, the outlet says, helped built the President’s golf courses and staffed jobs in housekeeping, maintenance and food preparation well into Trump’s presidency.
Over 40 of them have so far been interviewed by the Post. Since then, they have protested outside Trump rallies and urged federal and state authorities to investigate the Trump Organization’s hiring and payment practices.
Following revelations this year that the President’s company hired undocumented immigrants, the Trump Organization fired over 20 workers and adopted the government’s voluntary online system for checking if an employee is eligible to work in the United States, called E-Verify.
In the Wednesday letter, the undocumented immigrants underline the years of close personal service to the President’s family, writing, “You know many of us and will recall how hard we worked for you, your family and your golf clubs. . . . You know we are hard workers and that we are not criminals or seeking a free ride in America.”
They add that they are honest people, who pay taxes and strive to find their place in America and make it a better country.
Be the first to comment