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Tribune News Service
Tribune News Service
Politics
Chris Sommerfeldt

Undocumented immigrants fired from Trump golf clubs to crash his 2020 campaign kickoff in Florida

NEW YORK _ Undocumented immigrants canned from President Donald Trump's ritzy golf clubs in New York and New Jersey are crashing his 2020 campaign kickoff in Florida to shed light on what they consider his "cruelty and hypocrisy," their attorney told the Daily News on Monday.

The five workers _ who were axed along with scores of fellow undocumented Trump employees after The News and other outlets reported on their situation earlier this year _ were set to travel to Orlando, Fla., Monday afternoon to hold a Tuesday morning press conference outside the Amway Center, where the president is expected to officially announce his re-election bid later in the day, said Anibal Romero, a lawyer for the immigrants.

"No one knows better than Trump himself that immigrants are hardworking individuals who support a multitude of industries across the country, including his restaurants, golf courses, wineries and hotels," said Romero, who represents 44 undocumented immigrants who used to work at Trump properties.

"And no one knows better than the undocumented workers who worked for Trump, how urgent it is for Congress to pass humane and sensible immigration laws so that immigrants can continue contributing to their communities and to our nation, just like they did for Trump and his family."

The group who's heading down for the Tuesday rally consists of Sandra Diaz and Victorina Morales, former housekeepers at Trump's Bedminster, N.J., club; Wiston Garcia, a former dishwasher at Trump's Westchester County club; Margarita Cruz, a former housekeeper at the Westchester club, and Adela Garcia, also a former housekeeper at the Westchester club.

They will be joined by advocates and union leaders to tell their stories and advocate for a "path to citizenship" for the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., Romero said.

"These workers, many of whom were subjected to workplace abuse and wage theft, spoke out in order to shed light on the hypocrisy and cruelty of Trump and his attacks on immigrants," Romero said.

A spokeswoman for Trump's 2020 campaign did not return a request for comment.

The president made clear last year he was running for reelection in 2020, but Tuesday's event has been billed by his campaign as the official announcement. First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence will be in attendance.

Many of Romero's clients allege higher-up Trump managers knew about their undocumented status but let them work anyway while using their precarious situation as leverage to underpay them and not give them with benefits.

Some of Romero's clients also say managers helped them procure fake immigration papers _ which could be a federal crime.

The Trump Organization has consistently denied the allegations.

The New Jersey attorney general's office and the New York attorney general's office are looking into some of the allegations made by the former Trump employees, according to sources familiar with the matter.

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