Two undocumented housekeepers at President Donald Trump's New Jersey golf club alleged Thursday they have endured a "toxic" work environment in which they've been routinely called racial slurs and told to keep quiet or be reported to federal immigration authorities.
Victorina Morales, a Guatemalan immigrant who currently works as a maid at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, and Sandra Diaz, a Costa Rican immigrant who used to work at the club, are calling on federal and local authorities to investigate the "crimes" they have allegedly been subjected to at the extravagant estate.
"While working at Donald Trump's estate in Bedminster and interacting with the president and his immediate family, my clients and others were repeatedly subjected to abuse, called racial epithets and threatened with deportation," Anibal Romero, an attorney for the women, told the New York Daily News. "This toxic environment was designed to intimidate these women, leaving them fearful for their safety and the safety of their families."
Romero charged the threats were "ironically" often lobbed by the women's supervisor, who employed them despite knowing of their undocumented immigration status and even set them up with fraudulent work permits. The attorney declined to identify the supervisor.
The New York Times first reported the women's undocumented status.
Diaz, 46, stopped working at the golf club in 2013 and has since become a legal U.S. resident.
Morales, however, is still working illegally at the club and acknowledged in interviews with The Times that she risks being fired or even deported from the country for going public.
But she said the president's immigrant-bashing agenda and her supervisor's abusive remarks compelled her to break her silence.
"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," Morales, 45, told the newspaper, referring to Trump. "We sweat it out to attend to his every need and have to put up with his humiliation."
Amanda Miller, the Trump Organization's senior vice president for marketing and corporate communications, did not return multiple requests for comment, but issued a statement earlier Thursday in which she signaled that Morales will be fired.
"We have tens of thousands of employees across our properties and have very strict hiring practices," Miller said. "If an employee submitted false documentation in an attempt to circumvent the law, they will be terminated immediately."
A White House spokeswoman did not respond to emailed questions.
