Undocumented worker claims Trump golf club hid her from Secret Service review

A former employee who prepared food at the Trump Organization’s Bedminster, N.J., golf club is claiming that management protected her from a Secret Service review of employees after she reminded them of her undocumented status.

The New York Times reported that Emma Torres said kitchen staff at Bedminster were asked during the 2016 presidential campaign to provide their names, Social Security numbers and other information to be vetted by Secret Service. Torres told the Times that she came to the U.S. illegally from Ecuador and used a fake Social Security number to apply for employment. 

{mosads}Torres also claimed that she went to human resources at the club and told them she did not have legal status. The human resources employee, whose name Torres did not know, said it was “no problem” and removed Torres from the list for Secret Service review, Torres alleged.

Torres alleged that she told human resources of other undocumented employees and that their names were also removed.

The Times reported that Torres, 43, was hired at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in 2015. She said she informed her manager during her interview that she applied using falsified documents.

Torres quit her job in 2017, the Times reported.

Her account is the latest instance of employees at Bedminster claiming they used phony citizenship documents to secure employment at the Trump Organization’s upscale golf club. Other former employees have alleged verbally abusive behavior by management at the property.

The Times published an interview last month with Victorina Morales, who reportedly crossed the border illegally and began working at Bedminster in 2013. She said management at the golf club was aware of her immigration status.

Anibal Romero, an attorney representing Morales, said he turned over documents to state and federal investigators to look into the golf club.

There is no indication President Trump knew that Torres or other employees who had entered the country unlawfully were working at his golf club.

Neither the Trump Organization nor the Secret Service immediately responded to a request for comment from The Hill.

The Times reported that the organization has in recent weeks worked to bring its workforce into compliance, which led to the termination of roughly a dozen people.

Trump has made cracking down on illegal immigration a cornerstone of his administration, and the issue has been at the center of an ongoing partial government shutdown that has lasted nearly two weeks. 

Trump has demanded $5 billion in funding for a proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, while Democrats have refused to offer money for the structure, calling it ineffective and immoral.