Legal representatives and members of Congress are cautioning Donald Trump’s administration not to retaliate against the undocumented immigrants who have stepped forward to allege abuse while working at his businesses. "All of them, I consider, are material witnesses to a federal crime,” said attorney Anibal Romero, “and any attempt to remove them from the U.S. could possibly be obstruction of justice.”
Numerous undocumented immigrants have bravely stepped forward to reveal that management of the Trump businesses knew full well that they lacked permission to work here. One former housekeeper has said that she was physically and verbally abused, while others say that management helped them procure fake documents. “The potential criminal charges against the Trump Organization,” said immigration advocacy group America’s Voice, “include trafficking, conspiracy, false document procurement, and forced or coerced labor.”
Because almost all of the workers who have stepped forward continue to lack legal status, there’s obviously concern about what could happen to them as they share their stories. Joining in that concern is Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, who recently met with the group. "The first thing is to the FBI, to say, 'Hey man, you have to investigate … this is a violation of law—civil or criminal,’” he said. “And the second that we shouldn't forget is that Homeland Security mustn't move these people because they are material witnesses and potentially victims as well."
Among the thousands of lies put forward by Trump was that his businesses use E-Verify, when in fact the golf clubs didn’t. Following news that the Westchester club fired undocumented workers en masse during the shutdown, Eric Trump said the Trump Organization would use it after all. But that doesn’t change the fact that all these years, Trump’s businesses have been exploiting the same workers he’s been demonizing for political gain. When attorney David Leopold tweeted at Eric about this, he blocked him.