New Details As NJ Allegedly Looks Into Trump Golf Club For Fraud

One of President Trump's former maids has asked for asylum as New Jersey's attorney general allegedly looks into claims of harassment and immigration fraud at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster.

Victorina Morales of Bound Brook and her attorney asked the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services for asylum on Monday. She used fake documents to get a job at Trump’s golf club including a "made-up Social Security number that belonged to no one," her attorney, Anibal Romero, told Patch.

Efforts to obtain comment from the Trump Organization and US Citizenship and Immigration Services were not immediately successful on Tuesday

In a statement, Romero said: "There is no doubt that Morales would face grave danger in Guatemala, where her visibility as the subject of a major news story would put her at even greater risk. We are confident in her asylum claim and will establish that she is entitled to protection under U.S. law."

Morales left Guatemala in 1999 and illegally entered the United States before heading to Bedminster where she used phony documents to secure a job at the president's golf course, according to the New York Times. She has been working at the golf club and cleaning for President Donald Trump since 2o13.

She claims she is not the only illegal worker at the golf club despite Trump's claims during his presidential campaign boasting that he had used an electronic verification system, E-Verify, to ensure that only those legally entitled to work were hired, according to the New York Times.

Morales is among several Romero clients whose status may be under review by New Jersey’s Office of Attorney General as it allegedly looks into claims of harassment and immigration fraud at Trump National Golf Club. Several former and current housekeepers alleged racial mistreatment, according to Romero, a Newark-based attorney.

Romero told Patch that the state attorney general recently reached out to him about claims that five of his clients were routinely threatened and called racial slurs while working at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster. The Office of Attorney General declined to confirm the report to Patch.

“These are elements of federal crimes and we have contacted the attorney general and they have contacted us,” Romero said.

Romero said his clients have had their hair pulled, they've been pushed against a wall and they've been called "dogs," among other transgressions.

Romero said his clients have complained to the "highest levels of management." Eventually, they were given a woman whom they later discovered was a nanny for Donald Trump's son, Barron, and who was supposed to look into the situation. Nothing happened, he said.

At the club, the women also said they used fake social security and green cards to get hired, and two supervisors at the club knew about their immigration status and helped workers evade detection, according to The Record.

Sandra Diaz, a former cleaning woman who is now a legal resident of the US, said the women worked with housekeeping, maintenance and landscaping employees that included multiple undocumented immigrants, according to The Record.

Romero, an attorney for the two undocumented workers — one current, one former — released this statement regarding the NYT report:

"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. Ironically, the threats often came from the same supervisor who had employed them despite knowing their undocumented status and even provided them with forged documents. This toxic environment was designed to intimidate these women, leaving them fearful for their safety and the safety of their families.

"These women have shown tremendous bravery in bringing forth their allegations against such a powerful family." Click here to read the full New York Times report.

President Trump frequents the golf course on a yearly basis and even spends his summer vacations there.

This past summer, Trump spent an 11-day summer vacation in Bedminster from Thursday, Aug. 2 through Monday, Aug. 13.

Trump had also spent about six weekends at Trump National Golf Club off Lamington Road in Bedminster in 2018. (See related: President Trump May Spend Summer Vacation In Bedminster)

In 2017, the President spent an 18-day summer vacation in Bedminster as well, which local aviators said "devastated" local airports.

(Image via Getty Images / Pool / Pool)

With reporting by Alexis Tarrazi

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