One of Trump's golf clubs just fired a dozen undocumented workers after years of service


Starting on the morning of Jan. 18, President Trump's golf club in Westchester County, New York, began firing about a dozen employees who didn't have valid legal documents to work in the U.S., The Washington Post reports. Many were former employees of the month, they had worked there as long as 18 years, and "some were trusted enough to hold the keys to Eric Trump's weekend home," the Post says. "They were experienced enough to know that, when Donald Trump ordered chicken wings, they were to serve him two orders on one plate."
Donald Trump owns his company's 16 golf courses and 11 hotels around the world, along with other assets, but he has given over day-to-day control to his sons Eric and Donald Jr. In a statement to the Post, Eric Trump said the company is "making a broad effort to identify any employee who has given false and fraudulent documents to unlawfully gain employment. Where identified, any individual will be terminated immediately." This is one reason "my father is fighting so hard for immigration reform," he added. "The system is broken."
The crackdown appears to have started after The New York Times reported about undocumented workers at Trump's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. The Westchester club doesn't appear in the federal list of participants in the E-Verify system employees use to confirm the legal status of workers, the Post notes. And the fired workers said management knew they were working without papers. In 2008, a Trump club accountant told Mexican employee Jesus Lima that she couldn't accept his forged documents and "go back and tell them to do a better job," Lima said. Former managers told the Post that there was a "don't ask, don't tell" policy at the club and they were told to "get the cheapest labor possible." You can read more at The Washington Post.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
5 hilariously cold cartoons about the Alaska summit
Cartoons Artists take on the Alaskan totem pole, a peace flag, and more
-
Journalists killed in Gaza: a chilling assault
In the Spotlight Anas al-Sharif and three of his Al Jazeera colleagues were targeted by the IDF
-
Crossword: August 16, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages