Employees of a golf club in New Jersey owned by US President Donald Trump have been fired because they were undocumented immigrants, the media reported.
The club in Pine Hill, New Jersey, known as the Trump National Golf Club Philadelphia, was the third property owned by the President where undocumented workers have been fired since The New York Times reported last December that the Trump club in Bedminster, New Jersey, for years employed immigrants who were in the country unlawfully.
The President's company terminated about a dozen undocumented workers at the Bedminster property after the article was published, as well as a dozen others at the Trump National Golf Club Westchester in Briarcliff Manor, New York, on January 18.
Informed sources told The New York Times on Friday that about five workers at the Pine Hill property were fired or told not to report to work again, including two seasonal employees.
Many other seasonal workers were expected to be told not to return in the coming weeks, the sources said.
The workers at Pine Hill said their terminations, which also occurred in January, came abruptly.
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"Just like that, I got fired," said Victor Reyes, who is from Mexico.
"The manager called me and asked, 'Victor, are you legal?' I said, 'No, I am not legal'. It surprised me because I knew he knew that I was illegal. I have worked for him 16 years and then he asks me," he told The New York Times, adding that it was his first job since crossing the border.
The Trump Organization had earlier said it was duped by employees who used false identification to get their jobs.
But some of the workers in Bedminster told The New York Times they were kept on the payroll despite the fact that management was aware of the false documents.
The company has not commented on Friday's development as yet.
On Tuesday, the Organization said that it was using a system - known as E-verify - to prevent undocumented workers from getting jobs at its properties.
For the last several years, the company had utilised that system in many of its hotel properties, though it did not adopt it at most of the golf courses.
About eight million undocumented workers participate in the US labour force. They use fake documents to get hired, typically made-up social security numbers and permanent residency cards.
--IANS
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