Were undocumented immigrants employed at any Trump Organization properties?
Executive summary
Multiple news investigations published between 2018 and 2020 found that undocumented immigrants were employed at several Trump Organization properties — including golf clubs, hotels, a winery and construction crews — and that the company later fired some of those workers and said it would increase use of E-Verify [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. The core factual finding: undocumented workers were employed at Trump properties
Reporting by major outlets documented that undocumented immigrants worked at Trump Organization sites: The Washington Post located former workers who said they and others worked at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. (including more than 100 during construction at one point), and identified employees at other properties; the New York Times and other outlets reported undocumented workers at hotels, golf courses and the Trump Winery in Virginia [1] [5] [3] [4].
2. Scale and locations reported by multiple outlets
The investigations and follow-ups describe a pattern across properties rather than a single isolated incident: about a dozen undocumented workers were reported at one Trump golf course and dozens more were identified across gyms, hotels and resorts; The Washington Post and other outlets cited workers tied to properties in Bedminster, Westchester County, Philadelphia area properties, Jupiter, Florida, and Trump Winery in Virginia [2] [1] [6] [3] [5].
3. How the company responded and the competing narrative
After the reporting surfaced, Trump Organization executives said supervisors had been presented with fake documents and that the company would adopt E-Verify more broadly and had fired dozens of workers following audits; Eric Trump framed the issue as a failure of the immigration system rather than of company policy [4] [1] [2]. President Trump publicly said he did not know the details and later indicated the organization had strengthened hiring processes, a position that media outlets reported alongside the accounts from former employees [7] [4].
4. Workers’ testimony and investigative detail
Journalists interviewed multiple former employees and located dozens of workers who said they worked without legal status for years at Trump properties; some described long-term employment, construction crews run through entities like Mobile Payroll Construction LLC, and seasonal and year-round undocumented staff who feared retaliation if they came forward [1] [8] [9] [10]. Reporting also documented specific firings — for example, workers dismissed at the Bedminster club and at other Trump golf properties after audits prompted by the revelations [2] [5] [4].
5. Broader context, implications and limits of the public record
Multiple outlets framed the story as a paradox: the Trump Organization’s reliance on undocumented labor contrasted with the president’s rhetoric and policy on immigration, and critics argued the practice offered a competitive labor advantage; advocates and some reporters have also documented use of legal foreign-worker programs at Trump properties, complicating the picture [9] [11] [12]. The assembled reporting identifies nearly 50 workers interviewed or named across several investigations and notes firings and administrative responses, but it does not provide a definitive tally of every undocumented person who ever worked for the organization nor does it attribute senior-management intent beyond statements made to reporters [3] [10] [11].
6. Bottom line answer
Yes: authoritative investigations by The Washington Post, The New York Times and other outlets documented that undocumented immigrants were employed at multiple Trump Organization properties — notably golf clubs (including Bedminster), hotels, the Trump Winery and related construction crews — and those revelations prompted internal audits, firings and public statements about adopting E-Verify [1] [4] [3] [2].