USA TODAY International Edition
I cleaned Trump’s golf club for 5 years
I am undocumented, but I’m not a violent criminal
When I was a child, my father was murdered in front of me and my siblings. After I was married and had left Guatemala, my children witnessed a similar tragedy when my husband’s father was murdered in front of their eyes. Violence, corruption and poverty: Perhaps you can see why I chose to flee to America. I walked and bused to this great country from Guatemala in 1999.
My children, husband and I built a life in New Jersey. In 2013, I began working at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, cleaning suites and surrounding businesses, as well as cleaning Mr. Trump’s and Ivanka Trump’s houses. The hours were long, but I made friends, and I could feed my children.
The club staff always knew I was undocumented; I told them so before I was hired. No matter, they said, your old false documents will do.
Once Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign began, life at the club changed. I guess they were more concerned about our status, so my supervisor asked for a good set of papers in order for me to continue working there. When I reminded him that I was undocumented, he simply provided me with the documentation necessary to continue working. In fact, he had someone take my photograph in the laundry room of the club to use for the new identification card and lent me money to purchase new papers.
To make it even easier, he had his cousin, a fellow employee, drive me to a nearby town to get the new set of false documents. When I got the new set of documents, my supervisor told me to hide them, and said that if the police saw them, I’d be arrested.
After he was elected president, Mr. Trump’s rhetoric about immigrants did not change, and his plans were frightening. The worse things he said, the worse it seemed my supervisors treated me. My other supervisor used my undocumented status, and the false papers, to force me into difficult jobs under horrible conditions. She pushed me, called me stupid, and once went so far as to say that her dog understood English better than I did. When I complained, she threatened to call immigration and have me deported.
President Trump praised me
It was shocking to see the changes. I met President Trump on a few occasions, and he had always been friendly and even praised my attention to detail when I cleaned. Yet, when I saw him on TV, I saw who he truly was, someone who accused immigrants of being criminals and rapists, while at the same time, I was working hard and maintaining his club.
The humiliation was too much and, after five years of working for Mr. Trump, I decided it was time to speak up. After I shared my story, I did not return to the golf club. I knew there was a chance I could be deported along with my family, but after enduring years of humiliation, I decided I had to come out of the shadows to tell my story.
I am undocumented, but I am not a violent criminal. I am a hardworking person who pays taxes and supports my family and my community. Many undocumented immigrants have stories just like mine. We literally were fleeing for our lives and seeking a better life. I have come to know many kind Americans, and I know they would do the same for their children.
Come out of the shadows
I am speaking up for the millions of immigrants across the United States who are living in the shadows, afraid to come out because of the way President Trump has humiliated us. That is why I was proud to attend the State of the Union address last week as a guest of Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Democrat from New Jersey and the representative of the district I live in. I hope that I will encourage others to step forward and be heard, particularly those who suffered similar abuses.
I am here to give a voice to the voiceless, and to ask that the president and Congress provide real solutions for us. We are not the monsters and invaders that President Trump makes us out to be. We are real people, trying to step out of the shadows and into the sunlight of America. I will continue to advocate for myself, for my family and community, and for the millions of undocumented immigrants who are here in search of a better life in this great country called America.
Victorina Morales, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, worked for the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, from 2013 to 2018. Anibal Romero, Morales’ lawyer, transcribed and translated this column from Spanish.
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