Former Trump Organization Workers, Activists, Outraged that Trump Profits Politically and Commercially from Exploiting Immigrants
Undocumented immigrants who worked for Donald Trump paid more in taxes than the boss – and they have the receipts to prove it.
Sandra Diaz, who was undocumented when working for Trump, tweeted out a picture of her W2 from her years working at Trump’s Bedminster, NJ property. She said, “Every single person who worked there who were undocumented paid (taxes)…And then he pays nothing at all? I don’t understand. He’s rich. He has to set an example for all the country.”
Trump’s undocumented workers are not alone. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, in 2017, undocumented immigrants pay $11.7 billion annually in taxes, considerably more that Trump’s $750 pocket change.
Below are some recent pieces of note, from TIME Magazine, the New York Daily News and Telemundo:
Abby Vesoulis details Sandra’s situation:
“Her W2 tax form for that tax year [2011] shows she was paid $26,792.90 for her labor, with $413.14 withheld in federal income taxes. In other words, Diaz, then an undocumented immigrant from Costa Rica, contributed more to the federal government in 2011 than the $0 that Trump—who is estimated to be a billionaire—paid in federal income taxes during 10 of the 15 years between 2000-2015, according to the New York Times’ bombshell reporting on the President’s long sought-after tax records.
As an undocumented immigrant at the time, Diaz’s tax dollars were paying for public services from which she couldn’t personally benefit: She had no health insurance, could not vote, and was not eligible for certain government assistance programs that help people in and near her relatively low income bracket.”
Diaz says she was happy to do the hard work and contribute to the country she loved, regardless. “I’m really happy. Because [immigrants] do what is needed,” Diaz, now 48, tells TIME. “We want to pay taxes and be part of America.”
New York Daily News
Chris Sommerfeldt details Trump’s exploitation of his undocumented workers:
“Trump likely only paid $1,500 in federal income tax over the same period — $750 in 2016 and another $750 in 2017, according to his personal tax returns obtained by the Times. By contrast, [undocumented Trump employee Jesus] Lira paid $5,099 in federal income tax in 2017 alone, having gotten a raise the year prior, according to his records… [Sandra] Diaz said she was shocked when she first learned of Trump’s tax dodging. ‘He’s rich because he used immigrants and then used immigrants again to make him president by attacking us.’
Telemundo
Maria Pena reports that Sandra Díaz accused the president of “hypocrisy” and in her piece quoted Juan Escalante:
“Meanwhile, Juan Escalante, a Dreamer and an activist, affirmed that it is ‘hypocritical and outrageous’ for Trump to demonize immigrants, and even exploit his own workers, when he himself has not fulfilled his duty to pay taxes. For Escalante, Trump ‘has no excuse’ when he and his family, and thousands of other immigrant families pay taxes every year.”
