‘All of the years you give them, and they just let you go’: An immigrant who says he worked illegally for Trump and his sons for years has been fired

The Washington Post/Carolyn Van Houten via Getty Images

An immigrant who said he worked illegally for President Donald Trump and his sons told The Washington Post his employers abandoned him when they found out he was unauthorized.
"They do not say, ‘Let’s do something, let’s try to help you,’" said Juan Quintero, who worked at the Trump National Golf Course Hudson Valley and a hunting preserve that Trump’s sons owned.
Eric Trump has previously spoken publicly about the mass firings that have taken place, calling them "truly heartbreaking."
Quintero has been interviewed by state prosecutors in New York about his employment at the Trump properties, according to his lawyer.

An immigrant who says he worked illegally for President Donald Trump and his sons — and who even used to text with Eric Trump about his job duties — said the family he dedicated nearly a decade of his life to abandoned him amid a companywide crackdown on unauthorized workers.

Juan Quintero, 42, told The Washington Post he was let go in January from his two jobs working for the Trump family: one as a greenskeeper at the Trump National Golf Course Hudson Valley in New York, and one at the Leather Hill Preserve, a private hunting retreat partly owned by Eric Trump and Donald Trump, Jr.

"All of the years you give them, and they just let you go," Quintero told The Post. "They do not say, ‘Let’s do something, let’s try to help you.’ They simply said, ‘Your documents are not valid,’ and that is it."

Quintero is now one of several immigrants state prosecutors in New York have interviewed in recent weeks over the hirings, Quintero’s attorney Anibal Romero told The Post.

Romero is representing multiple other immigrants who worked at Trump properties, and told The New York Times he has handed over documents to investigators from the New Jersey attorney general’s office and the FBI.

The Washington Post/Carolyn Van Houten via Getty Images

Quintero told The Post he began working at the golf course when it was under previous owners. After crossing the border from Mexico more than 20 years ago, Quintero told the newspaper he used a fake green card to get the greenskeeper job, and later to continue working at the golf course after Trump took over the ownership in 2009.

Text messages The Post obtained showed that Quintero had a close working relationship with Eric Trump, whom he named in his phone as "Erik Boss."

"Juan — how are the fields coming along," Eric Trump texted Quintero last May. "They need to be planted in the next week or so in order to make the season. Hope you are great."

Quintero responded that he was "working in it."

The Washington Post/Carolyn Van Houten via Getty Images

Quintero told The Post that he never directly told Eric Trump about his immigration status.

Dozens of immigrants have come forward in recent months, telling The Post and The New York Times they worked for Trump properties illegally.

Since then, the Trump Organization has let many of them go amid a crackdown on illegal labor that has reportedly kept Trump properties running for years — even after Donald Trump became president.

The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to INSIDER’s request for comment, but the company announced in January that it would use the E-Verify program to check all employees’ immigration status before hiring them.

Eric Trump has previously spoken publicly about the mass firings at his family’s businesses, calling them "truly heartbreaking."

"Our employees are like family, but when presented with fake documents, an employer has little choice," he said in January.

NOW WATCH: Elon Musk sent a $100K Tesla Roadster to space a year ago. It has now traveled farther than any other car in history.