For all the Sturm und Drang over whether Melania Trump was a sex worker when she first came to this country, one thing is beyond doubt. The story about how she got her work visa prior to becoming a permanent resident in 2005 just doesn’t add up. Why does this matter? Well, Trump has more or less staked his entire campaign on a harder-than-hardline immigration stance. And yet, his own wife, and her agency, may have done the same thing that dozens of other employers have done over the years.
Well, it turns out Melania might not be alone. Mother Jones recently discovered that at least four women who worked for Trump’s modeling agency, Trump Model Management, did so on visas that didn’t allow them to legally work in the United States. In other words, the man who wants to deport every undocumented worker in sight made a fortune off undocumented workers.
One of them was Rachel Blais, whom you may remember as one of the stars of “Girl Model,” a 2011 documentary that explored the dark underbelly of the modeling industry. Watch the trailer here.
Blais was signed by Trump Model Management in 2004. Her first big splash in the States was when she appeared on “The Apprentice” to show off some outfits designed by Trump’s contestants. However, based on a financial statement she provided to Mother Jones, Blais made that appearance without a proper visa.
Blais first told her story to PRI’s “The World” in early August. She said that when she arrived in New York in 2004, she was sent to a dormitory-style “models’ apartment” in Manhattan’s artsy East Village. There were only three Americans there; the others either had no documentation at all or were on tourist visas.
Chillingly, she revealed that Trump Model Management was well aware that this was illegal. They were told to either dress down, leave their makeup behind, or send their portfolios ahead of or behind them. It’s one of many reasons that Blais describes Trump Model Management as “the most crooked agency I’ve ever worked for, and I’ve worked for quite a few.”
For her first six months in the States, Blais looked over her shoulder for fear of getting busted. While she did get a work visa in the fall of 2004, she was one of the luckier ones. Trump Model Management only goes through the process of securing work visas for models who pan out. Two women who didn’t get visas at all, known only as “Kate” and “Anna,” went to several assignments in 2004 and 2009, respectively.
Anna was well aware that she was “a sitting duck” while working for Trump. She added that her bosses told her and other models to lie to customs officials about why they were coming and where they intended to stay. Specifically, she was told that she was “just here for meetings.”
Kate scoffs that Trump is portraying himself as an anti-immigration zealot when “he’s bringing in all of these girls from all over the world and they’re working illegally.” She believes that Trump is engaging in the very practices he denounces on the stump, and shouldn’t get a pass “because these are beautiful girls.”
A fourth model, Alexia Palmer, sued Trump Model Management in 2014 for fraud and wage theft. She claimed that after coming from her native Jamaica, she worked for Trump Model Management for nine months before getting a work visa. The suit was dismissed for lack of evidence in March. However, when immigration lawyer Pankaj Malik reviewed Palmer’s case, he said that Palmer revealed a situation that is “so not allowed.” Other immigration lawyers interviewed by Mother Jones agree–any form of work for any period of time without a visa, even if unpaid, is illegal.
Incredibly, Trump Model Management’s flouting of visa regulations is just one of many outrages revealed by the four models. Among other things, they claimed to have been shoehorned into apartments with as many as 11 people, with only two small bedrooms. They also claimed to have been charged exorbitant rent. Blais, for instance, was charged $1,600 a month, while Kate was charged $1,200 a month. Palmer claimed that after being charged hefty fees and commission, she only earned $3,800 in three years. Somehow, you would think that having a relationship with a model for most of the last 18 years would make Trump more sympathetic to their plight. Apparently not.
Let there no longer be any doubt. Trump’s image as an immigration hardliner is just one more swindle in a campaign full of swindles. He’s really no different from any other shady employer who exploits undocumented workers.
