Thread by @Fahrenthold

NEW: @realdonaldtrump’s Bedminster golf course employed so many undocumented immigrants that there’s an entire town in Costa Rica built on Trump paychecks.
We found it. “My whole town practically lived there,” one said of the Trump course.
washingtonpost.com/politics/my-wh…

Remember I told you about getting a no-comment via GIF?
It was this story. From a former Trump golf course manager, who'd been the boss of undocumented workers. This was the gif.

Hip young person that I am, I responded to his GIF with my *own* GIF, showing an squirrel or sloth of some kind making the "Call me" gesture.
Note to journalism students: It did not work.

.@realDonaldTrump's biz has indicated they didn't know they had illegal workers until late last yr.
But in 2011, a Bedminster cop working a hit-and-run found a Trump worker using a fake name & papers. He told the club's head of security. 7 yrs ago. washingtonpost.com/politics/my-wh…

These are the questions we sent the @WhiteHouse press office for this story. No response so far.

So far, we've learned:
--@realDonaldTrump's biz employed illegal workers at 5 golf clubs (at least).
--At some clubs, it didn't enroll in e-Verify, the easiest step to screen new hires.
--Those practices didn't change much when Trump entered politics, or when he became POTUS.

What we still don't know:
--How many other @realDonaldTrump properties had/have illegal workers?
--Was Trump himself aware?
--If Trump Org. goes all-legal for next summer's golf season, how much will it raise their labor costs and affect their biz model?