Tension continues to build among a largely Latino workforce on the construction site at the Old Post Office Pavilion in downtown Washington, DC, as project owner Donald Trump defends his characterizing illegal immigrants crossing the southern U.S. border as drug dealers and rapists.
The Washington Post reports several workers say “a Trump company” may be relying on some undocumented workers to finish the $200 million Trump International Hotel, Washington, DC, which will sit five blocks from the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue.
In light of Trump’s comments, some of the workers at the site said they are now worried about their jobs — while others simply expressed disgust over the opinions of the man ultimately responsible for the creation of those jobs.
“The majority of us are Hispanics, many who came illegally,” said mason Ivan Arellano, 29, in Spanish. Arellano is from Mexico and obtained legal status through marriage. “And we’re all here working very hard to build a better life for our families.”
Post interviews with about 15 laborers helping renovate the Old Post Office Pavilion revealed that many of them had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally before they eventually settled in the Washington region to build new lives.
