This 2016 article resonates again (in 2025) as we witness Trump’s brutal immigration tactics, along with his delays, denials, and deflections on Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell, with whom he shared a predatory zeal for vulnerable Girls. Girls who were dependent on them for food, shelter, visa renewals, and more.
Posted by biospheric
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Bits from the [article](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/donald-trump-model-management-illegal-immigration/):
>Trump Model Management, has profited from using foreign models who came to the United States on tourist visas that did not permit them to work here, according to three former Trump models, all noncitizens, who shared their stories with *Mother Jones*. [Financial](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3035912-Alexia-Palmer-Financial-Ledger-2011-2014.html) and [immigration records](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3035931-Alexia-Palmer-LCA-H1B-Petition.html) included in a recent lawsuit filed by a fourth former Trump model show that she, too, worked for Trump’s agency in the United States without a proper visa.
>Donald Trump earned nearly $2 million from the company, in which he holds an 85 percent stake. Meanwhile, some former Trump models say they barely made any money working for the agency because of the high fees for rent and other expenses that were charged by the company.
>“I was there illegally,” she said. “A sitting duck.”
>Two of the former Trump models said Trump’s agency encouraged them to deceive customs officials about why they were visiting the United States and told them to lie on customs forms about where they intended to live. Anna said she received a specific instruction from a Trump agency representative: “If they ask you any questions, you’re just here for meetings.”
>She became a vocal advocate for models and appeared in a 2011 documentary, [*Girl Model*](http://girlmodelthemovie.com/), that explored the darker side of the industry. In a recent interview, she said her experience with Trump’s firm stood out: “Honestly, they are the most crooked agency I’ve ever worked for, and I’ve worked for quite a few.”
>“It is like modern-day slavery” Blais said of working for Trump Model Management—and she is not alone in describing her time with Trump’s company in those terms. Former Trump model Alexia Palmer, who filed a lawsuit against Trump Model Management for fraud and wage theft in 2014, has said she “felt like a slave.”
>When Blais lived in the apartment, she recalled, a Trump agency representative who served as a chaperone had a bedroom to herself on the ground floor of the building. A narrow flight of stairs led down to the basement, where the models lived in two small bedrooms that were crammed with bunk beds—two in one room, three in the other. An additional mattress was located in a common area near the stairs. At times, the apartment could be occupied by 11 or more people.
>“We’re herded into these small spaces,” Kate said. “The apartment was like a sweatshop.”
>Trump Model Management recruited models [as young as 14](http://www.trumpmodels.com/contact/). “I was by far the oldest in the house at the ripe old age of 18,” Anna said. “The bathroom always smelled like burned hair. I will never forget the place!” She added, “I taught myself how to write, ‘Please clean up after yourself’ in Russian.”
Edit: added 3 paragraphs from the article.