It appears that in addition to Donald Trump's own wife, Melania, working illegally as a model in the US, Donald Trump's own agency models may also have worked illegally. And he knew. Coming just a day before Trumps highly touted "immigration speech," where he is expected to explain his both softening and hardening positions, he appears to be facing a new potential scandal.
Mother Jones reports that Trump's own agency, Trump Model Management, has a pattern of using models who came to the US on tourist visas that did not allow them to work and earn money. If this sounds like deja vu, it is because this is the exact same allegations being levied against Melania Trump.. Whoops.
Three former models shared their stories with Mother Jones and the stories all sound eerily the same. The models came in to the US on a tourist visa, which means they come to the US purely to visit, not work. And by not working, they are not paying taxes. Dodging taxes sounds familiar too.
The first model, Rachel Blais, worked for 3 years for Trump's agency. During this time, she worked for Trump as a runway model and even appeared on Trump's hit show, The Apprentice. Blais, now a successful model with a legitimate work visa, said that Trump's Agency was "the most crooked agency I've ever worked for, and I've worked for quite a few."
Two other models who wished to remain anonymous, "Anna" and "Kate," also confirmed that they worked while on tourist visas.
If you are wondering if these models knew they violating the law, the answer would be yes. They knew. And they were terrified. Anna said "I was pretty on edge most of the time I was there. I was there illegally. A sitting duck." Even worse - Trump Agency representatives allegedly told the models how to dodge questions from customs agents and instructed them to say they were "here for meetings."
Mother Jones reached out to Trump's latest spokesbimbo who said "That has nothing to do with me or the campaign." I wonder how the voters will feel, though. Yet another instance of Trump skirting immigration laws while touting his "tough on immigration" position.
