A Michigan waterpark is under investigation for allegedly bussing illegal immigrants from Chicago to work at the facility, where a dispute about pay over the weekend uncovered bigger issues.
The manager of the waterpark hotel Splash Universe in Dundee called police around 6:50 p.m. on Saturday to report a female employee threw a phone and hit him in the head, but once officers arrived, none of a group of five employees spoke English, WTVG reports.
After calling in a Michigan State Police interpreter, a 30-year-old woman “told the interpreter that she was an undocumented immigrant who was brought to Splash Universe by the manager with the promise of receiving $90 per day for working at the hotel, along with room and board.
“She said they had worked nine days and had yet to receive payment,” a police report read.
Another 25-year-old woman used Google Translate to tell the officer she was pregnant and had not eaten in two days.
“She also told me that the argument had started specifically after they were told that they were only going to be paid $5 per hour, instead of the $90 a day they were originally promised,” the report read. “She also told me the manager threatened to call (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) if they did not do what he told them to do.”
Dundee Police interviewed the manager, who said he didn’t want to pursue charges against his assailant. The officer asked for documentation for the employees. While the manager insisted the employees were legal to work, he could not provide documentation, WTOL reports.
The manager told police he picked the employees up from a shelter in Chicago, promised to pay them $90 a day, and denied the claims about $5 an hour. A front desk clerk at Splash Universe told police the hotel owners brought the employees in on two chartered buses from Chicago.
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