NEW YORK, April 1 (UPI) -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says golf fairways would suffer if illegal immigrants were returned to their native country. "You and I are beneficiaries of these jobs," Bloomberg told his WABC-AM radio co-host, John Gambling. "You and I both play golf; who takes care of the greens and the fairways in your golf course?"
However, Robert Heaney, general manager of Deepdale Golf Club -- a Long Island course where Bloomberg often plays -- told The New York Daily News that no illegal immigrants work at the club.
"Deepdale Golf Club has always been in 100 percent compliance with all immigration laws, and it is absolutely our policy to remain in compliance with all immigration laws," Heaney said.
The mayor also said 25 percent of undocumented immigrants are farm workers and many are home healthcare workers.
"Nobody wants to deport them, in the end, because people need them to take these jobs and do the things that nobody else is doing," Bloomberg said.