Illegal migrants who work for the super-rich are living in squalid hovels in The Hamptons

Illegal migrants who work on the estates of millionaires in the Hamptons have been living in horrific conditions in the woods because they cannot afford housing.

The men, who were from Guatemala, told how they were forced to live in tents, on mattresses or under canopies due to rental prices in the exclusive seaside resort.

Some mowed the lawns for the super-rich while others said they painted or cleaned to try to make enough money to send back to their families.

But others said they could not find any work and would get two days a week if they were lucky so just sat around the squalid hovels they called home.

They admitted most of those who lived there had drinking problems and an addiction to cigarettes but denied any of them were hooked on drugs.

Meanwhile the loaded Hamptons residents – where Jerry Seinfeld, Billy Joel and Jay-Z and Beyoncé have plush mansions – drove past in flashy sports cars on their way to the beach.

One even claimed locals were ‘generous’ because they provided the homeless workers with new boots or a jacket for their troubles.

The camps are littered across the exclusive area, with the largest one hidden behind an abandoned gas station and filled with around 25 people.

Horrific pictures showed a man in black clothes face-down on the ground next to a dirty mattress while others were lay on blankets under the trees or makeshift canopies.

The immigrants had few personal possessions in the camp, with lamps and thread-bare clothes piled up next to their beds.

But the area was littered with rubbish which included left over food, food boxes and spanners as well as piles and piles of empty beer cans. Many spoke no English while others could string a few sentences together.

Juan Antonio Morales, 40, told the New York Post: ‘I work for very rich people in the Hamptons but I can’t afford somewhere to live. I am paid very little and an apartment costs too much money.’

The Guatemala, who lives in the woods next to the Montauk Highway in Westhampton Beach, said he usually mills around outside a nearby 7-Eleven store to find work off the books.

But Morales, who has been in the US for 15 years, said he sometimes gets a role in a mansion but did not know who the owners were.

He said he would try to work at least two days a week make about $200 a day. But he said he was trapped because he could find more work back home but cannot afford to get there.

Nely Lopez, 38, a landscaper from Guatemala, said he sometimes gets to stay on a sofa in an apartment, but added: ‘I sleep on cardboard here in the woods at least three nights a week.’

Meanwhile Jose, who asked not to reveal his surname, told how he wakes up at 5am to hunt for jobs but usually finds little or no work to do.

He told DailyMail.com: ‘Today I helped clean the 7-Eleven for three hours, which is not enough. Now I have nothing to do. Some weeks it’s only two days a week of work.’

The married father of two, whose family are in Guatemala, claimed the problem was not new and had been ongoing since around 2005.

He said he was one of the lucky ones who does not have to sleep in the woods and instead rents a basement for $700-a-month. He added: ‘I sleep beneath a family, and the dehumidifier is always on and so loud.’

Miguel, also from Guatemala, arrived in the US 10 years ago and said he was friends with many of those who camp in the hovel in the woods.

He said: ‘It’s good for them sometimes because its free and leaves them with more money.’ Miguel works five days a week as a landscaper and calls himself ‘lucky’ to do so.

He lives in Riverhead in an cramped apartment with six others and is driven to Southampton and Hampton Bays to provide lawn care for ‘very big houses’.

He said he is paid around $150 for a days work but it can be more or less depending on which contractor he works with.

There are up to four main camps in Westhampton Beach and workers often sleep at a different site each night to avoid detection.

Locals appeared unfazed by the sites, with one saying they pretend they do not exist. Gina Webster from Westhampton, said: ‘People like to pretend homelessness doesn’t exist in the Hamptons bubble. It’s the Hamptons and we like to pretend real-life problems don’t exist here.’

Meanwhile Dan O’Shea, who runs the Maureen’s Haven Homeless Outreach program in Riverhead, said the community was ‘generous’ and would supply new clothing or shoes for them.

But the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County branded the situation an ‘absolute tragedy’ and lamented the fact the immigrants cannot afford a roof over their heads.

Bryan Browns, chief legal operations officer, said: ‘It’s an absolute tragedy that we have hardworking people working tirelessly to improve the lives of all who live here but can’t afford a safe place to lay their heads.

‘At the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County, we have resources including food, tents and clothing to help any person that is homeless in Suffolk County thanks to the generous donations of ordinary citizens in the US.’

Since the pandemic subsided, longtime Hamptonites have been complaining at the soaring cost of vacationing at the hotspot.

Locals claim the recent wave of rich residents is ‘ruining the Hamptons,’ citing an increase in the cost of housing, dining and transportation.

Some residents said the impacts of Covid may have contributed to the rising prices. Others blame former president Donald Trump’s tax cuts for ‘making the wealthy even wealthier over the past four years’.

One woman, who bought her Amagansett home in 1991, told Vanity Fair last summer: ‘There’s so much money now it’s nauseating. I’m a one-percenter. But I bear no resemblance to these people.

‘Everyone with money is here. If I weren’t here already, I wouldn’t come now. The conspicuous consumption is just gross.’

The woman shared how each day she would walk by a home allegedly belonging to a hedge fund manager to find a crew planting fully grown trees at a cost of $50-100,000 per day.

Another Hamptonite, Heidi Wald, said it was not uncommon to find large bills strewn across the beaches.

‘I looked down, as I’m always looking for sea glass and there was a perfect crisp $50 bill on the shore. I thought, ‘Only in the Hamptons,” Wald told the magazine.

The price hikes were also evidenced in leisurely activities. One 25-year-old vacationer said she and about 30 others each contributed $3,000 to rent a home in Montauk for a month.

But she noted the that price they paid for accommodation was nothing compared to what they were spending to go out.

‘Tables are absurd,’ she said. ‘I’ve had friends who have ended the night with $7,000 bar bills.’ She also cited Uber rides costing $60 to go one mile and spending $88 on a lobster.

Meanwhile businesses in the area have faced mass labor shortages due to soaring rental prices, the then ban on temporary work visas and because many hospitality workers are not keen to rush back to their old lifestyles.