Sixty-seven prominent Latino artists, scientists and other public figures have banded together to write a seething declaration criticizing Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Among the signees of the letter — originally published in Spanish on Univision — are Alejandro González Iñárritu, director of the Best Picture winner Birdman, actor Diego Luna, and writer Junot Díaz.
"Mr. Trump has accused Mexican immigrants of being criminals, rapists and drug traffickers; and has promised to deport 11 million of them and build a big wall along the border with Mexico," the letter states, according to a translation published on Fusion. They also put his hateful words into historical context. "Trump’s hate speech appeals to xenophobia, sexism and political intolerance; it recalls historical campaigns against other ethnic groups that led to millions of deaths."
The writers assert that we are already seeing attacks on the Latino community and condemnations of speaking Spanish in public. Indeed, Trump supporters yelled out "white power" at a rally in August. They also point out that in many Western states, Mexican immigrants largely support the billion dollar industries of wine, agriculture, service, tourism, and manual labor; deportation would be catastrophic for the economies of those states. And they remind us of the simple fact that Trump's vicious words are, well, bullshit. "Mr. Trump’s verbal assaults are not based on tested facts, but only on his personal, baseless opinions."
The straightforward letter ends by calling on the American people to join them in denouncing Trump as a viable candidate. "Mr. Trump’s conduct is not worthy of a candidate to the Presidency of the United States, the most powerful country in the world. All of us condemn his behavior and hope that the American people will no longer tolerate his absurdities."
Trump is set to host Saturday Night Live this weekend. This is despite NBC's claim to have cut ties from the billionaire this summer, in the wake his recent racist statements. Yesterday, the National Hispanic Media Coalition published another public letter asking NBC's CEO and SNL producer Lorne Michaels to drop Trump from the show.