La Opinión (Editorial)
April 14, 2016
The fundraiser Donald Trump will hold today in Long Island is akin to lighting a fuse to a powder keg. The Republican presidential candidate will bring its anti-immigrant message to an area marked by attacks against Latinos.
The organizers made the dreadful decision of holding the meeting in Patchogue, very close to the place where in 2008 a group of white youths went out to attack “Mexicans,” and brutally killed Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero. This is a clear example of the local GOP’s lack of sensibility. Doing the fundraiser in such as place is, for a candidate like Trump, an act of provocation towards the growing immigrant community.
We worry that this meeting will bring about more hostility towards immigrants. Regrettably, there is a history of Trump sympathizers who seem to have been motivated by the millionaire’s rhetoric to attack Latinos.
Just a couple of examples. One happened at the Wichita State University, where a Latino was attacked among shouts in favor of Trump and “You will be thrown out of the wall.” The other was in Boston, where two brothers were accused of kicking and urinating on a Latino as they shouted slogans for Trump and against immigrants.
In the latter case, the candidate simply excused those supporters by saying they are “very passionate.” This lenient attitude towards his supporters’ violence has been promoted from the podium, be it by justifying or even encouraging violence in his rallies.
Trump’s populism struck a nerve with a segment of the white population that has seen its economic fortunes decline due to the impact of globalization in the unqualified workforce, and which worries about demographic changes. The millionaire, in the absence of concrete and practical ideas, offers an inflammatory speech that turns Mexicans and immigrants into scapegoats.
The slogan “Make America Great Again!” appeals to a nostalgia not based in reality. In Long Island, like in other areas of the country, some people dreams of a society without minorities or immigrants, and with a solid white middle class. Those individuals’ frustration with reality does not need to be stirred by Trump – even less in a place already filled with tensions.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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