Listen to this note:
Immigrant workers face constant hate speech in the context of the upcoming elections in the United States. This speech has generated racial and ethnic tensions, spreading fear, pain and anger in communities, even among those responsible workers who are part of of the American economy.
The United States is made up of large migrant communities, between half and a third of all farm workers in the United States live in California alone, between 500,000 and 800,000 are farm workers who face hate speech, since former President Donald Trump to other candidates who call immigrants criminals, mentally ill and “garbage.”
In California, 75% of farmworkers are undocumented and 96% identify as Hispanic.
According to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in 2023 a total of 2,542,074 migrant encounters were recorded on the southwestern US border, since the majority of migrants who enter Mexico do so with the intention of arriving to the United States border.
For years there has been a double discourse in the history of migration, on the one hand they are invited to work in the country, but on the other hand hate speech is created against them, as mentioned by Manuel Ortiz Escámez, sociologist, audiovisual journalist and co-founder of Peninsula 360 Press, during an information session held by Ethnic Media Services.
The Irish are the first immigrant group that greatly influenced the United States in the 19th century. At that time there was a lot of propaganda inviting them to work, but at the same time they were not very accepted.
The Chinese should also be considered as part of the migrant history in the United States, the Chinese came to work in the gold mines and built the most important train tracks in the country, but later they wanted to be expelled.
Furthermore, he commented that the main reason why people support Donald Trump is based on two things, the first is his anti-immigrant rhetoric and second, the sexist or sexist rhetoric, Ortiz assures that starting an administration with Trump would begin a fascist period, in which it is okay to be racist.
?A second Trump administration could lead us to a fascist period, where the first to suffer are the migrants, but not only will they be affected, over time the enemies will be those in power and anyone who questions its power?
It is dangerous to have a person in power who generates hate speech among communities, but not only for migrants, but also for businessmen, media, public figures, academics and anyone who seems to contradict their speech and ideas.
Manuel Ortiz has traveled to meet the farm workers of California. During his last trip to Tulelake, he interviewed Juanita, a farm worker who has felt attacked and discriminated against by Donald Trump's racist comments. She says that she does honest work to have better opportunities in life. She is not in the United States to hurt or cause harm as Trump says.
Negative comments continue to spread and people no longer feel safe, ?People are very afraid to speak. I do interviews with people who then call and say, 'Please don't post anything, because I'm afraid of what might happen,'" Escámez said.
Gustavo Gasca Gómez, coordinator of the Stop the Hate project and Immigration specialist at the Foundation for Education and Leadership, shared his experiences, he was an agricultural worker for a time, he accepts that it is a very hard and difficult job that not everyone can endure. ?makes your mind feel numb in many ways.?
In their daily work within the organization, people come from many places and are looking for support, understanding and a safe space. The organization provides that safe space for those who have been victims of discrimination or acts of hate.
Gasca assures that the people of the organization express that they are afraid to speak or express themselves, most of the members being agricultural workers, communities that work to ensure that fruits and vegetables reach the table, people who drive the country's economy.
"We do not come here to cause harm and I know this because when my parents brought me 31 years ago, they had good intentions," he concluded.
Arcenio López, executive director of the Mixtec Indigenous Community organization in Ventura, California, commented that its members are Mixtec people but also indigenous people of various cultures, they seek to protect these communities and take care of their culture.
Indigenous communities have suffered discrimination for years, so they have always struggled to be accepted but also recognized and it seems that borders have been created with the purpose of dividing, controlling and taking away from the people their resources, beliefs, culture, vision and their dreams, this is what Arcenio López mentioned.
He also commented that it is important to know each one's own history and feel proud of it, because if it is not known then people believe that they should buy like Americans, speak like Americans and be like Americans, which is why it becomes so important to recognize and learn the own roots.
"Appreciating the culture of origin is the only thing that allows us to give ourselves the value they deserve, because indigenous peoples have been discriminated against for centuries because of their dialect, their traditions, their culture."
Adding to the political discourse, López mentioned that in schools indigenous youth are called "Oaxacaquitas" and suffer constant bullying from their peers that is fueled by other people or public figures such as Trump, the number of acts of hate due to racism has increased and we see it in the numbers.
As part of these migrant and also indigenous communities, what must be done is to break the negative narrative that has been generated, López concluded.
You may be interested in: Peasants? We feel attacked and discriminated against by Donald Trump?: farmer in Tule Lake
