Puerto Rican pop star Ricky Martin called for Latinos to unite and fight against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his “xenophobic speech” in an op-ed published last week.
Trump had said that he wants to build a wall along the United States’ southern border (and have Mexico pay for it), deport the millions of undocumented immigrants living in the country, and end the right that grants citizenship to those born in the U.S.
Trump had also vowed to continue using the term “anchor baby,” a derogatory phrase referring to children who were born to noncitizen parents.
Trump also ejected popular Univision news anchor Jorge Ramos from a news conference.
Martin, a Grammy award winner, wrote that Trump “verbally assaulted and removed Jorge from the event without any apparent reason.”
Ramos was removed after asking Trump about his deportation plan. Martin’s op-ed was published Wednesday on fusion.net and in Spanish on UnivisionNoticias.com.
Martin wrote:
If we have been united for some things, we must be united for all. We have already proven to the United States who we are as Latinos, and that we will not allow that type of behavior. We have to stop the power that Trump feels he has over Latinos, and the xenophobic speech that he and his campaign team seem to be convinced will be successful.
Let’s prove that Latinos must be respected. Let’s not tolerate any politician using insults in the campaign. Let’s respect those first-generation Latinos that arrived in the U.S. and opened a path for all of us. Each right that we have today, we have fought for.
Xenophobia is the lowest form of political strategy. It is something we all need to fight together, not only for us, but also for the evolution of all humanity and those who will come after us.
