Well-known entertainment figures such as Los Tigres del Norte have joined with community leaders such as union leader Dolores Huerta to promote a campaign that seeks to vindicate the contributions of immigrants to the U.S. and counteract the xenophobic narrative sparked by the anti-immigrant policy of the Donald Trump Administration.
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is spearheading the initiative that has enlisted “trusted voices” from the entertainment and activist worlds to send messages on behalf of immigrants and Latinos as the year comes to a close.
Pedro Rios, director of AFSC’s U.S.-Mexico border program, told EFE that the national campaign is focused on “enhancing the dignity of immigrants, highlighting their contributions and counteracting harmful narratives.
“It’s a necessary message in these times, we can’t let false narratives about immigrants continue to grow,” he added.
To spread this message, they have relied on prominent entertainment figures such as Los Tigres del Norte, who recorded a video in which they emphasize that they themselves are immigrants and are part of the “soul” of the United States.
The five members of the iconic Grammy-winning group remember that immigrants help build the country with their work.
They stressed that nearly half of the U.S. foreign-born workforce is Latino, so that community, the hardest hit by Trump’s immigration crackdown, deserves “dignity, respect and justice.”
Los Tigres del Norte’s speech for immigrants
In that sense, Rios warns that these messages also want to encourage documented immigrants and those born in the United States to stand in solidarity with those victims of immigration raids.
In this regard, Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union, warned that indigenous peoples are also being victimized by these operations.
“People are being harassed because of the color of their skin; it is ethnic cleansing,” the activist added in a statement.
The campaign, which will run through the end of the year, has also been joined by actors Tonatiuh, Melissa Barrera and Mishel Prada; singers Chiquis, Marisela and Wil-Dog Abers of Ozomatli, as well as radio and television personalities Don Cheto and Said García Solís.
“As a proud Mexican actress who has worked and lived in the United States for many years, I have witnessed firsthand the strength, resilience and beauty that immigrants bring to this country,” Barrera said in a statement.
“This campaign serves as a reminder of the power we immigrants have. We are not outsiders; we are an integral part of the essence of the United States of America,” added the actress known for her role in ‘Scream,’ the fifth film in the eponymous franchise.
Rios does not rule out that more Latino figures will join the campaign and that it will be extended to 2026.
“We need to join forces and defend our legacy in this country,” the activist said, reported Agencia EFE.
Find out more at ‘QueOnnda.com’.
