Forty-nine Latino leaders signed an open letter launched Friday honoring the reminiscence of the Latino immigrant staff who died within the Baltimore bridge cave in ultimate week, whilst additionally condemning the unfold of “a false narrative” undermining the contributions of the country’s Hispanic other people.
The letter coincides with President Joe Biden’s discuss with to the web page of the fatal Francis Scott Key Bridge cave in, the place he met with some of the sufferers’ households.
“We lift this painful moment as a reminder that the Latino community is often behind the building and maintenance of our nation’s infrastructure and should be celebrated for their contributions and sacrifice,” Hispanic leaders heading civic, cultural, criminal, hard work, company, scientific, instructional and political organizations national mentioned of their letter.
“While some extremists may want to use the Latino community as a political wedge that depicts all Latinos as a burden and criminal element, the tragedy reminds us all of the reality of our community’s role and daily sacrifice to keep our nation strong,” they added.
The letter marks a distinction to contemporary anti-immigrant rhetoric following the slaying of a nursing pupil in Georgia, the place the suspect was once published to be an undocumented immigrant, and a young person migrant who was once accused of capturing a vacationer in Times Square.
Some Republican and conservative voices have pointed to those incidents to push for hard-line immigration insurance policies, whilst some Democrats have labeled such makes an attempt as “cheap” political ways.
This week former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, referred to migrants as “animals” and “not human” as he referred to the crimes.
According to the National Institute of Justice at the U.S. Department of Justice, “recent research suggests that those who immigrate (legally or illegally) are not more likely, and may even be less likely to commit crime in the U.S.”
At the web page of the fatal bridge cave in in Baltimore, Biden said, “eight construction workers went into the water when the bridge fell. Six lost their lives. Most were immigrants, but all were Marylanders — hard-working, strong, and selfless.”
“The damage is devastating, and our hearts are still breaking,” Biden added.
Hispanic staff, the letter states, have again and again labored to construct the country’s infrastructure.
“There were countless Latino and Latina workers who worked to rebuild the damaged areas of the Pentagon and the World Trade Center after 9/11,” the letter states. “After Hurricane Katrina it was widely reported how many Latino workers showed up to rebuild the city of New Orleans and surrounding area.”
About a third of the nation’s construction workers are Hispanic, which means they’re disproportionately uncovered to the life-threatening risks that include running in an business regarded as to be of “high hazard” by way of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on the U.S. Department of Labor.
The letter will also be published on Sunday in the Baltimore Sun.
Some of the leaders who signed the letter include: Estuardo Rodriguez of the Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino, Marco Davis of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), Antonio Tijerino of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, Monica Ramirez of the Justice for Migrant Women and The Latinx House, a nonprofit affiliated with the Justice for Migrant Women.
Others include leaders working at organizations ranging from business and media groups to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, the American Latino Veterans Association and the National Hispanic Medical Association.
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Sandra Lilley contributed.