The message published on Friday (Aug. 16) was signed by over 150 leaders in entertainment and other industries.
America Ferrera, Eva Longoria, Mónica Ramírez, Wilder Valderrama and over 150 Latinx leaders in entertainment, business and activism sent a message of solidarity to their community on Friday (Aug. 16) following ICE raids, the El Paso shooting and reports of poor migrant detention conditions.
"If you are feeling terrified, heartbroken and defeated by the barrage of attacks on our community, you are not alone," the Latinx leaders wrote in an open letter to the familia Latina that was published in The New York Times, La Opinion, El Nuevo Herald and El Diario newspapers on Friday. "But, we will not be broken. We will not be silenced. We will continue to denounce any hateful and inhumane treatment of our community. We will demand dignity and justice."
The letter, which was published in English in the Times and Spanish in Spanish-language newspapers, referenced "hate crimes" — including the Aug. 3 El Paso shooting at a Walmart in Texas that targeted Latinx families and left 22 dead and 24 injured, which is being investigated as an act of terrorism — as a motivation for the message. It cited last week's ICE raids in Mississippi that brought an estimated 680 workers who were believed not to have documentation to work in the U.S. into custody, the Trump administration's child separation policy and Trump's political rhetoric about immigrants as well.