By EFE
The National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) launched a video campaign on Thursday to debunk hoaxes about undocumented immigrants used by Donald Trump and for his political campaign in the 2024 elections.
With a series of videos under the title “No more lies”, NDLON leaders and members have decided to counter the false information about immigrants that, according to activists, has increased in recent months by the Republican campaign of former President Donald Trump and is replicated by some media outlets.
“We have to take up our defense, we cannot let them continue to spread this misinformation because lies travel like lightning, while the truth can be very slow,” warned Pablo Alvarado, co-director of NDLON.
The organization plans to release more than a dozen short videos with data and facts to debunk common misconceptions and falsehoods about immigrants.
“We have all heard the lies that immigrants are dangerous people, that they bring crime and disease, that they steal jobs and social services benefits… but this is not true,” Alvarado explained.
For the activist, All these false stories put the immigrant community at risk and fuel discrimination and racism against undocumented immigrants.
Joao Morales, a day laborer registered with the Pasadena Workers Center in California who is participating in the campaign, said at a press conference that it “hurts” him to hear people say that immigrants “are coming to destroy the United States.”
“The hands of immigrants have built the houses, the roads, the great infrastructure of this country. We have responded in times of disaster not only now, but for decades. That is why it is unfair to stigmatize us in this way,” added the construction worker.
For Miguel Tinker Salas, political analyst and professor of Latin American Studies at Pomona University, It is urgent that the Latino community learn to verify the facts and comments made during political campaigns.
“It’s the sad reality: a lie can be repeated to such an extent that it becomes more credible,” said the professor.
He gave the example of a rally by former President Trump last May in the Bronx in New York, where he argued that “Millions” of immigrants are emptying their countries’ prisons, entering the United States illegally and committing “immigrant crimes.”
The former Republican president even suggested that immigrants “are creating an army from within” because “they tend to be physically fit, between 19-25 years old, almost all of them are men, and they are of fighting age.”
This is not the first time that the former president has attacked immigrants using false data. Salas recalled Trump’s 2016 campaign, in which immigrants were arbitrarily criminalized. “We are now in the same situation,” he insisted.
The professor stressed that study after study has shown that immigrants are less likely to commit a crime than people born in the United States.
Immigrants are not invaders
The first video released in the series focuses primarily on comments made by Trump about immigrants being “invaders.”
In this regard, Alvarado stressed that it is not only the former president who is spreading this information. “Trump may be the most notorious anti-immigrant liar, but he is not alone.”
NDLON members are particularly concerned about the impact of these messages on Hispanic voters and other voters of color ahead of the November elections.
Alvarado stressed that it is necessary to debunk hoaxes that say that undocumented immigrants are preparing to vote because, in addition to stigmatizing this community, This rhetoric is used to create laws and make it difficult for poor people and minorities to vote.
The series includes titles such as ‘Illegal Voting’, ‘Criminal Immigrants’, ‘Stealing Jobs’, ‘Venezuelans Against Everyone’, ‘Immigrants Are Thieves’, and ‘Immigrants Are Low-Skilled Workers’, among other videos available on Radio Jornalera.
NDLON co-director acknowledges that They face a great challenge to counteract all the misinformation that is shared on social media, but said they hope to count on the support of the community. “Please watch and share these videos,” she asked.
By Ana Milena Varón
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