With the elections in sight, Gregorio Luke, a Mexican cultural speaker, maintains a harsh reality: there is still a lack of support for immigrants in the face of the political hatred that has been created in the United States.
“I am surprised that there are Latinos who are thinking about voting for Trump. I can’t understand it because he already showed us what he can do,” Luke said. “When he says he plans to deport millions of people, I believe he is absolutely capable of doing so.”
The speaker adds that there are still no politicians who speak about the positive force of migrants in the United States, and it is extremely important to correct the lies that have been told about the community.
Last week, Luke gave a speech on the topic of immigrants in the United States called “In Defense of Immigrants,” which celebrated artist Olivia Barrionuevo’s Monarca project.
The event was coordinated by the Museum of Experimentally Structured Art (ESMoA) at El Camino College, where the exhibition “XICANA!” in mid-September, which displays the works of renowned Chicana artists.
“I remember how important it was to me to make sure this art installation was shared in the community,” said Dulce Stein, ESMoA education specialist, when she first saw the Monarca project 8 years ago.
The Monarca project, which began in 2015, is based on the folkloric metaphor of the butterfly that represents hope, resilience, courage and beauty where the goal is to advocate for transformation, as the central force in the migration of people and animals.
To date, Barrionuevo has taken the project to Mexico, Switzerland, Arizona and Los Angeles, where he takes portraits of people who then share their support for immigrants.
“I would like to think that we are ascending to a better world, a better humanity and towards a deeper understanding of our connection to the natural world; at the same time, greater respect for our environment, human rights and migration,” explained Barrionuevo.
During Luke’s speech, the speaker talked about the history of immigrants in the country and the impact it has had.
“The immigrant will be illegal, but he is essential and needed,” Luke said. “There is work for the immigrant and there is no one to do that work, it is the truth.”
Immigrants represent more than 19% of the United States workforce as of June 2024 (more than 32 million out of a total of 169 million); and they also participate in the labor force at a higher rate than native-born workers, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Candidate and former President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric has been popular because it reduces the number of people you compete with in the United States, Luke says.
“Each generation of immigrants shakes the country,” he adds. “That is the American dream, that is where the energy of the country is with constant competitiveness.”
Luke explains that immigrants must come out to defend their cause to combat the lies that Trump has repeated thousands of times.
Recently, the Republican presidential candidate declared that illegal immigrants ate cats and dogs, although the claims were later refuted in the city of Springfield, according to an AP report.
“Not only is it a lie, it is a slander, because it turns out that the Haitians from that Springfield community were legal and also came because their work was needed,” Luke emphasized.
Despite the hardships and hate immigrants face living in the United States, Luke says they really come to this country in search of a better future.
“There is nothing in a family’s life harder than migrating,” Luke quoted from former President John F. Kennedy’s book “A Nation of Immigrants.”
With all the anti-immigrant rhetoric that exists in the country, it is recognized that the migrant community is afraid to speak out and fight for their rights.
“The community [migrante] is rightly terrified, but those of us who can speak, those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to do so, must do so. There is no justification for cowardice, that is, one has to say things,” said the speaker.
However, Luke emphasizes that the problem is not the immigrant’s, it is a problem of the inactivity of Congress and the hypocrisy of politicians.
The last immigration reform in the country was the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 under Republican President Ronald Reagan.
“In the absence of legislation, in the absence of immigration reform, the problems get worse,” Luke said.