Georgia Democrats, Latino Leaders Call Out Trump’s Broken Promises For Georgia’s Latino Communities

This morning, Georgia Democrats hosted a virtual press conference to call out Trump’s dangerous record for Latinx Georgians, and his failed response to the coronavirus pandemic that has now resulted in nearly 200,000 Georgia coronavirus cases, and 3,921 coronavirus deaths.

“Since his first day on the campaign trail back in 2016, Donald Trump has attacked Latino Americans and our immigrant communities,” said Jason Esteves, DPG Treasurer and Chair of the Atlanta Board of Education. Now, in our country’s greatest time of need, he has broken every promise and made this crisis worse for Georgians — and instead of doing the work to contain this virus, he’s trying to distract us with his tweets. Georgians know the truth: Donald Trump is the worst President this country has ever seen. It’s time for this president to stop attacking Latinos, stop enabling and worsening this pandemic, and do his job.

“In Georgia we are seeing the real life implications of a failed system. Poultry workers in northeast Georgia and farm workers in south Georgia are facing surges of this virus, without testing or protections to keep them safe as they feed our country,” said DPG Latinx Caucus Chair María del Rosario Palacios. “This administration’s failure to address this virus has exacerbated problems in our food system and our education system, making this crisis even harder for essential workers and for families. We need a leader like Joe Biden who can address these issues head on and uplift the voices of the Latinx community.

“Latino Georgians are seeing the worst results of Trump’s failures as COVID-19 cases surge across our state, and disproportionately hurt our community — but this president doesn’t seem to care,” said Georgia Representative Pedro Marin. “Four months in, we are still short on PPE and testing, we are still facing a massive unemployment crisis, and Trump has given up on fighting back. This administration has failed the Latino community at every turn — and now more than ever, we need Joe Biden’s compassionate, smart leadership to get us out of this crisis.”

“It is very clear that immigrant families will continue to be in danger as long as Trump is in the White House,” said artist and activist Yehimi Cambrón.  “Trump has unequivocally contributed to racism against immigrants and Latinos around the country and in our own backyard. Trump’s rhetoric is normalizing hate, and has created an environment where people think it’s okay to kill us – it is unacceptable and it is not leadership. We must fight relentlessly and unapologetically for immigration relief and an inclusive path to citizenship for all people in this country.”

“Mijente has been organizing Latino communities in Georgia for years, and that investment in political infrastructure is seeing Latinos turn out in record numbers,” said Tania Unzueta, Political Director of Mijente. “Trump and his Republicans are running scared and trying to coming up with creative ways to stop Black and Brown Georgians from making their voices heard. But our people are mighty. Change is not only possible, it is within reach. Latinos will play a part of building a new Georgia and a new country that works for all of us, starting with getting Trump out of office in November.”

The full press conference is available to view here.

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