A whole host of Latino celebrities released an open letter this week, asking Americans not to vote for any of the current 2016 Republican candidates. While many of the celebrities who signed on to the letter have been speaking out against the Republican candidates’ various stances on immigration and other relevant social issues for a while, this letter takes the debate to a whole new level.

The celebrities who signed the letter, which was released on Thursday by the liberal advocacy organization People for the American Way, are: Yancey Arias, Esteban Benito, Benjamin Bratt, Peter Bratt, Raúl Castillo, Ivonne Coll, Wilson Cruz, Giselle Fernandez, America Ferrera, Mike Gomez, Lisa Guerrero, Dolores Huerta, Eva LaRue, George Lopez, Rick Najera, José-Luis Orozco, Aubrey Plaza, Steven Michael Quezada, Judy Reyes, Zoe Saldana, Miguel Sandoval, Carlos Santana, and Lauren Vélez.

The celebrities who wrote the letter particularly attack Donald Trump, and understandably so, given his consistent use of xenophobic rhetoric throughout the primaries. The letter states:

Of course, this downward spiral began with Trump. From accusing Mexicans of being rapists to kicking Jorge Ramos out of his press conference, Trump has spent the entirety of his presidential  bid stoking unfounded anti-immigrant fears and deeply offending our communities.

However, the letter also has issues with the other candidates as well, “including supposed “moderates” like Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.” It reads:

We must not, though, let Trump’s xenophobia overshadow the extreme policies being pushed by every single one of the GOP’s leading presidential candidates. Latinos should understand that Donald Trump embodies the true face of the entire Republican Party. Sadly, he speaks for the GOP’s anti-immigrant, anti-Latino agenda.

[…]

The candidates cannot come back from these hardline stances. Trump is certainly an outlier for his racist remarks. But the rest of the Republican presidential candidates went off the deep end with him.

Given how large a part the debates over immigration, citizenship, and amnesty have played in the 2016 primaries, it’s not surprising that prominent Latino voices are coming forward. But the letter goes further than just decrying the 2016 potentials’ rhetoric, it also encourages Latino voters to work together defeat the possible Republican nominees–which could be a major issue for the GOP come the general election. If you want to read the entire letter, check it out here.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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The latest celebrity to jump into the political fray is probably one you wouldn’t expect–Ricky Martin. The Hispanic crooner wrote a pretty scathing op-ed about Donald Trump’s views on immigrants, published this week in Univision. But despite his unexpected entry into the conversation, Martin is just the latest celebrity to weigh in on what already has been an exhausting presidential primary season.

According to the op-ed, Martin was seemingly inspired to write the piece after the showdown between Donald Trump and highly respected Univision reporter Jorge Ramos. Ramos asked Trump about his new hot campaign position–ending birthright citizenship. After Ramos asked a question apparently out of turn, Trump got hostile and told Ramos to “go back to Univision.” A video of the altercation is below:

Martin took issue with the way Trump treated Ramos, saying:

Jorge Ramos was doing his job as a journalist in a press conference, which he attended representing one of the world’s most important television networks for Hispanics and exercising his right of freedom of the press. Yet, Trump verbally assaulted and removed Jorge from the event without any apparent reason.

Then, Martin continued his piece by arguing that the Hispanic people need to stand together and fight back against individuals like Donald Trump who consistently degrade the Hispanic community. Martin stated:

We have to stop the power that Trump feels he has over Latinos, and the xenophobic speech that he and his campaign team seem to be convinced will be successful.

Martin certainly isn’t the first Hispanic celebrity to speak out against Trump’s attitude in recent weeks, and he almost certainly won’t be the last.

Eva Longoria, of “Desperate Housewives” fame and an ardent supporter of Obama in the last two election cycles, commented on Trump’s arguably most inflammatory comments to date–when he called Mexican immigrants rapists–pointing out the power of words:

What I think he doesn’t understand and what people don’t understand is words create emotional poison. Hitler moved a nation with words, just words. So you have to expect this backlash. If you say something like that, as he has said, you must expect a backlash.

America Ferrera, an actress who is also well known for her activism, published an open letter in the Huffington Post also condemning Trump’s comments about Mexican immigrants being rapists, entitled “Thank You, Donald Trump.” Her reasoning for “thanking” Trump was because he would help get out the vote. She wrote:

You see, what you just did with your straight talk was send more Latino voters to the polls than several registration rallies combined! Thank you for that. Here we are pounding the pavement to get American Latinos to the polls, while your tactic proves most effective. Remarks like yours will serve brilliantly to energize Latino voters and increase turnout on election day against you and any other candidate who runs on a platform of hateful rhetoric.

Singer Shakira also tweeted her contempt about Trump’s statements:

No one living in this century should stand behind so much ignorance. 2/2 http://t.co/jsx0KHdmzO

— Shakira (@shakira) June 30, 2015

Trump is leading in the Republican polls right now, but that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t made some powerful enemies in the process. While Ricky Martin, Eva Longoria, America Ferrera, and Shakira aren’t necessarily political powerhouses, the fact that they’ve spoken out so quickly about Trump shows that they aren’t going to sit through an election cycle in which the Hispanic community is consistently degraded and maligned.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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