Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year or so, you should be familiar with the name Donald Trump. He is the presidential candidate who’s led a campaign that has caused more controversy than Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” video.
From the disabled to reporters, women and people of color, Trump has offended almost everyone. One group that has definitely taken more than a few blows is the Mexican people. As if he hadn’t berated them enough, he decided to have a surprise visit to their country this past Wednesday.
He started off carefully reading from a pre-written statement before speaking loosely, which was where the trouble started.
He began by referring to Mexico’s current president, Enrique Peño Nieto, as a friend, seeming to think that being kind would impress the citizens of Mexico.
Obviously Trump did not do his research, because anyone who has even the slightest knowledge of Mexican politics would know that the majority of citizens seriously dislike Nieto and his corrupt antics.
Not only that, but Trump’s visit was quite a surprise to Mexicans, as they already felt as if their own president sold them out. Can you blame them? It’s like having two Donalds in one room–truly a nightmare.
In almost all of his speeches, Trump never fails to mention that he plans on building “The Wall” and that he will also “make Mexico pay for it.” To be honest, it’s surprising that he hasn’t gotten a tattoo of the phrase yet.
So in true Trump fashion, he brought up that topic during the speech.
He said, “We did discuss the wall. We didn’t discuss payment of the wall. That’ll be for a later date.”
This was later followed by a tweet from President Nieto claiming, “At the start of the conversation with Donald Trump, I made it very clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall.”
Even after this whole drama-saturated fest, one question still stands, who is going to pay for “The Wall”?
While Trump didn’t speak much about immigration while in Mexico, he did have plenty to during his speech in Phoenix just before his trip. In this speech, he stated that on his first day in office he will deport nearly two million illegal immigrants. He also plans on strengthening the border by adding cameras both above and below ground, and adding 5,000 more border patrol agents. In other words, he is going to make the border resemble a prison.
Whether or not this is intentional, Trump is making Mexicans seem as though they are a people who are taking “American jobs” and bringing rapists and criminals.
Last year, the Washington Post reported that Trump used undocumented workers to construct his latest luxury hotel in Washington D.C.’s former Old Post Office Pavilion building. The Post’s Antonio Olivo wrote, “Interviews with about 15 laborers helping renovate the Old Post Office Pavilion revealed that many of them had crossed the U.S-Mexico border illegally.”
So, Donald Trump, we ask you, what is the nationality of the people who have built your towers? What is the nationality of the people who have cleaned your huge houses? What is the nationality of the immigrants who deserve to have a chance at a better life and not be separated from their families?
