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Xenophobia in New York: more Latinos victims of this situation

The comments of lawyer Aaron Schlossberg, in the heart of Manhattan, set the alarm about xenophobia

Xenophobia in New York: more Latinos victims of this situation
 
"Your staff is speaking Spanish to clients when they should speak English. This is United States! I will follow up; I guess they are not documented. So my next call is to the immigration police to expel each of them from my country." Those were the comments that New York attorney Aaron Schlossberg launched against Hispanic workers at a restaurant in Manhattan, in New York City, in a new incident of xenophobia in the United States. This situation quickly went viral on the Internet and brought with it the first consequences for the lawyer.

Everything happened last Wednesday, May 16, at the Fresh Kitchen restaurant, where the workers spoke Spanish with some clients. Immediately, furious Schlossberg orders to call the manager of the restaurant and the situation is recorded while the administrator asked the lawyer to leave the place.

However, the situation took a turn and the affected is now the lawyer. On Friday, May 18, in a statement sent to different media, the owner of the building in which the lawyer has his office terminated the lease after the incident, finding the words of Schlossberg "offensive and contrary to the rules of our community".

The city's Human Rights Commission, which investigates discrimination and harassment, announced in a statement that it was aware of the situation. In fact, on the same Friday that the Scholssberg lawyer's contract was terminated, the commission visited the mentioned restaurant and directed the workers about the legal actions they can take against the lawyer. The Commissioner of Immigration Affairs in New York, Bitta Mostofi, said in an interview that incidents like this, "are horrifying, are not common, and do not belong to our city."

Reactions against Scholssberg

Democratic congressman Adriano Espaillat, originally from the Dominican Republic, and the president of the Bronx district, Rubén Díaz Jr., originally from Puerto Rico, filed a complaint against Scholssberg before the judicial system of New York to be a committee disciplinarian who can revoke his license to practice as a lawyer in the city. "What we see in Schlossberg's vile video is humiliating, and an insulting attack on the more than 50 years of progress that this nation has made since the civil rights movements," says the document, which is already under analysis by the committee.

"You cannot get involved in xenophobia, IGNORE INTOlerance, hate, and get away with it. Such behavior should never be tolerated". Espaillat tweeted, adding that cases of xenophobia towards Latinos have been on the rise.

Trump and xenophobia

The same Wednesday of the Scholssberg’s incident, US President Donald Trump compared Latino immigrants with animals, and said they are being expelled from the country "at a rate never before seen," according to his twitter account.

For Mostofi, Commissioner of Immigration Affairs, during the tenure of Donald Trump, xenophobia has increased in New York, as have allegations of religious discrimination and sexual orientation. For the mayor's office, xenophobia is an alarming situation because people of all nationalities live in the city, there are more than 200 languages ​​or dialects spoken, and it is a symbol of multiple cultures in one place.

In 2017, 954 right-wing groups in the United States were identified, an increase of 4% over 2016, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. In New York, there is no an exact figure, but according to official data from the mayor's office, it is believed that cases of xenophobia have increased by 8%.

 

Latin American Post | Carlos Eduardo Gómez Avella
Translated from "Xenofobia en Nueva York: más latinos víctimas de esta situación"

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