On October 30th, 2020, President Trump announced that there would be a national day of remembrance for Americans killed by "illegal aliens." Before (what we hope to be) his last days as president, he decided it was of importance to proclaim a new national holiday that "happens" to also fall on a very well-known Hispanic holiday. This new day of remembrance was designated to fall on the first day of celebrations for Día de Los Muertos. A holiday to celebrate and remember our fallen loved ones, now to be tainted by a xenophobic holiday that vilifies our community.

Immigrants, both documented and undocumented, commit crimes at a much lower rate than citizens, yet the president insists on promoting his vile rhetoric and painting people in our community as a threat. He thrives off fear, which is precisely why he settled on using the words "illegal aliens" officially in the title of this proclamation. He literally seeks to alienate our community from the rest of the US, but no human is illegal. And we are certainly not extraterrestrial.

We ask that this date be removed completely, and not replaced for later. It is absolutely ridiculous and insulting to require a day to remember Americans killed by "illegal aliens" yet not a day to remember the hundreds of thousands dead under Trump's so-called leadership. We need a remembrance day for Covid deaths, police brutality deaths, hate crimes and mass shootings - none of which can be attributed to our immigrant friends. After having a long history of criticizing Hispanics and attacking our neighbors south of the border, it is not just an assumption - it is a fact that placing this new remembrance day on November 1st is an attack on our culture. Join us in showing this administration what we think about their new holiday. ¡Nuestra existencia es resistencia!