“This is not what I plan on doing with my life, but I work really hard. And I definitely don’t take it for granted,” said Ricardo Aca, an undocumented immigrant who works as a busser at Trump SoHo’s only restaurant, in a video for New Left Media. This is a message that resonates with immigrants, and even children of immigrants. Aca has worked at the Koi SoHo restaurant for two years, which leases the restaurant facilities inside the Trump SoHo hotel. He came to the United States with his family when he was 14, and they have lived in Bushwick for about 10 years. New York is his home.
In the video, Aca can be seen riding the L train into Manhattan, as he describes how much his family has worked for what they have. He and his stepfather each work two jobs, and his mother worked hard for him and his sister to attend school. He has an associate degree in commercial photography, and he uses it to tell his story. “I can’t vote, but I can take photos and share the stories of people like me,” he said.
In addition to criticizing Trump, he said that other Republican candidates also have negative views on immigration. By putting himself in the spotlight, he is able to continue disproving the idea that Mexicans are lazy. “I know I can lose my job just for talking about Trump, but it doesn’t make me proud to go to work every day under his name,” he said. “I don’t think the rest of America feels the same way he does. I hope that they don’t.”
Watch the entire video above, and see if you can keep yourself from ??.
Correction, August 25, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.: This post previously referred to Donald Trump as Ricardo Aca’s employer. The restaurant where Aca works (Koi SoHo) leases space from the Trump hotel where it is housed, and is not directly owned by the Trump Organization. The headline and post have been corrected to reflect this information.