With just a few weeks until we learn who will become the 45th president of the United States, we can easily make the case that taco trucks are the MVPs of this election season. Over the last few weeks, taco trucks across the country – particularly in Texas and Arizona – have doubled as voter registration centers. And now – on the day of third and final debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton – taco trucks lined up outside the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas to build a wall.
For more than a year and a half, Trump has made building a wall between Mexico and the United States the cornerstone of his campaign. So the Culinary Union planned to have least five taco trucks just a couple of miles away from UNLV, where the final debate will be held, and finally give Trump the wall he’s asked for on multiple occasions.
“We’re reminding Mr. Trump that immigrant workers here and across the country will be watching the debate and voting in November,” said Yvanna Cancela, the political director for the Culinary Union, to BuzzFeed. The group has protested Trump in the past for refusing to bargain with his own workers trying to unionize. The Culinary Union’s teaming up with American Bridge, Latino Victory Project, PLAN Action, iAmerica Action, Center for Community Change Action, VL Action Network and For Our Future.
In what might seem like a strange turn of events in any other election, taco trucks entered our collective consciousness after Latinos for Trump founder Marco Gutierrez’s disparaging comments about his own community. He claimed that Latino culture is so imposing that if it goes unchecked, we’ll soon have “taco trucks on every corner.” But people have used these words against him and showed how positive it could be if taco trucks actually existed on every corner.
The event was planned around building a wall – which includes messages like “Viva la Raza” – but people came out to protest Trump on all the different insulting things he’s said and done. Nevada Senator Ruben J. Kihuen wore a sash that said “Ms.Housekeeping” – words Trump used to describe Alicia Machado – and talked about coming from Mexico to chase the American Dream. It attracted all kinds of people – including some with bagpipes.
According to Eater, Trump’s campaign welcomes the taco trucks, but the US’ taco love runs strong – making this the perfect platform to stand up to Trump. “Everyone coming together is really about sending a message that we reject Trump and the politics of hate,” said iAmerica president Rocio Saenz.
Check out a few images of the wall of taco trucks and other protesters below:
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