Las Americas IAC Stands in Solidarity with the Victims of the El Paso Walmart Attack

For Immediate Release: February 8, 2023

El Paso, Texas —- It has been almost three and a half years since a white supremacist gunman massacred 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. Yesterday, the shooter pleaded guilty to Federal hate crime charges resulting from this brutal killing, the deadliest attack on Latinos in modern US history.

Gloria Amesquita, a spokesperson and legal assistant with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, shared the following statement: 

“Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center has been working with the immigrant community impacted by this deadly incident for more than three years. As an El Pasoan myself, I know that although this guilty plea represents a step forward for the victims of this crime, there is much more that needs to be done to bring justice to this community and to the immigrants whose lives were forever altered. Those in power must reject the racist and violent rhetoric and worldview that led the shooter to kill 23 people in cold blood. They must stop the use of words like ‘invasion’ to describe arriving immigrants or ‘warzone’ to describe border communities like El Paso. 

“We call on the federal government to consider taking steps to help ensure that those harmed by this terrorist attack are allowed to seek safety in our country and have access to mental health resources.”