Award-winning actress American Ferrera penned an open letter to Donald Trump on Thursday, thanking him for his speech last month where he made offensive comments about Mexican immigrants.
Ferrera said Trump's hateful stereotypes will mobilize Latino voters to the polls in the upcoming 2016 presidential election, Entertainment Weekly reported.
"You see, what you just did with your straight talk was send more Latino voters to the polls than several registration rallies combined! Thank you for that. Here we are pounding the pavement to get American Latinos to the polls, while your tactic proves most effective," the "Ugly Betty" actress wrote. "Remarks like yours will serve brilliantly to energize Latino voters and increase turnout on election day against you and any other candidate who runs on a platform of hateful rhetoric."
Ferrera is of Honduran descent but was born and raised in Los Angeles. She was recognized in Congress for elevating the way Latinos are portrayed in pop culture, is a role model for young Latinas and works to empower the Latino community in the U.S.
The actress explained in her letter, published in full at the Huffington Post Latino Voices blog, that the Latino community is the "largest, youngest and fastest-growing constituency" in the country. She cited statistics on the community that she represents and said that it's the one that holds the most weight in presidential elections.
"I hope by now you understand that without the Latino vote, there is no chance of you ever winning this election," Ferrera wrote.
"You, Mr. Trump, are living in an outdated fantasy of a bigoted America. Last week, America celebrated some amazing milestones -- marriage equality, universal healthcare, removing of the confederate flag -- making it clear in which direction the country is moving," she continued in her letter. "That is why racist remarks that play to extremists won't change the tide, no matter how hard you try. They will only serve to rally more Latino voters to the polls. Your negativity and your poorly thought out speech ignited a fire in our community. Thank you, Mr. Trump!"
