They are not Mexican or South Americans.

The misinformation and way people have been talking about the Caravan baffles me. On Twitter, I am constantly reading about people’s opinions on “Mexicans (or even South Americans) being gassed like Jews”. This is extremely troubling to me as someone who is half Mexican and half Jewish. Even good meaning people who are wanting to help these refugees, keep referring to them as Mexicans or South Americans. They are neither of these groups of people. When I confronted someone on Twitter that Mexicans aren’t being gassed in Tijuana — they are refugees from Central America that were tear gassed, I was told that it didn’t matter because we are all human. Here’s why it matters.

To start off, there are 23 counties in North America. Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador which are the primary populations of the Caravan are from those three countries. All of those three countries are in North America. The misinformation, comes from a basis of undertones of racism (even if people are meaning well!).

It is too often in our media or in conversations that people talk about Mexicans as “poor people fleeing violence”. I have been told that I cannot be of Mexican decent because of countless reasons, one of them is my English. This baffling to me. The image of a Mexican in American society is an uneducated lower economic standing person who is only spanish speaking.

When I see people trying to defend the Caravan, I read one of two things: Mexicans or South Americans being gassed running from violence, or how the United States is gassing people like Hitler. Both of these statements are problematic for me as a Mexican American with Jewish heritage.

Latinos are rich with culture. Plain and simple. We aren’t all taco eating people from Mexico that listen to Mariachi. There are 33 Latin American countries. We have many types of different foods, dialects, cultures, history, politics, and contributions to modern times. This is important because it’s just a fact. While Mexico has many people that have left violence (some of my family from Ciudad Juárez included), the people who were tear gassed this past week were not Mexicans. I cannot express enough how this undermines the people running from violence. Latino history in general has been absent in the United States. In fact, it has been so absent that people are believing that if the Caravan is not from Mexico, that they are from South America.

The other issue that bothers me is the description of gassing. The tear gassing of Central American refugees was a tragedy. This was done without a lack of care over if people fleeing from violence had respiratory problems and a lack of care over the children effected. That being said, as someone with Jewish heritage, is it disturbing how often people compare issues with the Holocaust. In the Holocaust children were also gassed, but it was a very different type of gassing. Children and mothers were in inclosed warehouses with a poisonous gas meant to kill and destroy an entire group of people. Millions and millions of people were targeted for their existence and gassed to death, worked to death, beat to death, shot to death, raped them killed, and starved to death. This is not the same as the United States tear gassing people to prevent an entry to a country.

The United States policy of Central American refugees is based out of fear and bigotry. A fear and bigotry that is familiar to me who has been feared as a Mexican, and who has been told countless stories of the Holocaust as a Jewish man. Currently there is absolutely no evidence of the “500 criminals” Donald Trump claimed is in the Caravan. Gangs are not attempting to enter the United States via the caravans. There is no evidence in this, and to believe this is an opinion rooted in the idea that Latin Americans are dangerous gang members seeking to destroy United States stability with drugs and violence. The Caravan are refugees running from violence. I met a number of the refugees from Central America last week in Tijuana as part of the relief effort. Never once did I feel in fear, in danger, or at risk. They are normal people that have been forced to flee their homes.

The United States needs to accept the asylum seekers, or at the very least give them their legal right to present a request for asylum. International law requires it, and the United States needs to adhere to the laws it signed. Above all, if we want to be helpful, we must recognize facts. We must live in a reality where we can actually help people. This only comes from recognizing facts. These people are not Mexicans, South Americans, or being gassed to death like the Jews of WW2. These are people from North America fleeing violence, that were tear gassed upon entry. We need to provide services to help them enter the United States. We must provide food, water, blankets, hygiene products, and clothes. We must provide legal services for their entry. In the long term, jobs and opportunities for economic prosperity.

To my fellow well meaning liberal academics and readers, we need to stick to facts. If we don’t, we erase my families history in the Holocaust, we erase my families history in Mexico, and we erase the Central American refugees current reality. In the name of well meaning progressivism, spreading misinformation on the Caravan reinforces stereotypes, erases the refugees reality, and denies my peoples history.