‘Latinos for Trump’ Founder Thinks ‘Taco Trucks on Every Corner’ Would Be a Bad Thing

A novel reason to vote for Donald Trump was proposed this week by a man named Marco Gutierrez—and it may strike you as the strangest reason to vote for a presidential candidate ever offered by anyone in the history of this nation. Gutierrez, who is the founder of the unlikely group called Latinos for Trump, said that if we don't elect Trump, the US will be completely overrun by a sea of taco trucks.

And, inexplicably, he's saying that's a horrendously bad thing.

"My culture is a very dominant culture," Gutierrez stated on MSNBC this Thursday. "And it's causing problems. If you don't do something about it, you're going to have taco trucks on every corner."

It's a very strange argument indeed, but one that is even more peculiar if you think about the vast number of Hispanics already working in the restaurants that occupy every major city in America. If you know anything about American restaurants, you know that you will likely find there are far more Oaxacans making sashimi in America than Osakans, far more Poblanos cooking steak au poivre and coq au vin than there are Frenchmen, and far more Jarochos frying arancini than there are Sicilians.

According to a 2015 labor force statistics survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 24.8 percent of those employed in the food and beverage industry self-identified themselves as Hispanics. Of course, that sizable figure in no way represents the real number of Hispanics currently working in the foodservice industry, because it includes only legal workers.

If you take into account the substantial number of undocumented Hispanic workers in the industry—which is almost impossible to quantify but was estimated to be around 20 percent of all employees in American restaurants by a 2008 Pew Hispanic Center report—nearly 50 percent of all people working in American restaurants are likely of Hispanic origin.

And somehow, they haven't felt the need to haphazardly litter our streets with a scourge of tacos.

Gutierrez's comment also fails to take into account the basic principles of a free marketplace and the influence that demand has on what services, products, and experiences are offered to customers in the marketplace. In short, the statement that America would somehow transform into a homogenized sea of tacos de lengua and birria reflects not only a misunderstanding of the restaurant and service industries, but also of the inherent benefits and values of a multicultural society.

That aside, this all begs the following question: Would it really be that damn bad if more Americans were actively exposed to one of the richest, most nuanced, and multifaceted cuisines in human history?

We're willing to wager you can answer that correctly for yourself.