On the recordJuly 12, 2018
In my community and in communities across this Nation, we have seen in the past year a dramatic increase in hate crimes and attacks against immigrants and, generally, against people of color. In New York City, we saw how a lawyer named Aaron Schlossberg launched a racial verbal attack against workers at the Fresh Kitchen restaurant in Midtown Manhattan simply because they spoke Spanish. Think about that for a minute, Mr. Speaker. This was in New York City, a city that prides itself on being a city of immigrants, a city which touts the presence of Lady Liberty herself on the harbor. Still, this lawyer felt compelled--without any hesitation, shame, or guilt--to confront workers at the Fresh Kitchen restaurant, verbally assaulting them simply because they spoke Spanish. Yet we keep seeing more and more examples of aggressors and harassers launching vicious attacks and directing hate speech toward those whom they wrongfully perceive to be un-American. In another recent incident, Rodolfo Rodriguez, a senior citizen, 91 years old, was brutally attacked for his ethnic background. He is of Mexican descent. He was told to go back to his country before being brutally assaulted with a brick. In another recent incident at the Caldwell Woods Forest Preserve, Ms. Mia Irizarry was another victim of verbal harassment, abuse, and physical intimidation in an almost unthinkable 20-minute racial rant. Her harasser caught sight of Ms.…
