Taco truck owners set up shop outside Trump event in Detroit and rake in the dough

Donald Trump’s visit to an African American church this Saturday was met with both praise from his supporters and skepticism from his detractors, but one net positive that both sides can agree on is the taco truck that was parked outside.

According to its owners, the Tacos El Caballo truck parked near Great Faith Ministries International was intended send a soft message to people who adopt the GOP nominee’s draconian take on U.S. immigration policies.

Speaking to Michigan Public Radio’s Rick Pluta, Nancy Paz, who is a Mexican immigrant, said that she hoped that Trump would catch a glimpse of her truck as he arrived at the church.

“Because Donald say the Mexican people, they [don’t] work,” Paz said. “We come here to say, yes, we work hard, for the family.”

On the morning of Trump’s visit, the truck absolutely killed it. They did so well that they were able to raise their prices, with steak, pork, or chicken tacos going from $1.50 to $2.50.

As NPR recounted, the hashtag #TacoTrucksOnEveryCorner took off after the co-founder of “Latinos for Trump” Marco Gutierrez warned on MSNBC that if Trump’s immigration policies aren’t adopted, “you’re going to have taco trucks [on] every corner.”

That audacious statement set off discussions on Twitter and elsewhere about a vision of the future that seems like a dream to some, and is [purportedly] a nightmare to others.

Speaking to NPR’s Adrian Florido, Taco USA author Gustavo Arellano said that Mexican food is now just as much a part of American culture as pizza.

deadstate Taco Truck
Nancy Paz and Jose Badajoz stand in front of their taco truck, which they parked near the church Donald Trump visited Saturday morning. (Rick Pluta/Michigan Public Radio)

“We’re now of a generation where almost everyone has grown up eating Mexican food of some sort or other, whether it’s breakfast tacos, breakfast burritos, or big huge combo platters,” Arellano said.

“So to try to say that more Mexicans means more Mexican food, if anything, that’s the one thing all Americans like. You may not like the Mexican, but you sure love Mexican food.”

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *