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A 'Wall' of Taco, Food Trucks Line Up Against Trump in Las Vegas

Nevada's influential Culinary Union, which has 57,000 members, assembled a wall of food trucks outside of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas.
Image: Taco trucks line up outside the Trump International Hotel
Taco trucks line up outside the Trump International Hotel to protest Donald Trump's candidacy and his position on immigration. The protest was organizer by a labor union currently in dispute with the hotel.Jacob Soboroff / NBC News

A "wall" of taco and food trucks lined up in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas in a clear message to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump ahead of the third and final debate.

"We are here to support out families and friends fighting for immigration reform, and we are here supporting the cause," said Latin-fusion truck owner Ernesto Saavedra, 40. "We have to keep going, and we can't give up on dreams in the U.S."

Yvanna Cancela, the political director of the Culinary Workers Union local 226, said Trump had "tried to divide this country by talking about a wall — we will not be fear-mongered into being divided, and he will not be president."

Donald Trump opened his presidential bid by calling for a "wall" between Mexico and the U.S., saying that Mexico sends "rapists" and criminals through the border.

In early September, "Latinos for Trump" spokesperson Marco Gutierrez, a Mexican immigrant, said to Joy-Ann Reid on MSNBC that if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, there would be "taco trucks on every corner" if Mexican immigration to the U.S. goes unchecked,

Nevada's influential Culinary Union, which has 57,000 members, assembled a paper wall for people to sign at the protest with the words "Deport Trump" in the middle. Seven trucks parked at the protest, and most of them were taco trucks. Prominent activists and celebrities including the Rev. Jesse Jackson were there to show their support.

Saavedra, the truck owner, told NBC that he, his mother and his girlfriend wanted to help at the protest in any way possible. He said when the union called for his support, he quickly obliged.

The Culinary Union is also protesting an ongoing labor dispute with Trump. Employees at the Trump Hotel voted to unionize, but the company has not recognized the vote, Cancela said.

"Donald Trump has illegally refused to negotiate a contract with his workers, so we will be out there as many times as we need to be until those workers have their union election victory honored with a contract," Cancela said.

Democratic state Sen. Ruben Kihuen, said on MSNBC on Wednesday that he protested alongside the trucks because his own mother is an immigrant and a housekeeper at a hotel in Las Vegas.

Kihuen said he believes Latinos will turn out in record numbers to vote against Trump.

“When Donald Trump is talking about rapists and criminals, you’re talking about people like my mom who has been working here tirelessly to provide for her family," Kihuen said. "... Today we are going to send him a very strong message that the Latino vote is coming out to get him."

Kihuen is running for Congress and if he is successful, he could be the first Nevada Latino elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Protesters wearing "Ms. Keeping" sashes out front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
Protesters wearing "Ms. Keeping" sashes out front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.Nisha Chittal

Several protesters wore "Ms. Housekeeping" sashes to support union workers at the Trump Hotel. The sashes show their solidarity with Former Miss Universe winner Alicia Machado, whom Trump called "Ms. Housekeeping" because of her Venezuelan heritage, and "Ms. Piggy" because of her weight.

RELATED: Alicia Machado Responds to Trump: 'I Will Continue Standing'

Over a dozen groups coordinated efforts Tuesday and Wednesday to register voters and build the truck wall. They included American Bridge, America's Voice, Battle Born Progress,Center for Community Change Action, Forward, For Our Future, iAmerica Action,Latino Victory Project, Next Gen Climate Nevada, the Nevada State AFL-CIO, the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada Action Fund, Planned Parenthood Votes, Mi Familia Vota, Move On, and She Wins We Win.

Separately, the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has been urging taco truck vendors to register Latinos to vote and coordinating media coverage when they do so.

NBC News' Nisha Chittal and MSNBC's Jacob Soboroff contributed to this report.

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