Coca-Cola is facing a lot of criticism after rumors spread that the company fired Latino employees and reported them to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when Donald Trump was president. This led to the rise of the “Latino Freeze Movement,” a group pushing back against Trump’s decisions that weakened support for diversity and made immigration rules stricter.
People began to boycott Coca-Cola after unconfirmed reports claimed the company dismissed Latino workers at a bottling plant in Texas and then called ICE on them. Coca-Cola’s spokesperson said, “The accusation that we called immigration authorities to help separate undocumented workers is completely false.”
Coca-Cola’s CEO gave a special Diet Coke bottle to President Trump, which made many people question the company’s policies on diversity and inclusion. However, Coca-Cola hasn’t shared any updates on its policies.
The Latino Freeze Movement encourages Latinos to stop buying from U.S. brands and instead support Latin American companies. Their website says, “Latinos and Latinas, stop spending money. We can all make a big difference by not spending.”
Rumors gained popularity on social media, especially TikTok. One video from lawyer Trang Tran claimed Coca-Cola laid off “thousands of Latin American workers” in a “Cerberus Bottling Plant” in Texas and reported them to ICE. Another video in Spanish, which got nearly three million views, wrongly claimed that Coca-Cola tried to apologize later.
However, there is no proof that Coca-Cola fired many workers, and there is no record of a “Cerberus Bottling Plant” in Texas. The Latino Freeze Movement also encourages Latinos to choose Latin American brands over U.S. ones, especially in light of Trump’s Trade tariffs.
Latinos make up approximately 20% of the U.S. population, according to 2023 census data. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola products are popular in Latin America, reaching about 530 million consumers and generating $120 billion in revenue.
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