As one young woman put it, “I see a lot of discrimination toward Mexicans. I went and applied two years ago to be a receptionist at the [ultra-elite hotel name redacted] and they just laughed at me, and I’m just like, ‘Excuse me, I have education. Excuse me, I am well suited for this. I have amazing customer service.… I am well with technology.’ ” She describes her repeated struggles to get a foot in the door, especially in these elite spaces that can equate environmental purity with whiteness.5 “A lot of times when I went to apply … they would be like, ‘We don’t hire illegal immigrants.’ I’m
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