Latino leaders, ranging from activists and celebrities, have called on the Latino community to stand up against the anti-immigrant rhetoric made during the presidential campaign trail.

Criticizing Republican Rhetoric

In the open letter, published through People for the American Way (PFAW), a progressive organization, the Latino community is told about the Republican presidential candidates and how they have "crossed a line" by pandering to the GOP's anti-immigrant base. With signatures ranging from actors America Ferrera, Aubrey Plaza, Benjamin Bratt, George Lopez and Zoe Saldana, the open letter states there is no return for the GOP candidates to redeem themselves from such rhetoric.

"We've seen clearly that all the leading Republican candidates have sided with the far-right at the expense of the Latino community. They're capitalizing on negative stereotypes and inaccurate information about our community in order to win votes from the GOP base," the letter continued. Also signed by musician Carlos Santana and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, the letter noted examples by Donald Trump accusing Mexicans of being rapists and criminals and removing journalist Jorge Ramos from a press conference.

PFAW's letter claims Trump to be the face of the entire GOP and their anti-immigrant and anti-Latino agenda. But Trump isn't the sole candidates mentioned in the letter. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio were also recognized for using "dangerous," "divisive" and "harmful" rhetoric and policies to attract Trump's supporters. Bush was criticized for using the term "anchor babies," referring to U.S.-born children to foreign-born parents, while Rubio supported a physical border wall as an effort to strengthen the U.S. border.

The letter states that the Latino community has the power to decide who wins the 2016 election, and there is hope that the electorate votes for the candidates that supports the same values as Latinos.

In a prepared statement, Ferrera said, "It's critical that all Americans, and especially American Latinos, stand up to the misrepresentation of our communities coming from Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and any other candidate running on a platform of xenophobia and fear-mongering. The way to do that is to show up on Election Day. And that means young Latinos have to register and vote. We have the numbers and potential to make a difference."

In a statement from the Bush campaign, spokesperson Emily Benavides said, "Governor Bush is working everyday to engage the Hispanic community and earn their respect and their vote. As Governor of Florida, Jeb worked hard to ensure everyone had the opportunity to rise up and through his leadership Florida's Hispanic students led the nation in student gains. Jeb remains the only candidate in this race to take on Donald Trump for his indefensible and offensive comments that do not reflect Republican values."

Latin Post did contact Rubio's campaign for a comment, but a statement was not returned.

Democrats & Their Record

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been criticized for previously using the term "illegal immigrant," her vote that would "build a barrier" to halt immigrants from entering the U.S. and deportation policy. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has also received some criticism for his vote against the 2007 Senate comprehensive immigration reform bill (S. 1639). Although the Democratic candidates were not addressed in the letter, Latin Post did ask Huerta about Clinton and Sanders during a PFAW press call on Thursday afternoon.

According to Huerta, Clinton's immigration record has been "strong" and "very close" with the Latino community.

"To my knowledge, Hillary Clinton apologized for the use of the word 'illegal' ... I do believe, that with a Hillary Clinton presidency, that the issues that bring the children into the United States -- escaping the violence from El Salvador, Honduras and some of the other countries -- she would be able to solve those issues in those countries so that people don't have to immigrate to the United States of America."

Huerta, a PFAW board member, added that she has a lot of faith in Clinton's policy and expertise.

"She's a person who can get things done and I do believe we need long-term solutions and when we think of those immigrant children that have come escaping violence to the United States, we know that a lot of that stems from our previous policies. I do believe that her presidency will be one that will be so expansive, that she will be able to solve the problems in Latin America, which we should have done along time ago since we created a lot of the instabilities that's affecting places like El Salvador and Honduras."

In regards to Sanders, Huerta said the Vermont senator's "no" vote against the 2007 comprehensive immigration was actually supported by many pro-immigration rights groups such as the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project and the League of United Latin American Citizens.

"Unfortunately, many of these organizations, I don't think really understood the political process," said Huerta, noting that she and many other groups supported the bill since it was an opportunity to pass reform legislation and give the House of Representatives the turn to review it.

"I think that bill could have been cleaned up and that we could have gotten probably a better bill than the one that was in the last Congress," said Huerta, referring to the 2013 bill, S. 744. "Unfortunately, I think [Sanders] kinda conceded to these immigrant rights organizations and he probably should have studied the bill and been more informed -- personally -- on the whole immigrant rights issue. But I think we could have gotten a good bill out (of the 2007 legislation)."

During the October 2015 Democratic presidential primary debate, Sanders explained he voted against the 2007 bill "because it had guest-worker provisions in it which the Southern Poverty Law Center talked about being semi-slavery. Guest workers are coming in, they're working under terrible conditions, but if they stand up for their rights, they're thrown out of the country. I was not the only progressive to vote against that legislation for that reason." Sanders did vote for S. 744 in 2013, and while the bill did pass the Senate, it was never picked up for debate in the House.

Must Read: Jeb Bush's Immigration Reform Plan Calls for Path to Legal Status 

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.