Latino Groups Call on ‘SNL’ to Drop Donald Trump

The decision by “Saturday Night Live” to invite Donald Trump as its host is no laughing matter — at least for the Hispanic and pro-immigration groups that have intensified their calls for Lorne Michaels, the show’s producer, to rescind the invitation.

More than a dozen of the nation’s leading Hispanic groups are planning to hold a “Dump Trump” rally outside 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where “Saturday Night Live” is taped. Latino and immigration groups also plan to deliver a petition, with 460,000 signatures, calling on NBC Studios and Michaels to drop Trump. The groups have cited comments by Trump dismissing some Mexican immigrants as criminals and “rapists.” The Congressional Hispanic Caucus issued a statement also calling on NBC Universal and Michaels “to disinvite Mr. Trump.” The caucus called Trump’s comments “divisive and hateful rhetoric toward Mexicans and Latinos alike” and said they could lead to violence and raised fears within immigrant and Hispanic communities throughout the country.