“At first I was upset. I felt insulted” when Trump called Mexicans “criminals” and “rapists,” said Galicia, a graphic designer and business leader in Kansas who is from Mexico. “Now I see this as the wake-up moment, the time when our eyes were opened to our power.”

“It’s an ‘aha!’ moment,” agreed CiCi Rojas, chief executive of Central Exchange, a large women’s business group in the Midwest. “This has ignited the ordinary person, those of Hispanic heritage. It’s motivating and mobilizing.”
Nationwide, Latino leaders say they are energized by the response from Macy’s, NBC, NASCAR, Serta and a growing list of other companies that have severed ties with Trump because of his remarks. Latinos lit up social media and online petitions to complain, and their concerns were heard. Trump, however unintentionally, many said, has triggered what some are calling “the Latino moment.”