The democratic influencer and activist Carlos Eduardo Espina surprised dozens of agricultural workers in the fields of McFarland, California, by distributing among them $20,000 he won at a casino in Las Vegas, in a gesture that went viral on social media.
In the video, recorded in the McFarland vineyards —a town in Kern County, north of Bakersfield, in California's Central Valley—, Espina explains his motivation before starting the distribution: "I come from Las Vegas and I did really well, I won 20 thousand dollars at the casino, but I'm here to share it with you."
Each worker received between 200 and 300 dollars in cash.
Espina started by giving 200 dollars per person and, upon realizing there was extra money, added another 100 to each until the total was exhausted.
Most of the day laborers present were of Mexican origin, coming from states such as Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Mexicali, and Durango, as can be heard in the video itself.
In addressing them, Espina was straightforward in his acknowledgment: "I know that many people do not appreciate what you do nowadays, but if it weren't for you, there would be no food in the rest of the country."
At the end of the distribution, the workers gifted him grapes from their own harvest, to which Espina responded with a phrase that summed up the exchange: "These are the most expensive grapes of my life."
In a short video recorded from Las Vegas, Espina announced the win with evident excitement: "My people, I can't believe it, I'm shaking, I just won 21 thousand dollars here in Las Vegas."
McFarland is a city of about 14,000 residents, where nearly 90% of the population is Latino, and more than a quarter live below the poverty line, according to Axios data.
Its fields employ thousands of immigrant laborers, mostly Mexicans, for pruning, planting, and harvesting grapes during the harvest seasons.
This episode adds to a pattern of philanthropic actions by Espina towards vulnerable Latino communities in the United States.
In September of this year, the activist donated $50,000 out of his own pocket to establish the Doral Family Emergency Fund, a fund intended for families in Doral, Florida, impacted by operations of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Espina, born in Montevideo in 1998 to a Uruguayan father and a Mexican mother, emigrated to the United States at the age of five and currently resides in Houston, Texas, where he leads the non-profit organization Migrantes Unidos.
He has amassed over 20 million followers on his digital platforms and is considered one of the most influential Hispanic influencers in the country on immigration issues.
The main video featuring the cast in McFarland has surpassed 4.4 million views on Facebook, with over 191,000 reactions and nearly 15,000 comments.
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