Hearing will examine whether the U.S. failed to prevent conditions that fostered discrimination and violence against Latinos.

On Thursday, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) will hold a hearing on the case of Marcelo Lucero, a young Ecuadorian migrant who was murdered in New York by white youths in 2008.

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“It is something that cannot be forgotten, no matter how much time passes,” said Joselo Lucero, whose brother Marcelo was attacked by a group of youths while walking with a friend near a train station on Long Island.

The defendants went out on weekends to “hunt” immigrants, and one of them, 19-year-old Jeffrey Conroy, stabbed him.

After many attempts by the civil rights organization LatinoJustice, the IACHR has finally scheduled the hearing, where what happened to Marcelo Lucero will be presented as an example of a death resulting from anti-immigrant campaigns that have not been stopped.

You’ve heard from Joselo Lucero in parts 1 and 2 of this video series. Now hear from his legal counsel, Rafaela Uribe, as she explains why Lucero v. United States is a landmark effort to seek justice for Joselo’s brother (Marcelo Lucero) and challenge the climate of… pic.twitter.com/XMHMyGKGtk

— Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center (@Kennedy_HRC) July 30, 2026

It Is Time to Send a Message to the World

The Washington-based Commission will examine whether the United States failed to meet its human rights obligations by creating and allowing conditions that fostered discrimination and violence against Latinos.

“What is happening is very important, but the main thing is that my family and I have an opportunity to express our disagreement with what happened to my brother,” Lucero said, attributing his brother’s death to a racist campaign that has endured for years and that accuses immigrants of “invading” the country and “taking jobs,” creating a hostile climate.

According to Lucero, it will be a moment “to send a message, not only in the United States but to the world, about the human rights violations against our people.”

“Eighteen years have passed since my brother’s death, and they have finally agreed to listen. I want the Commission to understand what our community is suffering by being accused of something that has no basis and never has,” he said, recalling that Hispanic immigrants “do not come here to steal jobs.”

“We have to be clear, it has always been this way. It is something that does not end, and I do not know when it will end,” said the Ecuadorian, who is dedicated to educating people in schools and communities to prevent discrimination and other violent acts.

(1/2) Anti-immigrant rhetoric and xenophobic attitudes can, and often do, lead to hate crimes. It happened in 2008, when Oswaldo Lucero, an Ecuadorian national, was murdered for his identity by a group of Long Island teenagers.

And it’s happening today under the Trump… pic.twitter.com/drzo42UC4E

— Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center (@Kennedy_HRC) April 30, 2026

Politicians Created a Hostile Environment

“The people who really created that inhospitable environment for our community were the politicians,” said Lucero, who will attend the hearing accompanied by activists including Rafaela Uribe, lead attorney for LatinoJustice, and Kerry Kennedy, president of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization.

Joselo Lucero says that every immigrant who dies “is another Marcelo” and that the Latino community is “being stopped and questioned because of the color of their skin.”

“The United States has been an international champion of human rights. What would happen if it applied those same standards to this country?” he asked.

Over the past decade, hate crimes against Latinos have increased by 238%. Between 2024 and 2025, hate crimes against Latinos increased by 18%, representing the largest increase since the federal recordkeeping system began in 1991, following the passage of the Hate Crime Statistics Act in 1990.

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Source: EFE

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