Danny Trejo, Latino celebrities call for farmworker protections, COVID-19 resources in Spanish

During the coronavirus pandemic, workers who pick the nation's produce from farms across the country are considered essential and a host of celebrities are shining a light on their predicament and offering to help them.

For a large segment of that workforce, English isn't their first language which makes it hard for them to understand the daily updates on the crisis or reach out for resources as they continue to work every day.

"A lot of times, there's a lot of things that are offered out there but a lot of people that don't speak English don't know that it's out there," said actor Emilio Rivera.

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Rivera is one of several celebrities bringing attention to the plight of migrant farmworkers on social media by using #AyudaEnEspanol, which translates to "Help in Spanish." The campaign aims to keep the Spanish language-speaking community informed about COVID-19. Other celebrities stepping up the cause include Danny Trejo, Eva Longoria and Melissa Fumero.

The League of United Latin American Citizens, a Latino civil rights organization, has also urged Congress to include protections and relief for immigrant communities in the next stimulus package, including the estimated 2-3 million farmworkers in the country.

For Rivera, the issue is a personal one as he grew up in Texas where all of his family worked in the fields.

"It's sad because a lot of our central workers, especially the farmworkers, I'm sure they could use that extra food or the extra money, but they just don't know how to get it," he said.

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Actor Nicholas Gonzalez of "The Good Doctor" is lending a hand through the Hispanic Heritage Foundation and Justice for Migrant Women.

"All the issues that we face during this pandemic, farmworkers face on the front lines just like our healthcare professionals and I think they need to be treated that way," Gonzalez said.

That includes getting them personal protective equipment like masks, as these workers often work and live in tight quarters with little protection as they pick the foods we eat.

Gonzalez said farmworkers have always worked under "deplorable conditions" and that a light needed to be shone on their struggles during a pandemic or not.