The real estate mogul and TV personality has been under fire ever since he claimed many Mexican immigrants in America are "rapists" who bring nothing but crime and drugs into the country during his presidential campaign launch in June (15).

And as the Republican candidate gears up to host popular U.S. sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live this weekend (07Nov15), members of the Latino community have joined forces to make sure he's aware just how much they disapprove of Trump and his "hate speech".

Published on the Latino-centred network Univision's website on Tuesday (03Nov15), the statement translated from Spanish reads: "His hate speech appeals to lower passions like xenophobia, machismo, political intolerance and religious dogmatism. All of which inevitably reminds us of the past campaigns that have been directed against other ethnic groups and that have resulted in the deaths of millions of people.

"In fact, the physical aggressions against Hispanics and repeated calls to prohibit the public use of the Spanish language have already started.

"There is a place for people and politicians with racist viewpoints to express their opinions in news programs and interviews. Saturday Night Live is not a news entity, it is a pop culture giant, and should not be in the business of giving acceptance and legitimacy to the views of a racist extremist by having him host a program. To do so is insensitive and will contribute to the wave of bigotry he is creating."

In addition to Inarritu and Luna, 70 other Latino figures including authors Junot Diaz and Homero Aridjis, and former Mexican ambassador to the U.S. Arturo Sarukhan all signed the letter.

A number of bosses at Latino organisations including the National Hispanic Media Coalition and the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda have also asked executives at NBC to cancel Trump's appearance, while an online petition on MoveOn.org calling for chiefs to axe Trump's gig has garnered nearly 150,000 signatures.