A restaurant server at Los Angeles International Airport was shaken when he received a racist note instead of a tip.
"No tip for illegal," the customer wrote on top of the receipt. "Go back to Mexico."
Guillermo Ortiz, who works at Planet Hollywood in LAX, said he discovered the message at the end of his shift on March 21. "It made me feel bad," Ortiz told KTLA. "I'm not even Mexican, I'm Puerto Rican, but my wife is Mexican – there's no right to treat people like that."
Although an 18.5% gratuity was included in the bill, the customers removed it and instead left the handwritten note. Since they paid in cash, Ortiz had no way of identifying them.
Ortiz believes that rising anti-immigrant rhetoric from President Trump's administration has emboldened such behavior. "This is happening because of what's happening with President Trump right now," he said.
Despite the hateful encounter, Ortiz remains proud of his work. "I'm a server; that's the way I support my kids, that's the way I support my family."
Originally published on Latin Times
