“Andor Star” Diego Luna, filling in as a guest host for Jimmy Kimmel this week, showed considerable bravery in his first monologue, during which he paid tribute to the city of Los Angeles, criticized “the authoritarian policies of Donald Trump,” and delivered an impassioned plea for viewers to throw their support to immigrant communities throughout America.
“I want to address an important issue that is happening here in Los Angeles, and all around the United States. With everything going on in this country around immigration and authoritarian policies of Donald Trump, it is no small thing that a Mexican is hosting such an important show,” Luna said.
“Yeah. I know. It’s a big deal. It’s a big deal and I really hope not to f— it up. The first time that I voluntarily set foot in the territory known as The United States, I was 20 years old. After the success of ‘Y tu Mamá También.’ I started traveling to California for work and Los Angeles became a place that I visited constantly, not only for my work, but also because I loved it,” he said.
“I spent a great part of my earnings on laundry services and alcohol here. A lot of my brain cells have died in this city. I met people that to this day are very close to my heart. Great things happened to me here. In fact, my son was born here,” Luna continued. “Yes, I have, I have an Angeleno son, the only real Mexican American of the family, and I’ll always be grateful to Los Angeles for that.”
Luna celebrated how “every Angeleno I know has always loved to show me THEIR Los Angeles. Their neighborhood, their food, their many gluten free bakeries, their new Teslas… well, that was before Elon Musk became a MAGA space Nazi. I spent long seasons working here, back when people still made movies in LA, yeah… until I felt alone and homesick.”
But, Luna said, it was then that “he immediately found a community that came out to support me, to show me their love, and to remind me that something holds us together: our common roots. Yeah, the people that lifted me up were mostly people that had left their countries to find a new life, or the sons and daughters of immigrants that had come here in order to work and build a healthy, enjoyable and dignified life, away from their place of origin.”
“A movement of that – of that scale. That’s not natural, not unless something is very, very wrong in the place you are coming from,” Luna said. “Nobody leaves their land if it’s not because their survival depends on it. Yeah. Nobody leaves – nobody leaves their past behind, just for fun. But you know what? All the people that I met shared an unspoken gratitude to this country, a country that opened its doors to them.”
“And the most beautiful thing of all, is that all these immigrants brought their stories with them, they brought their loyalties, their love, their traditions, always with the openness to adopt new ones, to grow and to complement each other in this vast cultural exchange,” he continued.
As examples, Luna noted a married couple, a Korean woman and Mexican man who make Korean tacos in Downtown LA, and noted the “Filipino and Hispanic people fought hand in hand in the fields to create the first agriculture workers’ union. This changed the reality of the thousands of people responsible for feeding this country.”
“The point is that Los Angeles is interesting and admirable precisely because of the cultural exchange, thanks to the generosity, yeah, thanks to the generosity and the openness that surged from it, all because people from different cultures and realities agreed to give each other a chance and build something remarkable together,” he continued, adding, “this place is a powerful example of what’s possible, of what can be achieved when we put empathy first.”
“I have never been able to fully understand how it is that someone like Donald Trump is able to acquire this level of power. I always struggle to understand how his hate speech can take root in a country whose nature has always been a welcoming one,” Luna lamented. “Today many people are feeling persecuted. Far too many people live in fear. Fear of taking their kids to school, or going to places where they earn an honest living. These people, they’re your neighbors, your friends. Immigrants!”
Luna then explained why “this is very unfair,” noting the numerous contributions documented and undocumented workers alike make to America. “They’re technicians, merchants, athletes, drivers, farmers. They pay a lot of taxes, A LOT of them, with their jobs, papers or no papers… But that is something that the Trump administration doesn’t want you to know.”
“There are a lot of lies flying around about immigrants, but I’m sure you have more than one story that can attest to the contrary. Talk about it, share it. That helps. Today, they need to know that they’re not alone. These have been a dark few weeks, it is not acceptable nor it’s normal to separate families. Violence and terror are not okay. Immigrants need to know that their struggle is yours as well,” he said.
Asserting that politicians need to recognize the contributions, Luna called to “give them a path to legal certainty. This is what your neighbors really deserve, to be fully welcome in this country where they already belong.”
He then urged viewers to call their representatives in Congress, and suggested looking into advocacy groups like “Public Counsel” and “Kids in Need of Defense.”
“I hope, I hope what I have said inspires you to get involved or look at this from a different point of view. And if my comments have angered you. I just want you to know: It was all written by Guillermo,” Luna joked, referring to Kimmel’s longtime sidekick.
Watch the whole monologue below:
About The Author
