Gallego Speaks on Latino Housing Affordability at NAHREP Conference

WASHINGTON —This week,Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ)delivered a keynote address at the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals’ (NAHREP) 2026 Homeownership & Housing Policy Conference. Senator Gallego spoke about the dignity and stability that comes with homeownership, the importance of housing affordability in the Latino community, and his work to help lower costs for Latino families.
Watch Senator Gallego’s speechhereand read excerpts below:
“For us Latino families [housing] is the center of our world. That’s where we have our family gatherings. That’s where we have the Sunday gatherings. That’s where we go after the hours and hours of the quinceañera or all the other parties that last for hours and hours after that. And certainly what we’re seeing now is a lot of people missing that stability and that opportunity.”
“I know what that home means. It means financial security. It means potential generational wealth. It means you having a place to always feel that is actually truly yours. But we need to have a government that matches that. We need to have politicians that truly understand how emotionally important it is for us to do that.”
“The solution is pretty simple. We need to build more. We need to build faster. We need to break down the regulations that are making it harder and more expensive for us to actually build these homes. And we need to make it easier for people to be able to afford these homes. And we got to do it as fast as possible because we can’t go another generation — can’t have another generation skip the opportunity to buy a home and really build success.”
“If the Latino population of our country is housed, that means that the country is housed. If the Latino population of this country is building generational wealth, that means that this country is building generational wealth. If our people are using the opportunity to stabilize their homes, send their kids to good schools, keeping them in secure neighborhoods, and building that future, that means that the country is doing that. Because there is no success in this country if the Latino community is not successful. We will all rise together. We will all fight together. We will all succeed together, but we all have to most importantly, do it together.”
Earlier this year, Senator Gallego released a comprehensive housing plan, “The Path Home: Rebuilding the American Dream and Restoring Housing Affordability,” outlining additional solutions to build more homes, cut red tape, and bring housing costs down for working families.