Gallego at NALEO Conference: When Latinos are strong, the country is strong.

LOS ANGELES – Today U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) addressed attendees at the NALEO 43rd Annual Conference . “This has been a very tough year for our community without a doubt. We have been targeted. They’re racially profiling us. They’re hunting Latino working class men in the streets of our country right now. But we know one thing: Latinos are tough. We have dealt with the hardest. We will deal with the hardest. And we will always come up on top because we are not afraid to push back. We’re not afraid to defend our community and our families,” said Senator Gallego. “And we as Latinos show dedication to this country each and every day. From the young men on military bases to the single moms starting a business, these are everyday forms of patriotism and resistance that we push back. And we as leaders know that standing up for our dignity, demanding economic fairness, and protecting our families is not in opposition to America. It is the most American thing we could be doing.” This past year, Senator Gallego has also spoken at LULAC’s 2026 National Convention , UnidosUS’ Prosperity Forward Convening, and the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals’ 2026 Homeownership & Housing Policy Conference . See below for excerpts from today’s speech. On Latinos in the military: “When the right-wing extremists go out and say that Latinos are not Americans, they could not understand how further from the truth they are. I invite them to go to any military base in this country right now. Walk onto any base. Walk onto any Marine Corps base because what you’ll hear are Latinos speaking English, Spanish, English, English, dancing, working together, and stepping up to protect our freedoms.” On recent ICE shootings: “ Two men just working hard and living their lives and speaking Spanish. Think about that. Two men that were killed for being Latino men, for doing what Latino men do: waking up, going to work to fight for their family, to fight for their country, to fight for the American dream. And because of that, they were targeted.” On racial profiling: “Justice Kavanaaugh wrote that it’s okay to racially profile if you speak Spanish. If speaking English with an accent is also okay, or working on a construction site, landscaping or agriculture. All according to our Supreme Court are reasonable suspicions that you do not belong here. If you had met Rubén Gallego 30 years ago, I would have met all those reasons to be racially profiled and many of you too. He called it common sense. Was it common sense to racially profile these working-class Latino men and kill them? I don’t think so. Was it common sense Joan Sebastian got killed in Maine? I don’t think so. Is it common sense for ICE agents to stop my nephews and my family in Chicago and Phoenix because they decided to speak Spanish once in a while? Because that is the world that we have right now. And it’s all because of this administration. They want us to live in fear. They want us to feel like we’re not Americans.” On Latinos and the economy: “ We are the hardest workers in this country. Our grit and our perseverance are what makes the American spirit all about. We make the American spirit. You can just look at the numbers. Latina women establish the most amount of small businesses at six times the national rate right now in this economy. Just imagine that we are the youngest, fastest growing population in this country, which means that an investment in our community is literally an investment in the United States. When Latinos are rich, the country is rich. When Latinos are strong, the country is strong. “ On policies Senator Gallego is working on: “After hundreds of hours of negotiations, we finally passed a bill just last week to make it easier for something that every Latino wants—to buy a home. It took a year and a half. A year and a half. And we had to fight this administration at the end of the day because they cared more about stopping people from voting than getting that person to their first home. So we need to do more. This is why I’m pushing for the first $20 an hour minimum wage. I want to also cut the red tape so Latinas can actually start those small businesses. And of course, we need to get ourselves educated.”