Throughout this month, people have watched scenes unfold in Los Angeles that are as destructive as they are delusional: masked rioters vandalizing property, blocking traffic, clashing with police, and waving foreign flags as if the United States were their enemy. Their chants and slogans are loud, but their grasp of reality is paper-thin.
Let’s be clear: These rioters don’t represent Hispanic America. They live in a bubble, one fueled by social media echo chambers and radical activist ideology. They seem to believe they’re speaking on behalf of all Hispanics, but nothing could be further from the truth. President Donald Trump won the highest Republican share of the Hispanic vote in history while running explicitly on a tough border security platform. That’s not a fluke. It’s a sign of where real Latino voters are.
The vast majority of us aren’t out in the streets with megaphones. We’re clocking into work, raising families, going to church, and contributing to one of the most dynamic success stories in modern U.S. history. These protesters might have time to shut down freeways. Most people don’t. They have jobs to get to, children to care for, and bills to pay.
There are plenty of reasonable debates among Latinos on the topic of immigration. Most of us support border security measures, including deporting people who have committed serious crimes. There are honest differences of opinion on how to handle the rest of the undocumented population already in the country. That conversation should continue — seriously and civilly. But when activists set fires, assault law enforcement, and call for the dissolution of national borders, they lose any claim to public credibility.
They also sabotage progress. Across the country, lawmakers and advocates, including many Hispanics, are working on real immigration solutions. Whether it’s reforming work visa programs or finding a path forward for “Dreamers,” these efforts demand seriousness and public support. Violent protests make those efforts harder. They alienate the very voters and lawmakers needed to get anything done. Recent polling from YouGov confirms this disconnect: A plurality of Hispanics disapprove of the protests.
Worse still is the historical revisionism being peddled with slogans such as “California is stolen land.” That claim collapses under even modest scrutiny. California became part of the U.S. in 1848 through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo — a formal agreement between two sovereign nations, following a war and a negotiated settlement. The U.S. paid Mexico for the land and assumed its debts. Whatever one thinks of 19th-century geopolitics, this was a legal, recognized transaction, not theft. The idea that a U.S. state with nearly 40 million people is illegitimate because of a 200-year-old land transfer isn’t just misleading — it’s unserious. It’s the kind of rhetoric that thrives only in far-left activist bubbles.
If these protesters took a moment to look at the facts about the state of Latino America, they might feel differently about the country they’re so eager to condemn. According to a 2025 report from California Lutheran University and the University of California, Los Angeles, the U.S. Hispanic GDP reached $4.1 trillion in 2023. That makes it the fifth-largest economy in the world, larger than any economy in Latin America and the economies of India, the United Kingdom, and France. That didn’t happen because we’re oppressed in this country. It happened because Latino families believe in hard work, stability, and upward mobility, and America helped us thrive.
We’re not just growing in GDP. Since 2010, Latinos have accounted for 58.7% of U.S. labor force growth, adding an average of 726,000 workers every year. In 2023 alone, Latino consumption totaled $2.7 trillion, greater than the economies of Texas and New York. Educational attainment is also surging, with Latino bachelor’s degrees up more than 125% since 2010.
None of this success was preordained. Many of us come from humble beginnings. My parents were born in Mexico. I was raised to be grateful for the opportunities we found here. Whether you voted for Kamala Harris, Trump, or didn’t vote at all, there’s no denying that America has been good to Hispanics. There’s no need to pretend otherwise just because someone you dislike occupies the White House.
Gratitude is not submission. It’s wisdom, and a way of respecting the sacrifices of our ancestors. It’s the ability to look around and see that, for all of our political debates, America remains a place where immigrants and their children can rise. Compare that to most of the hemisphere, where government dysfunction, corruption, and economic instability have crushed the dreams of millions. That’s the alternative.
So when radicals in LA shut down highways, loot small businesses, and wrap themselves in Mexican flags, the question becomes: Who exactly are they speaking for? Certainly not the 60 million Latinos who have made the U.S. home. Certainly not the small business owners, tradesmen, and working mothers who get up every morning and move this country forward. Certainly not the students, entrepreneurs, and veterans who wear both their heritage and their citizenship with pride.
REFORM IMMIGRATION NOW, BUT TAKE AMNESTY OFF THE TABLE
The truth is, these rioters are out of step with the diverse communities they claim to represent. They speak a language of resentment that has no resonance with the average Latino household.
The rest of us are busy building something better.
Abraham Enriquez is the founder and president of Bienvenido US, an organization dedicated to mobilizing, enhancing, and empowering Hispanics to promote the principles of individual liberty and sound policy.