Diego Luna is speaking out against U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
On his first night as a guest-host of Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday, June 23, the 45-year-old Mexican actor, director and producer delivered a powerful monologue on the importance of immigrants amid Trump’s “authoritarian policies.”
“I come from a galaxy far, far away, called México,” the Andor star said in his monologue.
In Kimmel’s absence, Luna will host the ABC late-night talk show for the whole week, saying it was one of his dreams to do so.
Luna touched on deportations in his monologue, noting, “English is not my first language. So, I hope you guys will help me if I get… What’s the word? Deported!”
The Mexican actor joked that Kimmel “was very smart to hand his show over to me just as Trump decided to go crazy and drop his bombs over the weekend. Thanks a lot Jimmy. Good luck!”
Luna got serious momentarily and said he wanted to address the issue affecting Los Angeles and the United States, “around immigration and the authoritarian policies of Donald Trump.”
“It is no small thing that a Mexican is hosting such an important show,” Luna said. “It’s a big deal and I really hope not to f**k it up.”
Luna recalled visiting the U.S. for the first time at the age of 20 following the success of Y Tú Mamá También and traveling to California for work, making L.A. a city he visited frequently.
“I spent great part of my earnings on laundry services and alcohol here. A lot of my brain cells died in this city,” he joked. “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. Yes, I have an Angeleno son. The only Mexican-American of the family, and I’ll always be grateful to Los Angeles for that and every Angeleno.”
Luna talked about how L.A. felt like home when he was away from home and took a jab at Elon Musk saying people liked to show off their Tesla’s before its founder “became a MAGA space Nazi.”
The actor said the community he found in L.A. that what holds all of us together are “our common roots. The people that lifted me up were mostly people that had left their countries to find a new life or the songs 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 moment of that scale is not natural. Nobody leaves their land unless their survival depends on it.”
“All the people that I met share an unspoken gratitude to this country,” he continued. “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.”
Luna noted that what makes L.A. great is people coming together “from different cultures and realities” agreeing “to give each other a chance and build something remarkable together,” 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,” he said. “I always struggle to understand how his hate speech can take root in a country whose nature has always been a welcoming one. Today many people feel persecuted far too many people live in fear of taking their kids to school or going to places where they earn an honest living.”
He continued, “These people, they’re you’re neighbors, your friends, immigrants. This is very unfair. The multiple times that this country has had to rebuild itself, immigrants were always there to pick up the slack.”
Luna recalled the L.A. fires and how immigrant workers risked their lives to put the flames out.
“There are a lot of lies flying around about immigrants,” he added. “But I’m sure you have more than one story that can attest to the contrary. Today, they need to know that they’re not alone. These have been a dark few weeks. It is not acceptable, nor is it normal to separate families. Violence and terror are not OK. Immigrants need to know that their struggle is yours. Politicians have been dozing on this problem because it’s easier than acknowledging it, because this country benefits from the work of immigrants but refuses to recognize their importance. That is what needs to change. It’s about acknowledging the work of millions and how unfair it is that they have to live in hiding. The only solution is clear now, and it’s been clear for decades. Give them a path to legal certainty.”
Luna made a call for everyone to call their Congress representatives and support organizations that help immigrants in need.
“I hope what I said inspires you to get involved or look at this from a different point of view. If my comments have angered you, I just want you to know it was all written by Guillermo. Blame him,” Luna joke, ending his monologue on a light note.
