Over the summer, the fabulous Sandra Guzmán assigned me a story about Latino political power as part of USA TODAY’s Hispanic Heritage Month magazine. That story is finally out.

I shared screen grabs of the full story on both my Facebook and LinkedIn pages.

The story featured quotes from Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL), and Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX). As with any story, there were many quotes I couldn't include in my final piece, so I am sharing more of what they each told me about Latino political power in 2025. It wasn’t everything they told me, but I thought it was important to publish.

Julio Ricardo Varela: There’s growing concern among Latinos about federal overreach, particularly in enforcement-heavy approaches to immigration. How do you respond to that fear?

Senator Alex Padilla: We have seen this playbook before. The proposition that drew me into politics in 1994 was backed by a Republican governor who was up for re-election and who had turned to scapegoating immigrants to try to improve his declining political standing.

We are seeing this again today. Donald Trump uses the scapegoating of immigrants to distract from his failed policies and the problems facing our country.  These indiscriminate ICE raids are creating fear, stifling our economy, and eroding public trust. Thirty years ago, we met that fear with action. I found myself marching, getting involved, managing campaigns, and eventually even running for office myself. An entire generation of Latinos in California rose up to fight against that hate, and slowly but surely, Latinos began to gain more political power — from city councils to the statehouse to Congress. What we learned is that if you want to make change anywhere in America, you can’t wait for someone else to do it. That’s my hope for this moment — that Latino communities come together and organize for a better future.

JRV: Where are you seeing the most resistance in the Senate when it comes to advancing meaningful immigration reform or economic justice for Latinos?

AP: It has been decades since we’ve had meaningful immigration reform. Republicans have failed to address the millions of undocumented people who have been here for decades, paying taxes, contribution to our economy and communities. I constantly hear from my Republican colleagues in private that they want to do the right thing, but the Republican party brass doesn’t want to because of one person: Donald Trump.

In my home state of California, we celebrate immigrants — knowing full well that California has become the fourth-largest economy in the world, not in spite of our immigrants, but because of them. California is a model for the rest of the country to follow, and that’s what I am constantly reminding my colleagues about.

JRV: Are Democrats doing enough to build long-term trust with working-class Latino communities? If not, what needs to change?

AP: Americans are living through a historic time of presidential overreach, and perhaps no other community is experiencing it worse than the Latino community. We cannot take Latino voters or any voters for granted. We cannot show up a month or two before the election, but we must be present year-round, every year. There’s only one party right now that’s standing up to Trump’s overreach and attacking our communities, and that’s the Democratic Party.

Julio Ricardo Varela: What do you believe are the most important issues facing Latino voters right now?

Rep. María Elvira Salazar: Latino voters want what most Americans want: safe neighborhoods, good jobs, quality schools, and secure borders. But they also carry the scars of socialism, broken immigration promises, and economic instability. The economy, public safety, and immigration are top concerns for the Latino community. 

JRV: How do you approach immigration in a way that reflects both security concerns and respect for human dignity?

MES: We must have a secure border and deport every criminal alien that has entered our country, period.  But we also must treat the millions of undocumented people who have been here for several years, silently keeping our economy running with fairness.

JRV: What does this country get right about Latinos? What does it get wrong

MES: America gets this right: Latinos are patriotic, hardworking, and family-oriented. But too often, politicians see us as a monolith or a political pawn. We are not a special interest group; we are the backbone of the American story. We also tend to be caricatured as a voting monolith, historically one very much on the left, whereas Latinos in the GOP were seen as out of place. I think that's wrong. The Hispanic community is generally aligned with the Republican Party on most key issues. We believe in God as the center of the family. We believe that parents, not government or schools, should teach our kids about important topics. We aren't woke, and we don't want handouts. 

Julio Ricardo Varela: As a Latino Republican representing the largest border district in the country, how do you see your role in shaping the national conversation around immigration and border policy?

Rep. Tony Gonzales: In my district, it’s common to commute to Mexico to go to work, a dentist appointment, or shop. Cross-border trade and commerce are the lifeblood of our economy. Immigration and border policy are very complex issues. For example, checkpoints and bridge upgrades — not always something you think about when it comes to border policy, but these are priorities CBP and border communities need assistance with.

When it comes to immigration, you have to separate legal from illegal immigration. We are a nation of laws, and I do think Congress has a role to play here. Our immigration system is worn down, and that has certainly exacerbated a lot of the issues we are seeing with illegal immigration. For starters, we don’t always have the capabilities to vet everyone coming into our country — that’s a problem, especially when we’ve encountered individuals on the terror watchlist.  

JRV: You've often talked about balancing strong border security with compassion and dignity. What does that look like in practice?

TG: I’d argue that encouraging mass migration is certainly not compassionate, and neither is failing to enforce our laws. Under the Biden administration, once the cartels got wind that the border enforcement measures were rolled back, they turned our border into a lucrative business. Once the cartels get their cash, they couldn’t care less about the safety of any human being. Women and children, especially, fall victim to the trek, human trafficking, and sexual violence are very real situations people face. A few years ago in San Antonio, 53 migrants were essentially cooked to death when they were being smuggled in a semi-truck. This aspect of immigration often receives insufficient attention.

On the other hand, many people trying to migrate to the U.S. want work opportunities, and we need to do our best as a government to improve the legal avenues to make those available, especially in industries that are always struggling to hire. Agriculture, hospitality, and construction are among those fields. On the other hand, America is excellent because of its spirit of innovation. Bringing the best and brightest from around the world to our nation to fuel our tech, healthcare, aerospace, and other forward-thinking industries is absolutely critical. However, our legal immigration system must become significantly more efficient to support our continued success on a global scale. 

JRV: What advice would you give to the next generation of Latino leaders who are considering public service?

TG: Meet people, hear their stories, and don’t spout the same old rhetoric that everyone’s heard a hundred times on a political TV ad. Learn about the issues that matter, and offer real solutions and ideas. Get out in your communities — and work your tail off.

Julio Ricardo Varela is the founder of The Latino Newsletter. He is also its current part-time publisher and executive director. Email him here.

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