The American Immigration Council is a non-profit, non-partisan organization. It’s Hispanic Heritage Month. Here is what I am celebrating.
I come from a culture of many languages. We carry histories that stretch across continents and generations. We are doctors, students, and teachers. We are neighbors, coworkers, and friends. We are valuable. We are worthy. And we should take pride in our community. Hispanic heritage is not something to be hidden or diminished. It is joy, and it must be celebrated.
That joy is reflected in our growth and in our presence. In the last decade, our community grew by more than 20 percent, reaching 65.1 million in 2023. U.S.-born Hispanics grew by 25 percent, while those born outside of the country grew nearly 13 percent. More than half of us trace our roots to Mexico, while others come from El Salvador, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and beyond. Our stories are not singular. They are as diverse as the nations, dialects, and traditions that shaped us.
The numbers also tell a story of resilience and contribution. Hispanic households are a cornerstone of our economy. Together, we earn $1.7 trillion in income, contribute $440 billion in taxes, and hold $1.3 trillion in spending power. In Illinois, Missouri, and Ohio alone, our spending power totals more than $64 billion. From classrooms to construction sites, from health care to hospitality, Hispanic communities fuel every sector of American life. We have always been here, and we will continue to be here, shaping the present and the future of this country.
And yet, the reminders of rejection keep coming—repealed in-state tuition, militarized protests, mass deportations that tear families apart, and the normalization of fear. It feels like this country keeps turning its back on some of the people who believe in it most.
The Supreme Court now allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to use factors such as race, apparent ethnicity, and language as grounds for immigration enforcement stops. Spanish, our shared background and our language of family and belonging, is being used against us.
It is easy to fall into despair. It is easy to scroll the news and see families, children, elders, and teenagers crying out, and feel like hope is slipping away.
But our resistance has never been about despair. For me, it has always been personal. It is not about headlines. It is about care. It is about saying: we protect each other. We show up. We refuse to disappear.
I will not negate the fear, the hurt, and the anxiety caused by recent actions by the Supreme Court and the Trump administration. When our skin color, our language, and our way of community are attacked, it is impossible to separate ourselves from the pain. Those wounds are real. But I also look at the people around us. I look at our strides toward greatness in education, in work, in building community, and I find hope.
It is said that whenever we are faced with the greatest darkness, the light will shine even brighter. Joy is that light. And joy is a form of resistance. We cannot allow anyone to steal it from us.
I believe in us. I see the promise we bring to this country and to our communities. And I know that if anyone can overcome adversity, it is all of us together. That’s what Hispanic Heritage Month is about: all the quiet and loud ways we keep showing up. The ways we love, even when the world tells us not to. The ways we celebrate, even when celebration feels defiant.
This month, and every month, I celebrate our heritage, I affirm our dignity, and I hold on to joy as resistance. Because our story has never been just about survival. It has always been about thriving, creating, and shaping a country where Hispanic heritage is recognized for what it is: strength.
