Star Wars actor and Jimmy Kimmel Live! guest host Diego Luna ditched the jokes on Monday’s ABC show in favor of a solemn monologue that attacked President Trump for deporting illegal immigrants, seemed to conflate illegal and legal immigration, denigrated native-born Americans, and spread some fake news.
Towards the end of his talk, Luna admitted, “I have never been able to fully understand how it is that someone like Donald Trump is able to acquire this level of power. I always struggle to understand how his hate speech can take root in a country whose nature has always been a welcoming one.”
Perhaps that is because he cannot tell the difference between entering the country illegally versus legally, “Today, many people are feeling persecuted. Far too many people live in fear, fear of taking their kids to school or going to the places where they earn an honest living.”
Luna also claimed, “These people—they're your neighbors, your friends. Immigrants. This is very unfair. Let me tell you why. The multiple times that this country has had to rebuild itself, immigrants were always there to pick up the slack. Earlier this year when LA burned, immigrant workers risked their lives to stop the flames.”
When Luna was talking about the wildfires, he put up an image of these supposed immigrants, but there was just one problem: the picture was of Mexican Army firefighters sent on a humanitarian mission promoting good neighborliness. The Mexican flag patch on their right shoulders should’ve made that clear.
Nevertheless, Luna rolled right along, “They are the ones who build this country. They feed it. They nurture and teach its children. They care for the elderly, they work in construction, hospitality, they run kitchens. They're technicians, merchants, athletes, drivers, farmers. They pay a lot of taxes, a lot of them with their jobs, papers or no papers. In 2022, undocumented immigrants contributed around $96.7 billion worth of taxes.”
Are immigrants technicians, merchants, athletes, drivers, and farmers? Yes, but so are native-born Americans, and if Luna doesn’t want to breed resentment towards immigrants, putting them on a higher pedestal is a terrible way to do that.
Still, Luna continued to talk as if immigration and illegal immigration are the same thing, “But that is something that the Trump administration doesn't want you to know. There are a lot of lies flying around about immigrants, but I'm sure you have more than one story that can attest to the contrary. Talk about it, share it. That helps. Today they need to know they're not alone. These have been a dark few weeks.”
All of this led Luna to the conclusion that the problem is that illegal immigrants have not been granted legal status, “It is not acceptable nor is it normal to separate families. Violence and terror are not okay. Immigrants need to know that their struggle is yours as well. 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 as clear now and it's been for decades, give them a path to legal certainty.”
On the contrary, teasing that possibility is what encourages people to come illegally in the first place. The United States is a welcoming country, but people’s generosity has been taken advantage of by criminals and people looking to cheat the system.
Here is a transcript for the June 23 show:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
6/23/2025
11:42 PM ET
DIEGO LUNA: I have never been able to fully understand how it is that someone like Donald Trump is able to acquire this level of power. 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 are feeling persecuted. Far too many people live in fear, fear of taking their kids to school or going to the places where they earn an honest living.
These people— they're your neighbors, your friends. Immigrants. This is very unfair. Let me tell you why. The multiple times that this country has had to rebuild itself, immigrants were always there to pick up the slack. Earlier this year when LA burned, immigrant workers risked their lives to stop the flames.
They are the ones who build this country. They feed it. They nurture and teach its children. They care for the elderly, they work in construction, hospitality, they run kitchens. They're technicians, merchants, athletes, drivers, farmers. They pay a lot of taxes, a lot of them with their jobs, papers or no papers. In 2022, undocumented immigrants contributed around $96.7 billion worth of taxes.
But that is something that the Trump administration doesn't want you to know. There are a lot of lies flying around about immigrants, but I'm sure you have more than one story that can attest to the contrary. Talk about it, share it. That helps. Today they need to know 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 okay. Immigrants need to know that their struggle is yours as well. 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 as clear now and it's been for decades, give them a path to legal certainty.