Actor John Leguizamo championed immigrant rights and equality at Monday’s The People’s State of the Union.
The PSOTU, held on the eve of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, allowed activists and celebrities to discuss several progressive movements. Mark Ruffalo, Michael Moore, Common, Amy Schumer, Rosie Perez and others either performed or spoke at the New York City event.
Snippets of Leguizamo’s speech were shared by BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kimmel via Twitter. The actor spoke about immigrant rights ― calling America “the best country ever stolen” ― and breaking down why everyone needs to vote in this year’s midterm elections.
“As Americans, we are not free unless we are all free and equal,” Leguizamo said. “And until we are all equal ― Latinos, African Americans, Native Americans, Muslims, Jews, Asians, women, LGBTQ ― then we are not truly free. We are still the wretched refuse, we are still the tired, the poor and we yearn to be free. That is the promise of America. That is why we all came to this great country.”
Leguizamo then took on Trump, referencing his presidential campaign slogan.
“Make America great again, really great ― not just for the white and the wealthy and the male and for a stupid slogan on a hat,” he said. “But for all of us.”
Women’s March organizer Paola Mendoza also touched on immigrant rights in her time at the podium. The Latina activist reminded the audience about the president’s hateful rhetoric toward immigrants during his presidential campaign.
“This president won the election by hating us,” said Mendoza, who is a Colombian immigrant. “By hating immigrants. By vilifying the undocumented community. We have to protect our community. Our undocumented brothers and sisters can’t vote, so we must vote for them.”