Op-Ed: Bad Bunny’s Upcoming Super Bowl Show is the Latino State of the Union Address
President Trump, before a joint session of Congress, will give his second state of the union address of his second term on February 24. Yet in a nation rocked by violent immigration raids and the erosion of constitutional rights, the times call for an honest assessment of where we are as a nation, especially in the Latino community.
Enter Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, otherwise known as global superstar Bad Bunny.
On February 8, when Bad Bunny takes the field at Levi’s Stadium, he will arguably offer one of the most important moments in modern American Latino history at Super Bowl LVI.
For us, this performance is a demonstration of our community’s political, economic, and cultural power in the face of a federal administration that is assaulting our livelihoods by the day.
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance will be, in no uncertain terms, our Latino state of the union address.
Because even without singing a single lyric, Bad Bunny’s selection as the halftime show performer is already giving the Latino community the respect it deserves.
Latinos make up 1 in 5 Americans, at over 68 million people. However, one could lose sight of that amidst unfair claims that a Spanish-speaking artist for the Super Bowl performance is un-American.
Even House Speaker Mike Johnson joined in this chorus, arguing that country singer Lee Greenwood would be a more appropriate choice, who could, in his words, “appeal to a broader audience.”
Bad Bunny’s 19.8 billion streams and his achievement as Spotify’s top global artist in 2025 would beg to differ.
These kinds of dismissals of the Latino community are sadly nothing new to us, but make it even more exciting that Bad Bunny is headlining the nation’s most significant cultural moment.
As he described in his October 2025 Saturday Night Live monologue, his upcoming performance is “more than an achievement for me, it’s a milestone for all of us, demonstrating that our footprints and our contribution in this country, no one can ever remove or erase.”
He knows what we see and feel daily.
We are core to America’s civic and economic engines, demonstrating resolve in the face of shortsighted policies that deny our potential.
As we approach a consequential midterm election year, it will be our voting bloc, the second largest in the nation, that will determine the balance of power in Congress. This is why political forces seek to restrict our civic power through proof-of-citizenship requirements for voting.
Latino gross domestic product now stands at $4.1 trillion. When Bad Bunny excluded the mainland United States from his world tour due to concerns about immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) appearing at his concerts, local economies lost out on economic benefits from Latino consumerism and entrepreneurship.
During his 2025 Puerto Rico concerts, the island is estimated to have experienced a nearly $400 million economic impact, adding to the local tax base with each hotel stay and food sale.
Imagine that kind of revenue boost for budget-challenged states like California or New York by tapping into the power of Latino culture.
Still, we will watch Bad Bunny’s performance mindful of the fact that we are a community in crisis.
ICE raids across the nation have continued, and the federal administration has hinted at sending immigration officials to the Super Bowl.
But here we come to a song by Bad Bunny about family, nostalgia, and memory for hope: “Debí Tírar Más Fotos” (“I should have taken more photos”).
While immigration raids and the high cost of living are separating our families today, Latinos remain determined to stay together: To mobilize resources for our immigrant neighbors, and yes, to take more photos of each other, and of the times we stood up to authoritarianism in defense of loved ones past and present.
When Bad Bunny uplifts that message of Latino tenacity on Superbowl Sunday, we know the state of our union will forever be strong.
Christian Arana and Veronica Vences are Latino community advocates based in Los Angeles, CA, and Santa Rosa, CA, respectively.
