There aren’t enough couches in all of North America to allow Americans to sort out in therapy how they really feel about Latinos. 

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One minute, they want us out; the next, we’re the “in thing.” One minute, they’re deporting us; the next, they’re emulating us. One minute, we’re a drain on society; the next, we’re essential workers. One minute, we’re predators; the next, we’re productive members of society.  One minute, our culture is seen as inferior by our white countrymen; the next, those same white people have appropriated that culture for themselves. One minute, we embody everything wrong with America; the next, we’re held up as a symbol of what America does right. This familiar and confusing story will soon play out again — on a massive stage. 

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Latinos — including U.S. citizens — are being profiled, harassed, tackled and detained by U.S. immigration officials with help from bumbling and unidentifiable independent contractors impersonating law enforcement officers. At the same time, the National Football League is choosing the headliner of the halftime show at the 2026 Super Bowl, and it is Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny.

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¿Que? How did Latinos go from Public Enemy No. 1 to the No. 1 attraction in the country? The Super Bowl is scheduled to be held on Feb 8, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be “all over” the event, searching for undocumented immigrants. Noem is a Know-Nothing. The undocumented aren’t hard to find. This is California. Just find a job that the native-born won’t do at any price, and you’ll find an undocumented immigrant doing it.

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I would bet that 30% of Americans are thrilled with the pick of Bad Bunny, and another 30% are offended. Thirty percent don’t care. The final 10% are asking: “Bunny who?” Where are my manners? Allow me. 

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Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (aka Bad Bunny) is a 31-year-old global sensation. Part musician and part activist, he is a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and his ultra-aggressive deportation policies. During the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards, he was honored as the Latin Artist of the 21st Century. This year, the three-time Grammy winner sold out a 31-day residency in Puerto Rico. He avoided gigs on the U.S. mainland, citing concerns about the safety of his largely Latino audience. 

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One more thing: Bad Bunny often performs in Spanish, and he is sure to continue that tradition at the Super Bowl. 

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¡Ay dios mio! That’s part of the problem right there. Not long after being sworn in for a second term, Trump signed an executive order declaring English the official language of the United States. With that signature, the president sent a message: Multilingualism — like multiculturalism — is no bueno in MAGA land. English-speaking white folks only had to spend 10 minutes on the margins thanks to reforms like affirmative action and bilingual education to decide they didn’t like it. They want to get back to running things, and the first thing they plan to do is drown out español.

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While appearing as a guest host of Saturday Night Live on Oct. 4, Bad Bunny offered no apologies. Instead, after a few words in Spanish, he offered some friendly advice in English: “If you don’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn,” he told a national audience.

America’s mixed messages take me back to the fall of 1992. I’m in an Armenian restaurant in Fresno, CA — not far from my hometown of Sanger, a small farm town which lies 13 miles east of Highway 99. 

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I’ve crashed a casual lunch between a reporter for the local newspaper, The Fresno Bee, and my friend Richard Rodriguez, the writer and author. They’re discussing what was at the time Rodriguez’ new book, Days of Obligation: An Argument With My Mexican Father. I chose the place because Rodriguez is a huge fan of William Saroyan,  a giant photo of whom adorns the wall. The famous 20th century Armenian-American writer is one of Fresno’s favorite sons. 

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At one point, Rodriguez tells a story. He met a member of the Ku Klux Klan who devours Mexican food. He can’t get enough of it, the writer says. All three of us chuckle because we get the joke. Presumably, the Klansman would like to rid the United States of all Mexicans — legal or illegal — and bleach America. But maybe the bigot hasn’t thought out his plan well enough. After all, if his racist fantasy comes true, who would prepare all that yummy Mexican food?

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“America is changing in ways it doesn’t understand,” Rodriguez said. “Everyone always thinks that the cultural shift is going to show up in an evening gown. She’s coming inside a taco.”

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Here’s how I interpret the story: Americans need to pick a lane, and decide how they feel about the 1 in 5 in their crew who are Latino. Enough hypocrisy. You can’t love our food, revel in our music, lust after our women, and bathe in our culture, then get rid of us.

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That conversation comes to mind as I think about the grumbling over Bad Bunny performing at the Super Bowl. MAGA is moping. Turning Point USA reached its breaking point. The White House is seeing red. President Donald Trump — who consumes more media than any president in history — told rightwing television network Newsmax that he had “never heard of” Bad Bunny: “I don't know who he is. I don't know why they're doing it. It’s, like, crazy. And then they blame it on some promoter they hired to pick up entertainment. I think it's absolutely ridiculous.”

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At the end of the day, what happens between two football teams on the gridiron during four quarters, well, that’s just a game. But apparently, what takes place on that stage during halftime is serious business. The blowback to the NFL’s decision was serious enough to spark an international brouhaha. Due in large part to the bizarre and divided times in which we live, the controversies surrounding the choice of a headliner have multiplied like — wait for it — bunnies.

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Some critics sound like protectionists when they argue the Super Bowl performer should be an “American” because the event is “American.” Is that so? Just as American as the nachos and bratwurst that will get consumed at Super Bowl parties all across the United States?

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First, the winners of the Super Bowl are referred to “World Champions.” In that case, shouldn’t the “world” be invited to the party? Second, Bad Bunny is a U.S. Citizen. Full stop. He was born in Puerto Rico, which was seized in the Spanish American War and has been ours since 1898.  

          

Still, there are many other Americans who are euphoric at the thought of Bad Bunny rocking the halftime show. On Oct. 22, at the ceremony marking Billboard Latin Music Week 2025 in Miami, legendary power couple Gloria and Emilio Estefan enthusiastically blessed the idea. 

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For Emilio, the fact that Bad Bunny is slated to perform at the Super Bowl represents another opportunity for Latinos to give something back to a country that has given us so much. “The most important thing for me is that people see the value of Latinos who came here to contribute, to work, and the gratitude we have for being in the best country in the world,” he said. “I don’t want a child to think they don’t have opportunities in this great country.”

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But for Gloria, the moment feels bigger. She is worried about the Trump Administration’s mass deportation campaign and the cruelty that fuels it. Against that backdrop, Bad Bunny performing at the Super Bowl isn’t just a symbol of pride. It’s an act of defiance. “The freedoms we share must be defended, mi gente,” she said. “There is no reason to be cruel to people. Yes, we absolutely need our border to have a legal process. But there’s no need to take someone that has put years of work into this country, that has sacrificed … They are not criminals! It scares me to see what we’re seeing. It scares me. And I will always speak up because freedom must be defended.”

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Meanwhile, Bad Bunny has already received a few carrots from the Super Bowl ruckus. And the game hasn’t even started yet. Following the Sept. 28 announcement, the performer experienced a 26% increase in on-demand streaming of his music in the United States. As a result of his performance at the Super Bowl, his fan base is likely to explode.  

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Nor does the NFL appear worried that it made the wrong decision. Far from it. The viewership is expected to break all the records. Some reports predict more than 135 million impressions for the game — with most of those people sticking around for the halftime show. Millions of other viewers might wander in from the kitchen just to watch the musical event. The guacamole will have to wait. 
                                                                                                                                                                        The Super Bowl provides a gargantuan stage. In 2025, 127.7 million viewers from around the world tuned in between television and streaming platforms. In 2024, the global figure was 123.7 million. The high water mark for Super Bowl headliners was Kendrick Lamar's performance last year, which was — with 133.5 million viewers — the most-watched halftime show in history.

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At an Oct. 22 news conference, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stood by the decision, which has been criticized by Trump and MAGA. “It's carefully thought through,” Goodell said. “I'm not sure we've ever selected an artist where we didn't have some blowback or criticism. It's pretty hard to do when you have literally hundreds of millions of people that are watching.”

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About Bad Bunny, the commissioner had nothing but kind words: “He's one of the leading and most popular entertainers in the world. That’s what we try to achieve. It's an important stage for us. It's an important element to the entertainment value. We’re confident it's going to be a great show. He understands the platform that he's on, and I think it's going to be exciting and a united moment.”

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Lord knows, we could use a lot more unity in this country. Also, more kindness, empathy and mutual respect couldn’t hurt. 

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Critics of the decision collected tens of thousands of signatures on a petition demanding that the NFL and Roc Nation, which is producing the halftime show, rescind the invitation. The buzzkills want to replace Bad Bunny with Texas-based country music crooner George Strait. 

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Yes, that sounds about white. I sure miss the old conservatives, the ones who defended free speech and condemned cancel culture. This current crop tramples on free speech and embraces cancel culture.

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Football is a kid’s game. If you want to see a really brutal sport, take a stroll through the culture wars. Think about the United States at this moment. Half the country detests the other half. As Gloria Estefan pointed out, Latinos are going through a tumultuous period. Personally, I call it “the troubles.”

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Look, America had a great run. From the Boston Tea Party and the Declaration of Independence and the Constitutional Convention to the Civil Rights Movement and the Moon Landing and the Digital Revolution, Americans put some major points on the scoreboard. But no one is sure if this grand experiment is really going to work out. The magic 8-ball doesn’t have an answer. Ask me after the game. 

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For his part, Bad Bunny seems to understand that his Super Bowl gig is about something much bigger than himself — or a single performance. It’s about U.S. Latinos telling Trump and the rest of his posse of racists and haters that we’re not going anywhere. In fact, we only just arrived. 

It’s similar to what Rodriguez said about the taco. People always think the resistance is going to show up wearing fatigues and a brown beret. Forget that. It’s coming in a bunny suit.    

    
                                                                                                                                                          
Ruben Navarrette — a regular contributor to LATINO Magazine — is a nationally syndicated columnist with Creators Syndicate , writer of the Navarrette Nation newsletter at Substack, author of A Darker Shade of Crimson: Odyssey of a Harvard Chicano, host of the podcast, “Ruben In The Center” and a popular speaker on the lecture circuit.