AURORA: Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show, which celebrated Latino culture in Spanish, offered an uplifting moment of cultural pride for many Hispanic residents in Aurora, Colorado, where daily life has been reshaped by fears of immigration raids and deportations. The diverse Denver suburb has been in the crosshairs of US President Donald Trump. On the campaign trail and since returning to office, Trump has claimed the city has been taken over by Venezuelan gang members, an assertion local citizens and leaders dispute.
Immigration raids have increased in the city of 403,000 people, where Latinos comprise more than 31 percent of the population. Many Latinos living there, regardless of their immigration status, say they feel besieged, stigmatized and attacked. In what feels like a dark time, a dozen Latino residents of Aurora said in interviews that Bad Bunny’s performance — which Trump labeled “an affront to the Greatness of America” — felt less like simple entertainment and more like a cultural lifeline of recognition, a brief moment of visibility and pride.
“The fear factor within the Hispanic community is definitely there — people with papers, people without papers. Many people are scared to come out of their houses, the morale of the community is super low,” said William Herrera, a manager at Panaderia el Paisa, a popular bakery that is a neighborhood hub.
“That’s why Bad Bunny’s show was so beautiful. For him to represent Hispanics on the biggest stage in America at a time when all the racists are trying to push us down, for him to deliver the message that love is stronger than hate, it filled me with pride,” said Herrera. “He gave courage to the entire community.”
Residents say fear in the Hispanic community is keeping people indoors. Some streets feel emptier, big birthday parties are less common and crowded backyard asada barbecues are now rare. Across the US, worries about immigration raids dominate daily conversations and force Hispanics to be cautious about where they go, speaking Spanish and being visible in their own neighborhoods.
At Mary Zuloaga’s beauty salon in Aurora, a TV tuned to Spanish-language network Univision was showing clips of Bad Bunny’s show on Tuesday as she reflected on its significance.
Born in Colombia, Zuloaga, who has been in the US since the early 1980s, said the Latino community had lived through similar moments of anxiety, notably under former President Ronald Reagan, and she saw how those fears negatively shaped collective behavior and identity.
She said the climate under Trump is worse than the 1980s, and she fears her language or appearance could trigger her arrest and detention despite being an American citizen.
For Zuloaga, Bad Bunny performing entirely in Spanish was crucial, despite criticisms that doing so alienated English-only speakers.
“He showed that the government can terrorize our community, but they cannot take away our language,” Zuloaga said. “If we let them do that, then we have lost our identity.”
At the nearby Ollin Cafetzin coffee house, where a 1,000-book library on ethnic studies is open to all, trainings occur for people who wish to observe immigration raids. The owners also work closely with immigrant and workers’ rights non-profits to support undocumented people.
Coffee house co-owner Cynthia Moreno-Romero welcomed what she saw as resistance in Bad Bunny’s art.
Moreno-Romero said his performance paralleled the educational and social events she organizes in her coffee shop.
“It is important for us at this time when fear seems like the only thing we can hold on to, to really channel that fear into imagination and organizing,” Moreno-Romero said. “It’s important that we highlight joy in these moments.”
Bad Bunny’s show offers cultural lifeline to a besieged Hispanic community
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Bad Bunny’s show offers cultural lifeline to a besieged Hispanic community
- Latinos applaud representation in Bad Bunny halftime show
- Performance in Spanish a sign of cultural survival
Ratcliffe says he is sorry his UK ‘colonized by immigrants’ remark offended some
- His comments were condemned by politicians, campaigners and by fan groups at Manchester United
- Muslim Supporters Club said the term “colonized” was frequently used by far-right activists to frame migrants as invaders
LONDON: British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe said on Thursday he was sorry he had offended some people by saying the country had been “colonized by immigrants,” after Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined a chorus of criticism over the remarks.
Ratcliffe, one of Britain’s most successful businessmen, responded to the outcry with a statement saying it was important to raise the issue of immigration, but that he regretted his “choice of language” had caused concern.
The founder of chemicals giant INEOS, and owner of nearly a third of Manchester United, had told Sky News that high migration and people living on benefits were damaging the economy.
Finance minister: Comments were “disgusting”
“You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. I mean, the UK has been colonized — it’s costing too much money,” Ratcliffe said in the interview aired on Wednesday.
“The UK has been colonized by immigrants, really, hasn’t it?” he added.
Starmer said the remarks were wrong and would play into the hands of those who wanted to divide the country. Finance minister Rachel Reeves said the comments were “unacceptable” and “disgusting.”
On Thursday, INEOS issued a statement from Ratcliffe in response to “reporting of his comments.”
“I am sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe and caused concern but it is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth,” he said.
He said he wanted to stress that governments must manage migration alongside investment in skills, industry and jobs to ensure long-term prosperity is shared by everyone, and that it was “critical that we maintain an open debate on the challenges facing the UK.”
Starmer’s spokesperson said it was right for him to apologize. Asked if an apology about offense caused rather than the comments themselves were enough, the spokesperson said questions on the detail of the apology were for Ratcliffe.
Manchester United fans flag up use of “colonized”
His comments were condemned by politicians, campaigners and by fan groups at Manchester United, including its Muslim Supporters Club who said the term “colonized” was frequently used by far-right activists to frame migrants as invaders.
“Public discourse shapes public behavior,” the group said. “When influential figures adopt language that mirrors extremist talking points, it risks legitimising prejudice and deepening division.”
Others noted that the Manchester United first team was largely made up of international players and staff, and questioned whether Ratcliffe should be commenting on British politics when he had moved to the tax haven Monaco.
Before Ratcliffe’s response, The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said Ratcliffe’s comments were inflammatory and should be withdrawn.
Immigration debate has intensified
Immigration has consistently been among the top voter concerns in Britain according to opinion polls, and has helped fuel the rise of Nigel Farage’s right-wing populist party Reform UK.
Rhetoric around immigration has hardened in recent years and a wave of protests broke out last summer outside hotels housing asylum seekers. Widespread rioting also occurred in 2024, sparked by false information circulating online that a teenager who killed three young girls was an Islamist migrant.
Sky said Ratcliffe had cited incorrect figures to back up his argument. He said the population had risen from 58 million to 70 million people since 2020. The Office for National Statistics estimates the UK population was 67 million in mid-2020 and 69 million in mid-2024.
The population was around 59 million in 2000. Ratcliffe and his office did not immediately respond to Reuters questions about the figures he used.
Farage responded to the comments by saying that Britain had undergone mass immigration that had changed the character of many areas in the country. “Labour may try to ignore that but Reform won’t,” he said.
