With about $100 billion in private investment on the horizon for the state, Gov. Jeff Landry said his public safety and immigration policies will support Louisiana’s economic prosperity.
In a keynote speech Thursday at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana’s 2026 Baton Rouge Business Luncheon, Landry touted his efforts to improve quality of life in the state, which he said has opened the doors for companies to do business in Louisiana. He backed his immigration policies, which have invited federal law enforcement into the state and allowed the arrest of undocumented individuals, as a means to improve safety and make way for economic development.
“What we have done systematically tackling public safety, crime, education, focusing on economy, is starting to create a high tide that is lifting all boats in this state,” he said at the luncheon at the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center.
He commended the state’s Hispanic community, saying all Americans are products of immigration.
“I want you to know that I really appreciate the Hispanic community,” he said. “Because I look at it like the Cajun community as well. I believe that the Hispanic community, for the most part, shares exactly the same values as the Cajun culture as well, and that is faith, family, a belief in country, a belief in our God and absolutely hard work.”
The chamber has issued statements in the past year calling for transparency from federal immigration officials in New Orleans and warning Landry against signing state policies allowing the arrest of undocumented immigrants.
Landry said the United States has not properly enforced immigration in the past, leading to undocumented immigrants entering the country. He asked attendees if they entered the country “the right way,” which was met by a few individuals reluctantly raising their hands.
Landry likened his immigration enforcement policies to disciplining children.
“They have wreaked havoc on our communities, and I have sought to find those people and to remove them,” he said. “Why? Because they endangered you, endanger your children, endanger your families, and they endanger our ability to have a great state that is peaceful and prosperous and a place where there’s opportunity.”
At the end of his address, he asked attendees to urge their congressional representatives to help stem illegal immigration, met with a standing ovation from most of the audience.
Mayor-President Sid Edwards delivered opening remarks, and Susie Schowen, secretary of Louisiana Works, and Ileana Ledet, chief economic competitiveness officer for Louisiana Economic Development, delivered remarks following Landry’s speech.
Schowen said Hispanic-owned businesses, which are some of the fastest growing in the state, tend to be disproportionately smaller and family-owned. She said Hispanic businesses’ deep ties in their communities make them “ideal partners” for economic development.
With about 125,000 open jobs in Louisiana and more on the horizon from upcoming industrial projects, Schowen said addressing the state’s poverty issue is key for bolstering the workforce, suggesting the state should find ways to move impoverished citizens into the open jobs.
“We’ve got policy solutions that are going to work, but we also have solutions that are based on approaching the problem from the other side, and that is directly tackling the problem of generational poverty in Louisiana head on,” she said.
Ledet promoted the LED’s SourceLouisiana.com directory for business owners to input their company information to increase their visibility to clients. She said small businesses are the foundation of the agency’s work.
“By our very nature as Latinos, what a lot of us do is a spirit of entrepreneurship, small business, starting out on your own, being your own boss,” she said. “And so we really prioritize small businesses.”
