What are specific ways you have helped people of color and/or the immigrant community?
As ranking member on House Education and lead negotiator for the McCleary school funding remedy, I fought for a more equitable K-12 system that provided equal opportunity for all students with our borders.
What is the biggest legislative priority for communities of color and the immigrant community in the next few years? Do you think there are legislative concerns that are unique to these communities?
Yes, but much of the discrimination that communities of color face today is with unconscious bias, rather than inadequate protection under the law or willful violation of the law. Raising awareness of that bias is required to create the cultural change needed to continue our movement forward.
What are specific ways that the office you seek would affect communities of color and the immigrant community, if you are elected?
I’m a big proponent of expanding work visa programs to allow undocumented workers the opportunity to continue to live and work in this country legally. My sister and her German husband are both expats who have worked (and raised their children) abroad their entire lives. Our tech and ag sectors desperately need these foreign workers, and they should be legitimized.
