Nanette Diaz Barragán was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2016, becoming the first Latina ever to represent California’s 44th Congressional district.
Born in Harbor City and growing up in its surrounding harbor communities, Nanette’s humble beginnings shaped her interest in issues that matter locally: environmental and health justice, immigration reform, strengthening the economy and affordable and accessible education.
As the youngest of eleven children raised by immigrant parents from Mexico, Nanette knows about the challenges that many low-income minority families face firsthand. Her father, a local tv repairman, instilled in her a strong work ethic and influenced her love for baseball (in particular, for the Los Angeles Dodgers). Her mother, who only completed the third grade, cleaned homes, cared for others and worked in factories to make ends meet. Nanette learned from her parents the values of hard work, and obtained her undergraduate degree from UCLA and her Juris Doctor from USC Gould School of Law.
The American dream is what my parents sought for themselves and for their children, just as many others do, to have a better life and to contribute to this beautiful nation we call home. As a daughter of immigrants from Mexico and with family members who are DACA recipients, seeing the deportation of hard-working and peaceful families hits home for me– it continues to breakdown communities and undermines who we are as Americans.
As a member of the Homeland Security Committee, I am focused on national security measures that make us safer. Not on ways to further divide us. The type of wall proposed by President Trump is a boondoggle that will do nothing to stop drug cartels or terrorists. Instead, our energy should be redirected to reforming our anachronistic immigration policies so that it addresses the needs of the country.
Nearly 200,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients live in California, where they have gone to college, taken out mortgages and started businesses. Immigrants are an integral part of the California workforce in a range of occupations, and they have contributed tens of billions of dollars in taxes. They do not deserve to live in fear and uncertainty with the threat of exile hanging over their head. We must honor our promise to beneficiaries of the DACA program who are American in every way except by their passport.
In America, we believe that individuals write their own destiny, and we provide people the tools to become their best selves. Giving DREAMers a permanent path to citizenship is the tool they need, and one that I have been relentlessly fighting for in Congress. Ultimately, we must address the immigration status of DREAMer’s parents too. We should approach immigration laws in a fair and humane way, consistent with our values. As workers, business owners, taxpayers, family members, and neighbors, immigrants are an integral part of California’s diverse and thriving communities and make extensive contributions that benefit all.