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A former DACA recipient is running for the state legislature in New Mexico. Democrat Cindy Nava could be one of the first people elected to public office who benefited from the program that gives federal protection to children who are brought into the country illegally. KUNM's Taylor Velazquez has more.
TAYLOR VELAZQUEZ, BYLINE: Wearing a hot pink blazer and jeans, Nava tells her story to a group of refugees and immigrants at Albuquerque High School.
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CINDY NAVA: I came to this country when I was 7 years old.
VELAZQUEZ: She tells the middle schoolers and the high schoolers what it was like to grow up without a Social Security number and come to a new place while being doubted because of her background.
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NAVA: What this means more than anything is that the voices of immigrants will be at the table.
VELAZQUEZ: Nava's family came to the U.S. when she was 7. She says her parents had limited opportunities here and cleaned houses to make ends meet. But by age 16, she was at the New Mexico Legislature, commonly called the Roundhouse, advocating for undocumented students to receive state-funded college scholarships. In 2012, she says the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program changed her life. It put her on the path to help people struggling through the immigration system, like her parents.
NAVA: And I don't come from a family with those policy chops. Everything that I know I have learned from experience and from being on the ground and being affected as an undocumented student, not having access to any resources.
VELAZQUEZ: Nava worked in the Biden administration's Department of Housing and Urban Development, becoming the first former DACA recipient to receive a White House political appointment. But she says it was always her plan to come back home and run for office. As one of the 600,000 DACA recipients in the country and a Latina, she says she wants to be a voice for those who are often underrepresented in politics.
NAVA: For me, this is not about running to represent people. This is about running to bring people to the table.
VELAZQUEZ: Immigration ranks as a top issue for voters across the country this year. According to a recent Gallup poll, 42% describe the situation at the southern border as a crisis. New Mexico is the only state that's majority Hispanic. The state's diverse population and familiarity with the border gives Nava a springboard to talk about immigration, says Gabe Sanchez, a political science professor at The University of New Mexico.
GABE SANCHEZ: If she can message on that well and connect her personal lived experience with her policy platform, I think that will play very well in terms of the Democratic Party's opportunity to reach out to the younger demographic.
VELAZQUEZ: Audrey Trujillo is the Republican candidate in the race. She ran for secretary of state in 2020. She says she wants to strengthen the electoral system, improve public safety and make government more transparent. She says she supports immigrants but is not in favor of those who come to the U.S. illegally.
AUDREY TRUJILLO: It's just not fair. They can, you know, be taken advantage of. And then there's a lot of issues behind crime as well. You know, we don't know who's coming across.
VELAZQUEZ: TrujilIo says Nava's story promotes illegal immigration and claims immigrants like her receive unfair advantages.
TRUJILLO: You look at some of the things that she's accomplished. They gave her opportunities that even some of us that were born and raised here didn't get.
VELAZQUEZ: The winner of the election will join a Statehouse that is currently made up of 44% women, one of the largest margins in the country. Makeup of the Roundhouse could be majority women, depending on the outcome of this year's elections.
For NPR News, I'm Taylor Velazquez in Albuquerque. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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