Abigail Salas:
First question, Joanna, we're going to talk about birthright citizenship and the decision that was made last week challenging the 14th Amendment, but the Supreme Court upheld that. What are your thoughts on Trump even commenting on wanting to change this? Why does it hit so close to home for you?
Johana Bencomo:
Yeah, I really appreciate you reaching out about this actually, is very important to me. I mean, you know, as an immigrant myself, as a first-generation immigrant, as a naturalized immigrant, I honestly watched this whole process in a lot of fear and anxiety, and not even for myself, but for the millions of people who live in this country, for the thousands of people who live in our community who would have been affected by this. And, you know, it should not have been even something that was discussed. It is in the Constitution, and it is the soul of this country. If you are born here, you are an American citizen. And so, I just watch this with a lot of fear and anxiety. And I'm, while I'm thankful the Supreme Court upheld this constitutional right, I'm also still very angry about what it means in the immigration movement.
Abigail Salas:
Can you elaborate on that? What do you mean by it makes you angry or what makes you angry really about it?
Johana Bencomo:
Yeah, I mean, I think it's such an attack on the very core of this country. I mean, this is a constitutional right. Like this is written in the most sacred document of this nation. And to attempt to roll that back was such a bigoted and xenophobic attack on immigrant communities that every single day show up to work, to build our communities, to be part of the fabric of our communities and to have put us through that. And I also know that it's not the end. This was one decision the Supreme Court made among several decisions that were awful, like TPS for so many people who hold temporary protected status, like the millions and millions of dollars being pumped into ICE and Border Patrol, like all of those are part of this attack on immigrants that is going to have an impact on so many families in our community, across the country, but certainly in our community. And that to me is the lowest of political tactics that this administration could do. And it's going to have major impacts on the well-being and the life of many families and our community.
Abigail Salas:
You talked about the impact that it can have in Las Cruces in this community. I, you know, would have been impacted by it. I am first generation American. What kind of message or hope can you give to those who are anxious right now in this community?
Johana Bencomo:
Yeah, I, you know, I see that very much as part of my role. of someone who's an elected official in New Mexico. I am the first formally undocumented person to be elected to public office in New Mexico, and I don't take that lightly. I take that as a big responsibility. You know, often I think about, God, what could we even do here? Like, what can I even do? And it all feels so overwhelming that I'm sure so many people are feeling that. But the reality is that in New Mexico and in Las Cruces, we are building a community that protects, not only welcomes immigrants, but protects immigrants. And we will do, and I will make sure that Las Cruces uses every single tool in our tool belt to protect our immigrant community. I will make sure and work with state officials to uphold things like HB9 and more immigrant protections. We can do a lot in New Mexico and I want people to feel, I want people to know that there are so many of us who are standing with them, who are part of the community, who are standing with them and who are fighting every single day to push, to push back on these attacks because I feel like, you know, upholding birthright citizenship is the status quo and now we must commit. as elected officials to ensure that we're pushing back against these attacks and building protections for communities.
Abigail Salas:
And what can be done city level, long term to protect and to advocate for mixed status families, immigrants?
Johana Bencomo:
I think we have to ensure that, at least from the city perspective, I think that we have to ensure that every single aspect of like even our budget process, that we are not discriminating against people because of their status. Like if they want access to affordable housing programs, that they have it, that they have access. And we have to work with state legislators to ensure that if people want driver's licenses and insurance, and if people have DACA and want to have a license in their field, they can have access to that. I think there's been so many important wins in New Mexico. We must continue to protect them and expand wherever possible.
Abigail Salas:
What would be a priority for you to work on?
Johana Bencomo:
Honestly, obviously, whether we expanded our welcoming city resolution in October, and that included things like data privacy protections, and we've really affirmed that, for example, law enforcement will not collaborate with federal immigration officers. One, we have to ensure that continues. I think for me, priorities include things like protecting people from protests. If people are protesting that we ensure, you know, we are not adding additional legal challenges to folks who are protesting that can then be put in the legal system and face essential deportation. I want to roll back the shopping cart ordinance that could put someone who is undocumented in deportation proceedings because of it. And I would love to build towards some sort of immigrant legal fund that can help many of our community members, you know, fight for their, you know, have funding to get their citizenship, to take their citizenship test, to renew their DACA, to renew their green cards and things like that. That's something I would really love to get to.
