Texas is sending nine new representatives to the U.S. House of Representatives in January. One of them is Veronica Escobar – one of two Latinas from Texas to be elected to the House for the first time. The Democrat from El Paso is filling the seat vacated by her longtime friend and ally Beto O’Rourke.
As Escobar learns to navigate the U.S. Capitol, her hometown, as well as the entire U.S.-Mexico border, remains a key topic of conversation on Capitol Hill. She says at this particular time in American politics, it’s especially important to be one of the first Latinas (Rep. Sylvia Garcia of Houston is the other Latina who was elected during the midterms) to represent Texas in Congress.
“During a very xenophobic, anti-immigrant era under the Trump administration, it was El Paso, Texas – on the U.S.-Mexico border – that made history during such a troubling year,” Escobar says. “It’s symbolic because it almost seems like the country is trying to send the antidote to the politics of negativity and division and hatred.”
What you’ll hear in this segment:
– What it’s like to go through freshman orientation at the U.S. Capitol
– How it feels to be one of Texas’s first Latinas elected to Congress
– How Escobar compares the current refugee and migrant situation at southern border to other waves of immigration in U.S. history
Written by Brooke Sjoberg.
