The sixth of seven children, Julie was born on the San Carlos Apache reservation in Arizona and raised in the borderlands of south Texas. Her mom, Gloria, was an elementary school teacher and her dad, Mario, was a rancher. Together, they taught Julie the value of hard work, honesty, and the importance of lifting as we climb. Julie’s organizing career began while a student at Yale University. In 2005, she organized a 58-member coalition of working-class families, unions, community organizations, and environmental activists to ensure that tax dollars were spent on affordable housing, a clean environment, and jobs that paid a living wage.
Julie worked in the immigrant rights movement for over a decade, and has seen the consequences of our broken immigration system far too many times. She knows the vibrancy that new Americans bring to our state and communities. Her immigration works includes:
Preventing ICE from raiding state databases for immigration enforcement
Expanding in-state tuition to every high school graduate, regardless of immigration status
Establishing a statewide Office of New Americans