Politician

For immigrant women, fighting for some of the standard platforms of the women's movement may feel unthinkable when deportation is staring you in the face every day.

It took me 17 years to become a U.S. citizen.

I've always thought of the United States as a place where so much was possible and so many opportunities were out there.

There isn't really precedent for asylum seekers' being criminally prosecuted at the border before they've had a 'credible fear' hearing. You come seeking asylum. Seeking asylum is not illegal.

I'm an organizer at heart. Organizers know that giving information, being in front of people, talking to people, to build our movement for the kind of country that we see is the most important thing.

We have to take our anger and rage and channel it into building, growing, loving, holding each other up.

I feel like young people, more than anyone in the country, always have their moral compass on perfectly straight.

Policy is about real people and real stories, and sometimes we forget that.

For immigrant women, the very act of immigration is about opportunity, equality, and freedom. Women immigrants come to America to care for their families, escape gender-based violence, or express their sexual identity.

I think what I learned is that just because somebody says you can't talk to them or just because somebody says they don't have an answer for you, you don't stop.

What makes America great is our commitment to our values of inclusivity and opportunity for all.

I love my district, the 37th Legislative District in Washington State, where I have lived for more than 20 years.

My mother, with a Master's in English Literature, taught me to appreciate language and that words matter.

I'm not a complainer. I'm a doer. So if I see something is wrong, then I feel like I have to get in there and try to fix it.

I am on the side of the working person across the country.

After 9/11, I had just become an American citizen, and I remember sitting in front of my TV set watching the news of the attacks, in tears. I remember thinking to myself, 'Nothing is ever going to be the same in this country for people who look like me.'

There were not that many people who were willing to come out and stand up for Muslims or stand up against the abuses of the Bush administration. That was post-9/11, so I think there was a lot of fear at the time about exactly what that meant - were they unpatriotic if they stood up?

I really get my best work done in the morning, so if I have to edit speeches or comments, that all happens before I get to work.

When I was a little girl, my dad always said to me that I was going to be this great businesswoman, that I was going to be the CEO of IBM. So that's what I came into the world thinking, that I was going to go into the business world and make my mark there.

My message to women - including women of color - stand strong. Refuse to be minimized or patronized. Let all the small guys out there be intimidated by you.