Catalina Cruz (born 1982/1983) is a Colombian-

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

attorney from the borough of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

and former undocumented immigrant ( DREAMer), Cruz has worked as an advocate for immigration rights, including as Director of New York Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...

's 2016 Exploited Task Force. Cruz was elected as the Democratic candidate in the Fall 2018 election for the 39th district of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

, representing Corona, Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights,

Early life and education

Cruz was born in

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. In 1992, when she was nine years old, Cruz and her mother came to the United States under a six month tourist visa. They remained in the U.S. and she was undocumented for over 10 years after her initial tourist visa expired. Cruz grew up in Brooklyn and Queens. She has five siblings, three of whom are U.S. citizens. Cruz became the first former undocumented immigrant who identifies as a DREAMer to be elected in

New York state New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

. (Both

Adriano Espaillat Adriano de Jesús Espaillat Rodríguez (; born September 27, 1954) is a Dominican-American politician. He is the U.S. representative for and the first Dominican American and first formerly undocumented immigrant to ever serve in Congress. He pre ...

and

Gabriela Rosa Gabriela Rosa (born October 12, 1966) is a Dominican-American former politician. After being elected to the New York State Assembly in 2012, Rosa resigned her office in June 2014 as part of a federal plea deal. A native of the Dominican Republ ...

were former undocumented immigrants who served in the New York State legislature, but neither identifies as a DREAMer.) She is also the first Colombian-American in the district, and only the third DREAMer to serve in an elected position in the United States. In 2001, Cruz graduated from

John Bowne High School John Bowne High School is a public high school located in Flushing, New York City and has an enrollment of nearly four thousand students.Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the ...

. In 2005, Cruz received a bachelor's degree with honors in forensic psychology from the

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts c ...

. In 2009, Cruz received a J.D. from the City University of New York School of Law.

Career

After law school Cruz worked as a Volunteer Assistant Attorney General for the New York State Attorney General,

, where her case work included focusing on fraud related to immigration services and working on prosecution efforts. From 2009 to 2012, Cruz was counsel at the Goddard Riverside SRO Law Project at the Goddard Riverside Community Center on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. From 2012 to 2014, Cruz was counsel to the Division of Immigrant Policies and Affairs at the

New York State Department of Labor The New York State Department of Labor (DOL or NYSDOL) is the department of the New York state government that enforces labor law and administers unemployment benefits. The mission of the New York State Department of Labor is to protect workers ...

. In 2014, Cruz was counsel to the Immigration Committee for the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

, where she worked to improve coverage of issue related to domestic worker trafficking. She worked on the Unaccompanied Minors Initiative and the

IDNYC In the United States, a city (or municipal) identification card is a form of identification card issued by a municipality, such as a city, rather than a state or federal government. Under federal law, cities may issue their own identification car ...

program. She also oversaw the Key to the City program. She was in this position until 2015. From 2015 to 2017, Cruz was the Director of the Office of the New York State Governor,

. During this time she was the Special Assistant for Labor & Workforce. She was also the Director of the Joint Task Force on Worker Exploitation and Employee Misclassification, also known as the Exploited Workers Task Force, a working as assistant counsel in Cuomo's taskforce. In 2017, Cruz became Chief of Staff for New York City Council Member, Julissa Ferreras-Copeland until Ferreras-Copeland made the decision not to seek re-election.

New York Assembly

In February 2018, Cruz announced her candidacy for Francisco Moya's vacated position on the

's Assembly District 39. The District's Democratic leadership instead unanimously selected Ari Espinal as the Democratic candidate in the April 2018 special election. Cruz then won the Democratic primary for District 39 on September 13, 2018, over Espinal, and won the seat on November 6, 2018. She had received campaign training from New American Leaders that she believes helped her ultimately fundraise nearly $200,000 to win the primary race.

Personal life

Cruz identifies as a DREAMer under the unadopted DREAM Act that was introduced in 2001, which addresses citizenship of children brought to the United States by their parents and living as undocumented citizens. Cruz married her high school boyfriend in 2003, which allowed Cruz to get her green card in 2005 and become a U.S. citizen in 2009. Cruz' citizenship allowed her to sponsor her mother's citizenship. The marriage ended in divorce. Cruz is married to a

New York Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

police officer. She and her husband live in Jackson Heights,

. Cruz has said that the attorney who did her immigration papers inspired her to go to law school and become a lawyer.

References

External links

* at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Catalina (politician) 1980s births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American political activists American politicians of Colombian descent Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New York (state) Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Lawyers from New York City Living people Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly People from Jackson Heights, Queens Politicians from Queens, New York Undocumented immigrants to the United States Women state legislators in New York (state)