Opportunity, Representation, and Respect

Hispanic and Latino families, workers, entrepreneurs, students, veterans, seniors, small business owners, caregivers, faith leaders, educators, and civic leaders often ask candidates where they stand on economic opportunity, immigration, education, healthcare, housing, language access, small business support, workforce development, family stability, and fair representation. Voters deserve the same transparency. Here is where I stand.

The Hispanic community is essential to Florida’s culture, economy, workforce, and future.

Hispanic and Latino residents contribute to every part of life in Tampa Bay and FL-12, including small businesses, entrepreneurship, healthcare, education, construction, hospitality, public service, military service, faith communities, civic engagement, and neighborhood leadership.

Policies that create economic opportunity, strengthen families, improve educational outcomes, expand healthcare access, support small businesses, and protect civil rights benefit entire communities.

The success of Hispanic and Latino families is part of the success of Florida’s 12th Congressional District.

Throughout my years in public service, I have worked with Hispanic business owners, educators, faith leaders, nonprofit organizations, workers, students, advocates, and families throughout Hillsborough County and the Tampa Bay region.

Those relationships reinforced what I have long believed: good government works best when every community is heard, respected, and represented.

Communities deserve leaders who show up, listen carefully, understand lived experience, and work collaboratively to solve problems.

Representation means more than being included in a photo or invited to a meeting. It means having a meaningful voice when decisions are made.

I am a member of the Hillsborough County Hispanic Democratic Caucus and have worked alongside organizations serving Hispanic communities throughout Hillsborough County and the Tampa Bay region.

As a Hillsborough County Commissioner, I supported funding and initiatives that created economic opportunity in Hispanic communities, including support for Enterprising Latinas, which provides workforce development and entrepreneurship opportunities for women, and the Wimauma Community Development Corporation, which strengthens economic development and quality of life in South Hillsborough County.

I also supported community and cultural events that celebrate heritage while supporting local businesses and community engagement, including the annual Caribbean Festival referenced in campaign materials.

I have regularly participated in community events that recognize Hispanic leadership and achievement, including Hispanic Man and Woman of the Year events, and I have engaged with Hispanic community leaders, business owners, educators, faith leaders, and advocates to better understand community concerns and opportunities.

I have also worked to protect vulnerable populations within Hispanic communities. Campaign materials state that during my county service, I helped ensure that the South County Tampa Bay Crisis Center partnered with the Hillsborough County Commission on Human Trafficking, faith-based organizations, and other community partners to address human trafficking, provide support services, and protect vulnerable individuals and families, including people who may face greater risk because of language barriers, economic vulnerability, or fear of reporting abuse.

My record is grounded in the belief that every community deserves meaningful representation, practical investment, and leaders who respect the dignity of every family.

I support lawful immigration enforcement that protects public safety while respecting due process, constitutional rights, and human dignity.

I support expanding access to capital, workforce training, affordable healthcare, quality education, affordable housing, career and technical education, nutrition support, language access, and small business resources that create pathways to economic mobility and long-term financial security.

I believe government policies should strengthen families, expand opportunity, and ensure every resident is treated fairly under the law.

Communities are strongest when government reflects the people it serves and listens directly to the people affected by policy decisions.

I support efforts that expand leadership opportunities, encourage civic participation, strengthen community engagement, and ensure qualified leaders from all backgrounds have opportunities to serve on boards, commissions, advisory groups, and public institutions.

Public decisions are better when diverse perspectives are included from the beginning, not added after decisions have already been made.

Hispanic workers and entrepreneurs play a critical role in the local and national economy. Campaign materials describe Hispanic-owned businesses as among the fastest-growing segments of the American economy and significant contributors to job creation and economic growth.

Small businesses need access to capital, affordable commercial space, fair permitting processes, reliable infrastructure, a trained workforce, and predictable rules.

Workers need pathways to higher wages through apprenticeships, career and technical education, community college programs, certifications, English-language access where needed, and workforce development programs that connect training to real jobs.

Economic opportunity should reach every community, including communities that have historically faced barriers to capital, public investment, and decision-making power.

Many Hispanic families view education as a pathway to opportunity. Strong public schools, affordable higher education, apprenticeships, workforce training, and career pathways help young people and adults build economic security.

Healthcare access is also central to family stability. Families need affordable healthcare, preventive care, behavioral-health services, maternal healthcare, language-accessible health information, and trusted providers who understand community needs.

Housing affordability, transportation costs, nutrition programs, healthcare costs, and educational opportunity are connected. When one part of the family budget is strained, the entire household feels the impact.

Investments in education, healthcare, housing, workforce development, language access, and safe communities help families thrive and strengthen the entire district.

Healthcare affordability is a major concern for many families in Pasco and Hillsborough Counties, including Hispanic and Latino households that may face language barriers, work-schedule barriers, transportation barriers, or uncertainty navigating health systems.

A parent may delay care because they cannot afford a visit, cannot take time off work, or cannot find language-accessible information about coverage, appointments, medication, or preventive care.

A worker in hospitality, construction, agriculture, caregiving, or small business may be employed in an essential industry but still struggle with insurance costs, prescription drug costs, mental-health access, or provider availability.

A family caring for children and aging parents may need affordable clinics, culturally competent healthcare providers, nutrition support, and clear information about available services.

Healthcare policy is economic policy because a family cannot build stability if illness, medical debt, or lack of access keeps them from working, studying, caregiving, or planning for the future.

Housing affordability is one of the most urgent issues facing families in FL-12, and Hispanic and Latino families are part of that broader affordability challenge.

A family may have multiple working adults and still struggle with rising rents, homeowners insurance, utility costs, childcare costs, transportation costs, and barriers to saving for homeownership.

A young family may want to stay near work, school, church, relatives, or childcare support but find that housing costs push them farther from the communities where they have roots.

A worker may spend more time commuting because affordable housing is not available near employment centers, adding fuel, vehicle maintenance, tolls, and time away from family to an already strained household budget.

Housing stability supports educational success, healthcare access, workforce participation, and community engagement. Families need safe, affordable places to live in the communities they help build.

Immigration policy affects families, workers, employers, schools, faith communities, and neighborhoods throughout FL-12.

I support lawful immigration enforcement that protects public safety while respecting due process, constitutional rights, and human dignity.

Families need a system that is secure, orderly, humane, understandable, and efficient. Long processing delays, sudden policy changes, and fear-based politics create uncertainty that can affect children, schools, employers, and communities.

Public safety and family stability are strongest when people can trust that laws will be enforced fairly and that constitutional rights will be respected.

Language access matters because people cannot fully participate in government, healthcare, education, public safety, or economic opportunity if they cannot understand the information they need.

Data USA reports that Spanish is the most common non-English primary language reported by households in Congressional District 12, FL.

Government should communicate clearly, make public information accessible, and ensure that language barriers do not prevent families from accessing services, reporting abuse, participating in schools, starting businesses, or engaging in civic life.

Language access is not a luxury. It is part of making government work for the people it serves.

Throughout Pasco and Hillsborough Counties, Hispanic and Latino families often discuss rising housing costs, healthcare affordability, workforce challenges, small business needs, educational opportunity, immigration uncertainty, and the desire for economic stability.

These concerns are not isolated issues. They are connected parts of opportunity and family security.

A family facing high rent may also be struggling with transportation costs, healthcare costs, childcare costs, and uncertainty about future opportunities. A small business owner may be facing insurance costs, workforce shortages, access-to-capital challenges, and the need for trusted public systems that help rather than complicate growth.

A Hispanic small business owner may be trying to expand a local business but face challenges accessing affordable capital, navigating permitting processes, hiring workers, obtaining affordable healthcare coverage for employees, or securing commercial space.

A first-generation college student may be balancing work, family responsibilities, transportation costs, and tuition while trying to earn a degree, workforce credential, or professional certification.

A mixed-status family may include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, TPS recipients, visa holders, and relatives navigating immigration processes. Sudden policy changes can create uncertainty that affects families, schools, employers, churches, and community organizations.

A family may need language-accessible healthcare information to understand insurance options, preventive care, prescription costs, maternal healthcare, behavioral-health services, or nutrition assistance.

A worker seeking to improve economic opportunities may benefit from workforce training, apprenticeship programs, technical education, English-language programs, or certification pathways that connect directly to higher-wage jobs.

A family may work full-time but still struggle with rising rents, homeowners insurance, transportation expenses, childcare costs, and barriers to saving for a first home.

A survivor or vulnerable individual may need safe reporting options, trauma-informed care, housing support, legal support, language-accessible services, and trusted community partnerships to escape exploitation or abuse.

These examples show why opportunity policy must include housing, healthcare, education, workforce development, language access, small business support, immigration fairness, and community representation.

Just as healthcare policy, housing policy, transportation policy, education policy, immigration policy, and economic policy should be evaluated using measurable outcomes, representation and opportunity policies should also be evaluated based on results.

Good public policy should improve educational attainment, business creation, workforce participation, healthcare access, housing stability, economic mobility, language access, civic participation, community engagement, and family stability.

Policy should be guided by evidence, accountability, and measurable improvements in people’s lives, not slogans or assumptions.

The goal should be a government that listens, measures outcomes, and adjusts policy when communities are not being served effectively.

I will continue engaging Hispanic and Latino communities throughout FL-12 so that their concerns help shape policy decisions.

I will support policies that expand economic opportunity, protect due process, strengthen public education, improve healthcare affordability, expand workforce training, increase access to capital, support small businesses, protect vulnerable families, and ensure language access where needed.

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My commitment is simple: listen, engage, show up, and ensure every community has a voice in government.

Florida’s 12th Congressional District deserves a representative who understands our communities because she has lived, worked, and served here.

The challenges facing families in Pasco and Hillsborough Counties are not abstract policy debates. They are the rising cost of living, the affordability of healthcare, the security of Social Security and Medicare, the strength of our local economy, and the opportunities available to the next generation.

I am running for Congress because I believe effective government can help solve these challenges when leaders are willing to listen, work across differences, and focus on results.

That is the leadership I have provided throughout my public service, and it is the leadership I will bring to Washington.

Leadership Matters.

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