What more immigrant women need to run for office (it's a lot more than donations)
Opinion: Arizona needs more immigrant women to lead in politics, but they face more obstacles than others to run for office. Here's how to overcome them.
Immigrant women are the future of our country.
We are the backbone of our families, the connectors within communities and often the founding leaders of movements for change.
As members of the fastest growing communities in Arizona and across the U.S., we work to strengthen our country and our democracy, showing that when immigrant women lead, we all benefit.
Yet, despite our growing presence and power, our voices are too often excluded from critical policy decisions.
We are left to deal with the implications of legislation that does not represent our values or needs, and in fact, many times causes harm and reinforces barriers based on misogyny and racism.
We’re here to change that.
It's already difficult for women candidates
While our backgrounds may be different – Ghida a Lebanese immigrant from Sierra Leone and Raquel a first-generation American from southern Arizona – we share the belief that our country can be one where all people are included and represented at every level of government.
And as New American women ourselves, we understand the realities that women of color and immigrant women face, and the challenges we run into when trying to create a more inclusive democracy.
Before women can get to work changing our democracy in office, we must first overcome the extensive hurdles we face when running for office.
Women have to be asked on average at least seven times before running and then must tackle the financial, familial and professional challenges that come with pursuing public office.
In addition to running a campaign, we often must also balance child care and caretaking, and professional commitments while dealing with sexism and harassment.
In fact, we are three times more likely than our male colleagues to be targeted with threats and harassment.
Women of color face even more challenges
It’s even harder to run for office as an immigrant or woman of color.
We are disproportionately subjected to sexual harassment, racial abuse and threats of violence. Systemic racism and structural inequities, coupled with the challenges that all women face, mean there is seldom a one-size-fits-all answer.
That’s why the most important steps we can take to help immigrant women run for office is to give them a community that backs them and the tools and support they need.
That means investing early in these candidates through training, finances and community organizing.
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Our organization, New American Leaders, has been working in Arizona for more than a decade to empower immigrant women.
Our investment has evolved to meet the needs of immigrant communities as the political landscape evolved.
We began recruiting candidates 10 years ago
We began more than 10 years ago after “show me your papers” and Senate Bill 1070 was introduced, investing in the New American leaders like Raquel, who emerged from that movement.
We empower them to use their stories and experiences to connect with voters and become the elected officials their communities need.
Since then, our investment has grown into empowering community leaders into school board and city council members, state representatives and senators, and top party officials to ensure that immigrant voices are included in the political process.
Nine alumni of New American leaders currently serve in the Arizona Legislature.
We were proud to continue that investment last month as we hosted our national women’s training in Arizona.
Immigrants are the future. Let's empower them
Giving people the tools to run, lead and win can transform a state – and our country.
Arizona is home to a huge and growing immigrant community. One in eight Arizona residents is an immigrant, and 1 in 6 is a native-born U.S. citizen with at least one immigrant parent.
They are the future of both Arizona and our country and are key to building a more representative democracy.
Creating that future won’t be easy, but we’re ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
Ghida Dagher is president and CEO of New American Leaders. Raquel Terán is the former state minority leader and immediate past chair of the Arizona Democratic Party. She is a candidate for a U.S. House seat. Reach them at ghida@newamericanleaders.org and info@raquelteran.com.