She’s doing it for the culture. Congresswoman Nanette Barragán represents California’s 44th district and sits as the 1st vice-chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Nanette says, “American history is a story of immigrants who have been coming to this country for hundreds of years and built this country,” which is why she spends her time fighting for immigrants’ rights like access to clean air, reliable energy, and citizenship.

In between Congressional sessions, the 45-year-old told us how she went from hemophobia to House votes, how climate change impacts the Latinx community, and why immigration is an issue we should all care about.

What’s your job?
I serve as the 1st vice-chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. I work alongside [the] chair in leading members to craft and advance federal policy that serves the Latino community. My other role is chair of the Hispanic Caucus’s Climate Task Force, and I also serve as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. That’s the nonprofit arm of the Hispanic Caucus.

What climate change policies are you working on?
As the chair of the Climate Task Force, [I’m] advocating for investment and environmental protections—in particular, impacts on Latino communities that are hit first and worst by pollution and climate change. [One] of the issues I’ve been working on has been cleaning up port pollution with a bill called the Climate Smart Ports Act. I’ve also been leading bills to [fix] the broken grid system we have and [build] electric vehicle charging infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

Immigration is a major issue affecting Latinx communities, but it’s also extremely partisan. How do you garner support for new legislation?
Well, immigration is a huge issue for our entire country, not just the Hispanic community. We have to talk to our colleagues on the other side. Many times, if you talk to them behind the scenes, they’ll share personal stories with you. Unfortunately, they’ll tell you they can’t share those stories because of their districts. That makes it more challenging, so we try to focus on some of the bipartisan support, like H-1B visas and DACA. [But] right now, anythingimmigration seems to be partisan. We have to continue to fight to make sure we’re creating that pathway to citizenship. We know it has a huge economic impact, so that continues to be [an] argument we make and benefit we point out to Republicans.

There are Latinx folks on both ends of the political spectrum. How do you support the whole community when some individuals don’t align with your party?
Our community is very diverse—Mexican-American, Salvadoran-American, Guatemalan-American, Cuban-American—there are so many more, and there are different interests. The Hispanic Caucus is diverse in representing members from those different groups, which helps us make sure we’re being supportive of all Hispanic and Latino community members. We even see it in something as simple as dialect. One of the things I do in my district is go out to town halls [and] try to speak to people in Spanish to build that rapport. But the biggest part is listening to different groups, then crafting policy that incorporates what you’re hearing.

What drew you to politics in the first place?
When I was growing up, my parents were poor. My mother only finished 3rd grade and my dad was a TV repairman. They basically said to me, “A doctor or a lawyer. That’s the only way you’re going to get out of poverty,” because that’s all they knew. [But] when I saw blood, I wanted to pass out. I said, “Well, law is the way to go!” I didn’t think about studying political science until somebody told me that’s what lawyers study in college. I was an intern in the White House, and it was there I learned about the impact those in politics and government can make on the greater community. That’s really what interested me. I was more of a volunteer, helping other people get elected. [I] didn’t expect to run for office until much later, after I was practicing law.

What are some ways we can support the Latinx population?
In my district, when I knock on doors and mention a primary election, a lot of my voters don’t understand why they need to vote. There should be more focus on why there’s a primary and why it’s important. That’s the first thing, because clearly we need to elect more people who look like us, who are at the table and can represent the values of our community at all levels of government—whether that’s local, state, or national. But beyond running for office, we need to continue to bring diversity to the table, and this is where I think we need to increase access to education.

How so?
I’ve always said education is the #1 opportunity that opens doors. If we do that, I believe we’ll see more and more Latinas and Latinos as scientists, as business executives, [and] as judges on the bench. Outside of that, we need to close that equal pay gap for Latinas, and uplift every Hispanic and Latino in every way we can. Just last term, one of the efforts the CHC took was a trip to Hollywood to make sure there are more Latinos on screen. We constantly have meetings with newspaper outlets like the LA Times about their board and making sure there’s diversity there. So, putting pressure on corporate America to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion—not just [in] hiring overall, but at top positions, executive positions on the board, and those that are influencers and decision-makers.