First it was her grandmother Jessie López De la Cruz, one of the first women united in Fresno, California, to the people’s struggle in the UFW peasant union, inspired by the message of Dr. Martin Luther King; then his father, Roberto de la Cruz and now, with the reins of leadership of SEIU California and almost a million workers, Arnulfo de la Cruz continues a legacy of struggle in unionism.
During an interview with La Opinión, De la Cruz, 46, highlighted three “basic” priorities of the union related to the Latino community: immigration reform, defense of US citizenship for the children of immigrants and opposition to President Donald Trump’s mass deportations.
“We cannot win the immigration issue in a single state because it is federal jurisdiction, but in California we have two senators, several congressmen,” he said. “Many of the tips on how we can improve the immigration system come from California, where we have the largest percentage of migrants in the country.”
For the leader, California’s role is to push the other states and create a vision “because the immigration system is broken.”
However, more than four decades have passed and both Republicans and Democrats have betrayed the immigrant community, including former President Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
“After the midterm elections, we are going to focus on that issue and the others,” he said. “I am almost 100% convinced that the Democratic Party will win Congress, but they will be left with the president.” [a los republicanos]”.
De la Cruz maintains that the priority would be to approve a bipartisan bill, signed by the next president who is in the White House and that solves the immigration system, including a path to citizenship for immigrants in an irregular situation, in addition to negotiating border security.
“Democrats should not be afraid to talk about it and openly recognize that thousands of working families have been here for decades, paying taxes, who have no prison record, their children were born here and unfortunately they have not been able to get a work permit or papers to be in this country they call their home,” says the union leader.
How to force both Democrats and Republicans to resolve the immigration issue and not only use immigrants as political currency?
“This president [Donald Trump] has used this immigration issue as a political game; I think that in the United States the vast majority of people are against what he is doing. And despite how difficult it has been and continues to be, I think it gives us an opportunity to put pressure, to raise our voices before both parties that we want to seek a humane solution,” he responds.
“The vast majority of the American people are against the policies that have come from Washington. We saw massive marches, what happened in Venezuela [invasión y captura del presidente Nicolas Maduro] when two American citizens were killed [ReneeGody AlexPretti]”, he adds.
“So, this frustration of the American people is not only Latino, even though it has been our community that is being attacked. So, we must use that energy that we are seeing in all the cities of the country to be clear with both parties that the only solution would be to pass immigration reform.”
Arnulfo De la Cruz’s hope is based on the 36.2 million Latino voters who could be decisive if they went out to vote at the polls.
“The Latino vote has grown a lot,” acknowledges De la Cruz. “And it is estimated that it will also make a difference in Texas as happened in 1994 in California with Proposition 187, when the state changed 100% to Republican leadership.”
De la Cruz recognizes that the implementation of progressive policies that have favored immigrants and respected their contributions have allowed California to grow to become the fifth economic power in the world.
“That was possible to achieve, because the community began to protest en masse in the streets – as happened in 1994 and 2006 – and what was won was not because one day an American stood up and thought that he should do something for immigrants,” he says.
“My message to the community is that, through our voices and our votes, it is only how we are going to change things in California, or how we can achieve it in Virginia, Texas or Arizona and in various congressional districts,” he emphasizes. “Our frustrations not only cover the immigration issue, but many other issues, although the economy is also going to play a key role in our minds when we go to vote in the midterm election.”
‘Blessings of the workers’
Born in the farmers’ movement in Oxnard, California and currently married to María Rosa Emiliano, and father of two daughters, Arnulfo de la Cruz remembers his first big steps as an organizer during a lemon workers’ strike, at a time when his parents were working as UFW organizers.
“I also remember that the campaign at Providence St. Joseph Clinical [en Burbank] It was very difficult to win a first contract for the workers. It is part of the blessings that I have been able to see that they have gained for the workers.”
For him, it has been pleasant to see a woman or a worker signing their benefits card or obtaining a contract with a living wage, being guaranteed sick day benefits or joining together to raise their voice in defense of their rights.
“I remember the great marches in Delano, Oxnard and Fresno, not only of the peasant movement, but of immigration reform in Los Angeles,” he says. “I remember Eliseo Medina’s fast [por 22 días, entre noviembre y diciembre de 2013]
During the fast, Eliseo Medina gave Barack Obama a shoe that he found at the border, and that surely belonged to some unknown immigrant who crossed the border.
“It was when we were pushing for immigration reform,” said Arnulfo De la Cruz.
A distinctive feature of Arnulfo’s career is his commitment to what SEIU 2015 members like to call: “Democracy for all!”
“For too long, our African American, Latino and immigrant communities have been historically marginalized and disenfranchised in this country’s electoral process.
Therefore, in 2009, Arnulfo founded and directed “Mi Familia Vota California,” a national nonprofit organization dedicated to uniting the Latino community and its allies to promote social and economic justice by encouraging civic participation.
During his tenure at MFVCA, De la Cruz spearheaded efforts to expand the Latino and youth electorate through large-scale naturalization, voter registration, census education, and voter mobilization (“get out the vote!” campaigns), attracting many new registered and active citizens throughout the state of California.
What kind of leadership could SEIU California members expect under Arnulfo De la Cruz?
“The union is the workers’ movement. It is not about a single person,” responds David Huerta’s successor.
“I am blessed. It is an honor to have the title of president of SEIU California, but the effort of the union is always the members’. The effort, the knocking on doors, the marches is everyone’s job. The impact of the power that is reflected through the membership is theirs.”
Therefore, De la Cruz affirms that he is going to do his part and focus on the vision and goals of the union members: to build a just society in which all workers are valued, families prosper and communities are respected, regardless of their race or origin.
“We want immigration reform. We want politicians from both parties to start focusing more on the issues that are impacting working families; that all parents who have children here in California not worry that their children will not be able to call California home or will have to go to Texas or Arizona because of the cost of living…we have to eliminate many barriers for working families in California.”
