State representative candidate and sitting Chelsea City Councilor Judith García attended the White House’s official Cinco de Mayo reception last week. The event was hosted by President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, who invited García to their celebration along with an intimate group of Latino leaders, and diplomats, including Mexico’s first lady Beatriz Gutiérrez Mueller de López Obrador.
In her speech, Dr. Jill Biden acknowledged the origins of the holiday as a one-day battle during the Franco-Mexican War in which “a rag-tag group of soldiers, outnumbered 3 to 1” defeated Napoleon’s army. “This holiday reminds us that the threads of our history and our heritage are woven together,” she went on to say. She then recalled meeting a group of Latino activists at the National LULAC Conference who told her that “they didn’t often feel seen or heard,” a statement that “touched her heart. Don’t we owe them better?” she asked.
President Biden gave a progress report on issues that face the Latino community in the United States – many of which are also high on Councilor García’s agenda.
“Through the American Rescue Plan, our vaccination effort was centered on equity and ensured that Latinos were vaccinated at the same rate everyone else was. As a matter of fact, they’re vaccinated at a slightly higher rate than everyone else was.
And to make sure relief checks were delivered to 1,400,000 spouses and nearly 3,700,000 children of mixed-status families where mom or dad is a citizen. Because every family deserves food on the table, a roof over their head, and a little breathing room.
We cut the Latino child poverty rate by an estimated 40 percent because of the Child Tax Credit.
And we surged funding to community health centers, which disproportionately serve Latino communities.”
During her tenure on the Chelsea City Council, García has tackled many of these issues in her community. Invested in equal healthcare access, García spent time as a bilingual health counselor, helping Massachusetts residents and families secure free health insurance. García pushed for more affordable housing in Chelsea, creating a safer, more livable community. During the pandemic, she was on the frontlines advocating for more tests and pushing for emergency relief funds for homeowners and small businesses.
Of the event, García says she is “as humbled as ever to represent Chelsea and our Commonwealth. It was a surreal experience to know that a daughter of Chelsea from humble beginnings and a working-class family could come this far.”
Learn more at electjudithgarcia.com.