Updated 03:35 PM EDT, Tue, Apr 16, 2024

Bernie Sanders Campaign Hires Prominent Undocumented Immigration Activist to Woo Latino Voters

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Bernie Sanders has hired another prominent DREAMer activist to woo more Latino voters.

Erika Andiola, an undocumented immigrant and a longtime immigration activist, is joining the campaign as a Latino outreach strategist for the Southwest region, Fusion reported. Andiola, 28, started her work for the Sanders campaign on Monday.

BuzzFeed's Adrian Carrasquillo was the first to report about Andiola's involvement with Sanders' campaign, quoting three unnamed sources close to the team.

"We are excited to have Erika Andiola on the team," Arturo Carmona, the campaign's Latino outreach director, told Fusion in a statement. "Erika's personal story as a Mexican undocumented woman with an undocumented family and a long history of advocacy for Latinos speaks directly to the campaign's commitment to fight for immigrants, Latinos and working class Americans in every community across the country."

Andiola joins a number of prominent immigration activists in Sanders' campaign, including César Vargas, a 31-year-old undocumented immigrant hailing from Mexico who stood up to New York to permit him to become the state's first undocumented lawyer, Fusion further reported. Carmona, who was hired by the Sanders campaign in October, also has immigrant parents.

Andiola made headlines in 2013 after she uploaded a YouTube video following the raid of her home that resulted to her mother and brother being detained, Fox News Latino wrote. Armed with the national attention, she persuaded the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to allow her family to stay in America.

Since then, Andiola co-founded the immigrant rights group DREAM Action Coalition and served as a congressional staffer for Arizona Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema, Fusion noted. She began organizing for immigrant rights in 2008 after voters in Arizona passed a law that prohibits undocumented students from obtaining in-state tuition.

In an interview with NBC News, Andiola said that after she lost her scholarship, her mother's workplace was raided by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Her uncle was also taken in custody in another raid.

According to Fox News Latino, Sanders has been gaining traction on Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. But while the Vermont senator is popular among white progressives, his appeal to the Latino voting bloc is not that impressive. This has been acknowledged by his staff and said that they are using their resources to move aggressively towards the Hispanic electorate.

Sanders is not the only presidential candidate appealing to Latino voters using immigrants. The Clinton campaign also hired prominent immigration activist Lorella Praeli as its Latino outreach director in May, Fox News Latino wrote.

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