Meet Jessica Cisneros, the 26-year-old Laredo attorney running against Cuellar in Congress

Jessica Cisneros will have the opportunity to give Laredo Representative Henry Cuellar a serious primary challenger. Jessica Cisneros will have the opportunity to give Laredo Representative Henry Cuellar a serious primary challenger. Photo: Courtesy Photo: Courtesy Image 1 of / 68 Caption Close Meet Jessica Cisneros, the 26-year-old Laredo attorney running against Cuellar in Congress 1 / 68 Back to Gallery

A 26-year-old Laredoan, former valedictorian of Early College High School and current immigration and human rights attorney, Jessica Cisneros is announcing her campaign Thursday to run for Congress in 2020 to represent Laredo and the rest of Texas' 28th District, which spans from San Antonio to Mission.

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"I'm super excited to finally have the opportunity," said Cisneros to Laredo Morning Times. "I've been working for it and praying for it, to be able to give back to my community here in South Texas. From a very young age, I've known that I wanted to give back to my community. I've been inspired by the people here in Laredo."

Cisneros will have the chance to give Laredo's Rep. Henry Cuellar a serious primary challenger in this very blue district, which has solely been represented by Democrats since it was created in 1993.

Cisneros is backed by Justice Democrats, the progressive advocacy group that famously recruited Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in her successful primary bid to represent New York's 14th congressional district. And Cisneros' platform reflects Justice Democrats' core values, which have become emblematic of the progressive left. According to a release from the Justice Democrats, they include: fixing the U.S. immigration system, ending family separations, opposing the border wall, instating a $15 minimum wage and a Green New Deal, Medicare for All, the end of corporate money influencing elections, free public college, women's health and reproductive rights, gun reform, expanding Social Security, and making the wealthy pay their fair share.

Cisneros has pledged to reject campaign contributions from corporate political action committees and lobbyists.

Since Justice Democrats first announced that they would be targeting Cuellar's seat in the primary, doubt has poured forth about the likelihood of a liberal Democrat winning an election in Laredo. In a recent Texas Monthly story on this very topic, Democratic consultant Christian Archer says he believes the Justice Democrats have misunderstood this congressional district.

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"(Justice Democrats) probably don't know Laredo. ... These are farmers and ranchers and people who grew up carrying a gun," Archer is quoted as saying in the story.



Cisneros begs to differ. She said people believe this area is conservative in part because Cuellar, a conservative Democrat, perpetuates the idea.

"South Texas is its own district. We are placed in a very unique spot in terms of politics and also geographically, being right here on the border," Cisneros said. "But fundamentally I think the big issues are being able to address things like poverty — the rampant poverty that we have here on the border — health care access and the jobs issue."

Cisneros said she first thought about running for Congress when she was an intern for Cuellar's office in Washington, D.C. in 2014.

"I saw firsthand how he was silent on certain issues," she said. "He took the people of South Texas for granted. It was a very insightful experience. And that's when I (thought), 'You know what, that's going to be me one day running for Congress. I'm going to listen to the issues that South Texans want to be addressed. I'm going to listen to the people, and I'm going to be a fierce advocate for them.'"

Cisneros grew up in the Sal Si Puedes neighborhood in central Laredo. Her father owned his own trucking company but had to close his business when the trade industry took a turn, she explains in her campaign video. He is now a truck driver.

"I'm really excited to start talking to the people of South Texas and figuring out what needs to be done in trade. Trade is a very personal issue to me because that's how my family is provided for. ... So anything in terms of trade, trade policies, impacts my household directly," she said. "And Laredo and the rest of South Texas, our economy is dependent on trade. So whatever solution we're going to be proposing, it has to be a smart one, and it has to take in mind the interest of everyday South Texans like my dad."

Cisneros graduated first in her class at Early College High School in 2011, studied government and Latin American studies at the University of Texas at Austin, and then earned her law degree from the University of Texas Law School, specializing in immigration law. While in law school, she worked with UT faculty to create the Women in Immigration Detention Assistance Project with the goal to help asylum seekers at the Hutto Detention Center in Tyler, Texas.

In the process of obtaining her law degree, Cisneros said she kept feeling that even presenting the best case possible wouldn't be enough if the laws aren't written to protect the rights and interests of everyday Americans.

"Being a lawyer pushed me more to assess what the issues were and just go to the root of the problem," Cisneros said. "If the problems are the laws, then let's go change them. So I'm running for Congress."

After graduating and taking her bar exam, Cisneros joined a legal fellowship program last fall at Brooklyn Defenders Services in New York, which offered public-defender-style services in immigration cases.

"I'm the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants, and just coming from a community where everyone has their own immigration story, that left me wanting to be an immigration advocate and immigration lawyer. I took what I learned during that fellowship, and now I'm so ready to advocate for the people here in my hometown and South Texas," she said.

But Cisneros is not practicing law at the moment as she is instead working full-time on her campaign.

"I'm taking this seriously," she said. "I'm a person who takes her commitments seriously, and I want to put forth the best campaign possible. I want to take in mind the issues that South Texans want addressed."

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Cisneros was surprised to find out that she had been nominated to run with the Justice Democrats by John Balli, one of her teachers at Early College and a mentor ever since.

"He's believed in me so much, and even through college, through law school, he's just been there and has such a big impact on me, like so many educators here," she said. "I wouldn't be here where I am today if it wasn't for teachers in Laredo."

Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com