Aleja Plaza, a domestic worker in Los Angeles, spends her overnight hours caring for a 98-year-old woman five days a week. Three days a week, she spends eight daytime hours caring for a 100-year-old woman. And between those two jobs, she’s on call to assist an 89-year-old man.

The 60-year-old said she “takes naps” around those work obligations, shrugging off the demands of the job as a necessity.

“Rent in California is very expensive, and I have to send money for my mom who is aging,” said Plaza, whose mother lives in the Philippines. “I have to support myself here so I won’t become homeless or be dependent (on) the government.”

So sitting for a few hours Tuesday morning inside an MGM Grand ballroom was a rare treat for Plaza, but it wasn’t a vacation: She’s volunteering with Care in Action, an advocacy group for the more than 2 million domestic workers in the United States who largely work and live in the shadows as housekeepers, elder care workers or nannies.

But in an election cycle dominated by diverse issues — health care, education, immigration and the economy — about 1,000 domestic workers, including 30 from Nevada, got the full attention of three Democratic presidential candidates Tuesday morning. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Tom Steyer, a California billionaire and activist, spoke in person at a Care in Action forum, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders attended via phone.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential hopeful, waves to the crowd at the Care in Action forum at MGM Grand on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020. (Jackie Valley/The Nevada Independent)

The advocacy organization has been tracking where candidates stand on issues such as universal childcare, paid leave, Medicare for all or long-term care, increasing the minimum wage and the federal Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, which would provide protections for employees in the care sector.

Warren, Sanders and Steyer — who are four days out from Nevada’s presidential caucus — made their case for how they’d help domestic workers on those issues and more.

Warren, for instance, took a minute to decry the filibuster — a Senate rule that effectively prevents votes or action on legislation unless there are at least 60 votes in favor — while answering a question about immigration reform. The senator said, “it is time to roll back the filibuster,” framing that move as key to accomplishing comprehensive immigration reform.

“If we do that, the whole calculation around immigration changes,” she said. “All we need are 50 votes — 50 because we can use the vice president to break a tie.”

Steyer, meanwhile, railed on Trump for creating a “Mar-a-Lago society” that benefits the wealthy but doesn’t help people who aren’t part of the establishment. The comment was a shot at the president’s famous estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

“Change is due and now is the time,” he said. “I really applaud and support everything that you’re doing because there is deep injustice in this system, and you are being exploited and I am with you in stopping the exploitation and getting your rights recognized broadly in society.”

Tom Steyer, a California billionaire and activist who's running for president, speaks at the Care in Action forum at the MGM Grand on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020. (Jackie Valley/The Nevada Independent)

Sanders, the final speaker, addressed the intersection of immigration and domestic workers’ rights, saying they’re not mutually exclusive.

“That dignity and respect must come forward regardless of their immigration status among other things,” he said, eliciting applause. “That means we will make it easier for domestic workers to join unions and bargain collectively for higher wages and good benefits.”

Plaza, who moved to the United States six years ago from the Philippines, is canvassing as a Care in Action volunteer Tuesday afternoon to encourage Nevada residents to vote in the caucus. She hopes the forum and candidate visits will shed more light on the plight of domestic workers.

“We work in the privacy of homes,” she said. “Nobody sees us.”

Pamela Davis, another domestic worker seated at Plaza’s table, plans to vote in California’s Democratic primary election March 3. The 59-year-old from San Diego juggles substitute teaching and weekend domestic work for a wealthy family while caring for her elderly father with dementia.

She was still mulling the three candidates’ answers Tuesday morning.

“As a teacher, as a woman, as a single mother, I’m leaning toward Elizabeth, but I haven’t decided,” she said. “I love Bernie. I was impressed by Tom.”

Care in Action also hasn’t decided whether it will endorse a particular Democratic presidential candidate. The organization’s endorsement process will involve domestic worker input, a candidate questionnaire and issue research, and an evaluation of political conditions.

Jess Morales Rocketto, executive director of Care in Action, said the organization hopes to make an endorsement decision — which could be no particular candidate endorsement at all — by March 1.

“This is an experience. This is the very first time that we’ve ever done this,” she said. “We’re going to learn a lot from this process and it might be a little bit messy because our democracy is a little bit messy.”