Karina Alvarez

It was Dec. 12, 2006. I was getting ready to go to school, when I heard the phone ring. Our neighbor was calling to tell me there were rumors that the pork meat processing plant where my mother worked in Marshalltown had been raided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

As an 11 year old, I knew nothing about politics or government. But I did know that ICE inflicted fear within my family, friends and neighbors because they could separate my family and the families of others among my community.

The day of the ICE raid, all employees at the plant were directed to head to the work cafeteria upon arrival. There, ICE officers had each person line up according to each worker's immigration status. My mother recalls an officer point to where all the “mojados” — the derogatory Spanish word for wetback — should line up. Those people, including my mother, were detained and taken to Camp Dodge.

Thank God, my mother was released, after spending a week locked up in detention. Ever since, my sister and I have been immigration reform advocates in this country.

When I first heard about the three candidates running for the Democratic nomination, I quickly and without much thought supported Senator Sanders. He is loud, agitates the masses, and wants to lead a revolution.

But after doing some research, I found that all of the words from Sanders are not backed up by actions.

Sen. Sanders did two things that stand out: First he voted against comprehensive immigration reform and then went on Lou Dobbs’ show to say immigrants take jobs from Americans; second, he voted to protect the Minutemen on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Our country and the Latino community especially needs a leader with a proven record of looking after our best interests. Of the three Democrats running for president, there is only one with the record that our community needs: Martin O’Malley.

Gov. O’Malley has helped and protected our immigrant community through the course of his career as a public servant. He has the record that proves that he will continue advocating for my family and the undocumented community, which he refers to as "New Americans.”

Just take a look:

As governor, O’Malley granted driver's licenses to the undocumented community and passed the Maryland DREAM Act.

Recognizing that an affordable and quality education is the first step to achieving the American dream, O’Malley also wants to double federal funding for English language instruction, guarantee pre-K for every child, and provide in-state tuition for all New Americans.

O’Malley froze college tuition even during the worst years of the recession and he has set forth a detailed plan on how to ensure each college student can graduate debt-free within five years.

To strengthen the workforce and our economy, O’Malley will increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour and fight for stronger labor laws to make it easier for workers to gain union representation.

A champion of small businesses, O’Malley will provide federal funding to help New Americans start and succeed with their own businesses.

I encourage my fellow Iowans not to fall victim to what the national media, pundits and TV commercials say. Do your homework, and look at each candidate’s record as it relates to the issues that we all care deeply about.

I did that and realized that all along the only candidate who has our best interests at heart, and brings the new leadership we need to get things done, is Gov. Martin O’Malley.

Karina Mendoza-Alvarez graduated from Marshalltown Community College and is transferring to the University of Northern Iowa in the fall to study political science.