Catalina Cruz (born 1982/1983) is a Colombian-

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

attorney from the borough of

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. A member of the Democratic Party and former undocumented immigrant minor (

DREAMer The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal that would grant temporary #For conditional resident status, conditional residency, with the right to work, for Illegal ...

), Cruz has worked as an advocate for immigration rights, including as Director of New York Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...

's 2016 Exploited Task Force. Cruz was elected as the Democratic candidate in the Fall 2018 election for the 39th district of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

, representing

Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus or disease responsible for the COVID-19 ...

, Elmhurst, and

Jackson Heights Jackson Heights is a neighborhood in the northwestern part of the borough of Queens in New York City. Jackson Heights is neighbored by North Corona to the east, Elmhurst to the south, Woodside to the west, and today northern Astoria ( Ditm ...

. She is still a member of the Assembly as of February 2025.

Early life and education

Cruz was born in

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. In 1992, when she was nine years old, Cruz and her mother came to the United States under a six-month tourist visa. They remained in the U.S. and she was undocumented for over 10 years after her initial tourist visa expired. Cruz grew up in Brooklyn and Queens. She has five siblings, three of whom are U.S. citizens. Cruz became the first former undocumented immigrant who identifies as a DREAMer to be elected in

New York state New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

. (Both

Adriano Espaillat Adriano de Jesús Espaillat Rodríguez ( ; born September 27, 1954) is a Dominican-American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for since 2017. He is the first Dominican American and first formerly undocumented immigrant to se ...

and Gabriela Rosa were former undocumented immigrants who served in the New York State legislature, but neither identifies as a DREAMer.) She is also the first Colombian-American in the district, and only the third DREAMer to serve in an elected position in the United States. In 2001, Cruz graduated from

John Bowne High School John Bowne High School is a public high school located in Flushing, Queens, New York City, next to Queens College, City University of New York. It has an enrollment of nearly four thousand students. The school, which opened in 1964, is named ...

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial ...

. In 2005, Cruz received a bachelor's degree with honors in

forensic psychology Forensic psychology is the application of scientific knowledge and methods (in relation to psychology) to assist in answering legal questions that may arise in criminal, civil, contractual, or other judicial proceedings. Forensic psychology includes ...

from the

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts col ...

. In 2009, Cruz received a J.D. from the

City University of New York School of Law A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Career

After law school Cruz worked as a Volunteer Assistant Attorney General for the

New York State Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has existed in various forms since 1626, originally established under the Dutch c ...

, where her case work included focusing on fraud related to immigration services and working on prosecution efforts. From 2009 to 2012, Cruz was counsel at the Goddard Riverside

SRO SRO may refer to: * Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) * School resource officer, a police officer assigned to a school * Self-regulatory organization * Senior reactor operator, a supervisory position overseeing the work of the nuclear reactor ope ...

Law Project at the Goddard Riverside Community Center on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. From 2012 to 2014, Cruz was counsel to the Division of Immigrant Policies and Affairs at the

New York State Department of Labor The New York State Department of Labor (DOL or NYSDOL) is the department of the Government of New York (state), New York state government that enforces United States labor law, labor law and administers unemployment benefits. The mission of the N ...

. In 2014, Cruz was counsel to the Immigration Committee for the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...

, where she worked to improve coverage of issue related to domestic worker trafficking. She worked on the Unaccompanied Minors Initiative and the IDNYC program. She also oversaw the Key to the City program. She was in this position until 2015. From 2015 to 2017, Cruz was the Director of the Office of the New York State Governor,

. During this time she was the Special Assistant for Labor & Workforce. She was also the Director of the Joint Task Force on Worker Exploitation and Employee Misclassification, also known as the Exploited Workers Task Force, a working as assistant counsel in Cuomo's taskforce. In 2017, Cruz became Chief of Staff for New York City Council Member, Julissa Ferreras-Copeland until Ferreras-Copeland made the decision not to seek re-election.

New York Assembly

In February 2018, Cruz announced her candidacy for

Francisco Moya Francisco P. Moya (born January 9, 1974) is an American politician from Corona, Queens. He has served in the New York City Council from the 21st district since 2018. He served in the New York State Assembly from the 39th district from 2011 to 20 ...

's vacated position on the

's Assembly District 39. The District's Democratic leadership instead unanimously selected Ari Espinal as the Democratic candidate in the April 2018 special election. Cruz then won the Democratic primary for District 39 on September 13, 2018, over Espinal, and won the seat on November 6, 2018. She had received campaign training from

New American Leaders New American Leaders is a nonprofit organization that recruits people of immigrant heritage to run for elected office in the United States. Programs Through "Ready to Win", New American Leaders recruits first- and second-generation Americans t ...

that she believes helped her ultimately fundraise nearly $200,000 to win the primary race.

Personal life

Cruz identifies as a DREAMer under the unadopted

DREAM Act The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal that would grant temporary conditional residency, with the right to work, for illegal immigrants who entered the Unite ...

that was introduced in 2001, which addresses citizenship of children brought to the United States by their parents and living as undocumented citizens. Cruz married her high school boyfriend in 2003, which allowed Cruz to get her green card in 2005 and become a U.S. citizen in 2009. Cruz' citizenship allowed her to sponsor her mother's citizenship. Cruz's former husband was a

New York Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

police officer. The marriage ended in divorce. She lives in

. Cruz has said that the attorney who handled her immigration papers inspired her to go to law school and become a lawyer.

References

External links

* at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Catalina (politician) 1980s births 21st-century American women politicians American activists American politicians of Colombian descent Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New York (state) Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Lawyers from New York City Living people Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly People from Jackson Heights, Queens Politicians from Queens, New York Undocumented immigrants to the United States Women state legislators in New York (state) 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature