Sitting at her desk, Karina Ruiz reaches out and straightens the folds of a small flag with the rays of the Arizona sun. She keeps the state flag next to the green, white and red one of México and the red, white and blue one of the United States.
Her office in Phoenix looks like a mural dedicated to her life and advocacy growing up in the United States. Pictures of loved ones, paintings of the Virgin of Guadalupe, posters for migrant rights, and now documents about the historic June 2 Mexican election. Two women are leading the top race and one of them is on a path to becoming the country’s first woman president.
Karina is also on a path to making history — seeking to be the first migrant living abroad to serve in México’s Senate. Arizona Luminaria spoke with Karina in a series of interviews prior to the May 30 ban on electioneering.
“This platform will be used from the bottom of my heart for my people,” she says, smiling so deeply that her dimples appear. For this mother, grandmother and political organizer, her candidacy is a symbol of representation for her historically marginalized migrant community.
The 2024 elections in México are the first in which the country’s new affirmative action measures demand proportional representation in Senate candidacy nominations for underrepresented communities.
Few countries allow citizens, like Karina, who live abroad to run in their native nation’s elections. However, few countries experience México’s spiking migration rates.
“Globally, Mexico has among the highest percentage of its population living outside its national territory,” according to a 2024 report by the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at UC San Diego.
An estimated 12.1 million Mexicans live outside the country, with 97% in the United States, according to a 2021 report by the Institute of Mexicans Abroad.
Some history and economics experts believe that parity measures will spur more migrants living abroad to seek political power in México. For years, Mexican nationals have supported their country from afar. In 2023, the money sent by immigrants to their families increased by 7.6% annual, totaling $63 billion, surpassing most other sources of foreign income in México, according to Banco de México.
Now Mexicans living abroad, as well as people from other underrepresented communities, may widen their political power.
For the first time, under new affirmative action policies for México’s federal senatorial positions, political parties must nominate people who are migrants, Indigenous, Afro-mexican, living with disabilities and identify with LGBTQ+ communities. The Superior Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary approved the measures in 2023, and México’s National Elections Institute, known as INE, defined the rules aimed at countering inequality and making Mexican politics more inclusive.
Also, in 2019, reforms to the Political Constitution were approved to incorporate a law known as “Parity in Everything” aimed at ensuring balanced participation of women and men in candidacies and positions in the executive, legislative and judicial branches.
Political changes for parity in México come while the United States moves in the opposite direction under a majority-conservative Supreme Court. In a historic ruling last year, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned affirmative action in university admissions, gutting measures created to guarantee equity in educational opportunities for students of color.
Karina crossed the México-Arizona border when she was 15 years old and suffered the consequences of not having political representation in the United States, nor in her home country. Now she’s 39 and has dedicated her life to working for the rights of undocumented youth in the U.S.
Credit: National Electoral Institute
On Election Day, Mexicans will vote on whether to include federal representation of migrants living outside the country. That’s historic “because it is the first election after the right was recognized for how senators will be selected,” said Claudia Zavala Pérez, consultant for México’s National Elections Institute and member of the temporary commission for the vote of Mexicans residing outside of México.
Zavala Pérez said Mexicans registered to vote, including those living outside of the country, can choose their federal senators through different parties. The federal Senate consists of 128 seats and all are up for election, as well as 500 federal deputy positions and additional regional races.
In November 2023, the INE announced revised rules for political parties and coalitions — in accordance to formulas for parity — that require the nomination of people from certain underrepresented groups for the federal Senate. This includes at least one candidate who is a migrant and resident living abroad.
The coalition Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional, known as Morena, nominated Karina. The other six parties — Acción Nacional, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, Partido de la Revolución Democrática, Partido del Trabajo, Partido Verde Ecologista de México, Movimiento Ciudadano – also nominated migrant candidates for the Senate, according to INE’s May candidate list.
If Karina’s coalition wins the Mexican election, as predicted by many political analysts, she will also win and make history.
“Everything will depend on June 2,” she says, looking at her watch. Her flight for México City leaves in just a few hours. In a corner of the office suitcases are stacked, ready for her campaign tour.
With an energetic voice, she says she feels a responsibility for her community of Mexicans living away from where they were born.
“We send remittances, we contribute to the Mexican economy directly and indirectly,” she said. “It’s important to recognize Mexicans abroad.”
Credit: Samaidi Sánchez
A historic election for many reasons
Zavala Pérez, the México election official, called for civic participation and to not forget that Mexicans “won the right to vote abroad.”
She said it’s important that the elected senators and deputies are incorporated into national representation so they can work on propositions and initiatives with a migrant perspective.
“Who’s going to know the needs and experiences better than the people who are outside of México, some living away for work, others for educational reasons, it’s all the diversity of migration,” Zavala Pérez said.
Karina Ruiz is paving the way for other “Dreamers” — young people who grew up in the United States without legal immigration status — to fight for their rights not only in Arizona but also from México.
Public affairs specialist Edward Vargas said that Ruiz’s candidacy opens the possibilities for other Dreamers to enter civic leadership in their birth country. Vargas is an associate professor at the School of Transborder Studies at Arizona State University.
“We’re going to see more people like Karina Ruiz. We see more Dreamers in the political struggle here, and now they’re fighting for their rights in México,” he said.
He recognized the Mexican election as historic not only because of the possibility of a woman becoming president but also due to the significance of having three ways to vote from abroad. They can vote directly at the consulate, online or by mail.
“It’s important not just for México but for all of democracy,” Vargas said.
The changes in México for parity have not been without controversy. This year’s elections have raised complaints about the measures not going far enough to reach parity for politically underrepresented populations, as well as concerns about the legitimacy of candidates’ eligibility to run under affirmative action and truly represent historically marginalized groups.
In March, the INE invalidated the registration of 23 candidates for impersonating Indigenous people.
Karina met all the requirements as a migrant candidate for the Senate of México, according to the INE.
Mexicans will choose among the presidential candidates Claudia Sheinbaum of the National Regeneration Movement, Xochitl Gálvez from the Broad Front for México and Jorge Álvarez Máynez from the Citizen Movement. As of late March, 675,127 Mexicans living abroad were eligible to vote as they have electoral credentials.
An estimated 227,000 people in the United States, as of late February, applied and were approved through INE’s Registration System for Voting from Abroad. There will be voting stations in consulates across the United States, from California and Arizona to North Carolina and New York.
Ricardo Reyna-García, right, cast his vote by postal mail from Arizona. He met Karina Ruiz, the migrant candidate for senator, middle, during a Morena campaign event in Arizona. Credit: Ricardo Reyna-García
Ricardo Reyna-García cast his vote by mail from Arizona. Born in Veracruz, he emigrated to Arizona in 2006. Since then, he has been waiting for migrant representation in the Mexican government.
“Here they’ve been dismantling us immigrants, we don’t even have a voice, nor a vote, nor a representative to look out for us,” he said.
Reyna-García studied to become a doctor in México, he currently resides in Mesa and works in a histology laboratory with a TN work visa.
He’s proud to have participated in the Mexican elections. He said he met Karina at a Morena meeting in Arizona and recognized that she has had an interesting personal and professional journey in favor of migrants in the United States.
“But I wouldn’t expect a grand result from these first Senate changes,” he said. “I think it’s an experiment to begin working with senators (who are migrants).”
“Even the Senate itself is going to have to get used to proposals from people abroad. It’ll be a learning experience,” he said.
A Dreamer fighting for migrants
Karina was born in Tlalnepantla de Baz, a State of México municipality, and emigrated to Arizona in 1999.
As an undocumented student, she experienced anti-immigrant laws, like the abolition of bilingual education in Arizona schools in 2000 and the SB1070 anti-immigrant law, known as “show me your papers.”
She fought for immigration reform and for students without legal status to pay in-state tuition at Arizona’s public universities.
Today, she’s the executive director of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition, an organization that advocates for migrant rights and promotes policies that benefit undocumented youth.
Political analyst Carmen Cornejo said that Ruiz’s journey is an example of Mexican immigrants’ power, with or without legal status, in the United States.
“She’s an intelligent, hard-working woman. It took her a lot of effort to finish her professional career despite the obstacles put before her, she never backed down,” Cornejo said. “She joined the Dreamer movement with great leadership abilities.”
Cornejo said that one of Karina’s greatest accomplishments, aside from humanitarian support for her community, is organizing young Dreamers and taking them to México to reconnect with their people.
“She’s a leader in utilizing Advance Parole,” she said. Advance Parole is a process that allows Dreamers to get permission to travel abroad for humanitarian, educational or work reasons, helping them leave and reenter the United States.
Karina says she has organized groups of Arizona Dreamers to take them to México. Since 2021, she has taken more than 25 groups on educational trips to immerse themselves in the culture of their birth country.
Mexicans in the United States, she says, shouldn’t have to feel that they are, “Neither from here. Nor there.”
“They can choose from where they want to be,” she says firmly.
Credit: Beatriz Limón
‘On equal terms’
Education is a prominent proposal in Karina’s campaign. She says it took her 12 years to complete her degree in biochemistry from Arizona State University due to anti-immigration laws like Proposition 300 in 2006, which banned undocumented students from paying in-state tuition fees despite having growing up in Arizona and graduating from in-state K-12 schools.
Karina understands Latino and undocumented students’ struggles.
“I will seek a position on the Mexican Education Commission,” she says. “I want to boost binational education, school exchanges, and more agreements with Mexican universities.”
Karina is the mother of three children, Jesús, John Humberto, Joseph Humberto and a grandmother to Mateo.
“My intention was that when they called out John they’d expect an Americanito (a little American boy), but instead they’d see a little Mexican boy,” she says, smiling, thinking about her children’s future.
Although her sons were born in this country, it’s important to her that she continues instilling in them Mexican culture and the Spanish language. She wants to help other Mexicans in the United States to not lose their native language.
“I’ll ensure that the consulate also has spaces where children can come to learn Spanish,” she says.
Part of her vision is to reform the consulates and provide better support for Mexicans in the United States.
“To begin a consulate reform where Mexicans can get closer and have a little piece of México that can protect us,” she says.
While she has spent much of her life in Arizona, fighting for migrant reform and Dreamers’ rights, she knows that the Mexican government has little control over U.S. laws.
Still, she wants to strengthen relations with U.S. politicians in order to promote a law that allows undocumented students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) a path to citizenship.
“I am not going to Washington as an activist anymore,” she says, dreaming of Mexican voters electing her.
Her black eyes narrow as she speaks. “I’m going as a Mexican government official, which is the main trading partner of the United States.”
Karina imagines herself as a Mexican senator ascending the wide marble steps of the United States Capitol. She plans to start a conversation with Arizona’s U.S. Senator Mark Kelly.
“I’ll be able to tell the senator — on equal terms — how we can work together to achieve immigration reform that benefits both countries,” she says.
The last day to vote is Sunday. Karina sits in her office in front of the three flags that have marked her life — Arizona, the United States and México — she’s ready for the results of a historic election.
Dianna Náñez, John Washington and Carolina Cuellar contributed to this article.
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