Politics

New Spokeswoman For Sen. Bernie Sanders Is An Illegal Immigrant

REUTERS

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders has a new spokeswoman as he seeks the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential election. Her name is Belén Sisa and, by her own admission, she’s an illegal immigrant.

Sisa is also an Arizona University student and left-wing activist who is perfectly at home in the Sanders camp, Fox News reported Friday. (RELATED: Bernie Sanders Announces He’s Jumping In The 2020 Democratic Presidential Race)

Speaking of herself in the third person and announcing her appointment to the Sanders campaign, Sisa noted this week on Facebook, “This is really emotional for me. I can’t help but think of 18-year-old Belén, who felt hopeless and powerless to the anti-immigrant attacks and policies that were holding her back from her dreams.”

Belén Sisa is interviewed on CNN regarding her status as an illegal immigrant. CNN screen capture, March 1, 2018.Belén Sisa is interviewed on CNN regarding her status as an illegal immigrant. CNN screen capture, March 1, 2018.

“I can’t help but think of the generations of sacrifice my family has had to do for me to get here. Never in our wildest dreams did we think I’d be making moves like these,” she wrote.

Sisa acknowledges that, as an illegal, she won’t be able to cast a ballot for Bernie. But she has some political experience, volunteering with the Arizona delegation during the 2016 Democratic National Convention, the Arizona Republic reported.

“Even though I can’t vote, I can get 200 people to vote, and that matters,” Sisa told the paper. “Everything can change depending on who becomes the next president. Our voice is starting to matter, and we can have an impact even though we can’t cast a ballot ourselves.” (RELATED: Bernie Sanders Gets Irritated As Wolf Blitzer Presses Him On Slavery Reparations)

Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during a "National Student Town Hall" at George Mason University October 28, 2015 in Fairfax, Virginia. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during a “National Student Town Hall” at George Mason University Oct. 28, 2015 in Fairfax, Virginia. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Sisa says she entered the United States illegally at the age of six years when her parents smuggled her into the country. She claims she has a right to stay under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

She brought up her status in an interview with CNN in 2017 when she said she paid federal taxes and “contributed” to society, whereas “the wealthiest people in this country are stealing from you every single day. Why are you blaming immigrants?”

Sisa is no stranger to law enforcement, reportedly getting arrested twice for her political activism over the years, the Washington Examiner reports. She was first arrested and jailed in 2017 for taking part in a sit-in outside New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office to reform the DREAM Act. Earlier in 2017, she was arrested for protesting the same act outside the Senate Hart Office Building.

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