Having grown up in a cooperative building partially funded by union organizing in Puerto Rico, Miguel is fully aware of the dignity, security, and collective prosperity people can build when they have a stable place to call home. After coming to Chicago from Puerto Rico, Miguel moved into an apartment in Pilsen for $300 a month that he shared with four people and paid for out of his savings while looking for work. He knows that tenant rights, rent control, and utility affordability have an enormous impact on the lives of people in the 40th District.

That’s why Miguel will fight in Springfield to…

• End algorithmic rent price-fixing and lift the statewide ban on rent control. Strengthen tenant rights through expanded legal support, eviction protections, and fair lease standards, including restoring funding levels for the Illinois Court-Based Rental Assistance Program (CBRAP) and other programs in Illinois that fight homelessness.

• Reduce burdens on small property owners through fair property tax relief, incentives for maintaining affordability, and finding ways to move away from profit-driven homeowner insurance companies.

• Fund Utility Relief Programs, as well as CEDA, to ensure affordable and reliable access to utilities for all Illinois residents, particularly in light of increasing climate crises and AI Data Centers that steal our energy and try to make us pay.

• Advance progressive revenue measures to ensure the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share in taxes.

As executive director of an organization that helps laborers fight for better conditions, Miguel has supported people who have been threatened with violence or worse for asking for pay they were entitled to. He has been kicked off employer health insurance plans and has been a part of organizations that lost funding due to state austerity. He grew up around fierce union organizers whose uncompromising pursuit of collective justice helped fund stable housing and fair wages. Miguel knows that the fight for well-paid work is the fight for our lives.

That’s why Miguel will fight in Springfield to…

• Increase the state minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030 for all workers to eliminate the subminimum wage.

• Increase jurisdiction, staffing, and infrastructure at the state Department of Labor. Fold in existing initiatives from the Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity and the Department of Employment Security to develop Employment Opportunities and Development Centers. These comprehensive Centers will support workers, particularly those vulnerable to fascist attacks, in finding resilient, well-compensated work.

• Expand Paid Time Off and Parental Leave to support our working families through the growth of the Illinois Family and Medical Leave Act and the Paid Leave for All Workers Act.

• Support legislation to ensure worker protections from extreme temperatures and weather.

In its bid for authoritarian control, the Right has sought to villainize and marginalize trans and other LGBTQIA+ people. Queer people have been targeted by numerous executive orders, received incorrect gender markers on official documents, and lost access to healthcare. The Food and Drug Administration sent warning letters to manufacturers of gender-affirming clothing, and federal employees have been fired for displaying pride flags. This is a state of emergency. As this corrupt and dangerous administration attacks the LGBTQIA+ community, we must reinforce Illinois’ status as a place of refuge and protect our queer neighbors from harassment, discrimination, and fear.

That’s why Miguel will fight in Springfield to…

• Pass legislation to affirm businesses’ right to sell products for the LGBTQIA+ community and provide legal support to individuals and companies targeted by discriminatory federal lawsuits and policies.

• Restore funding to HIV/AIDS prevention programs at the state level to make up for federal cuts, as demanded by the AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) and other groups.

• Pass the Patient Access to Pharmacy Protection Act, which would allow LGBTQIA+ health centers like Howard Brown to continue to obtain affordable care for the queer community.

Miguel is deeply familiar with a federal government that dispenses with personal autonomy and collective freedom, from the history and current reality of the U.S. government’s relationship with Puerto Rico—and the story of U.S. imperialism and interventionism around the world.

This has fueled his on-the-ground, daily Rapid Response organizing and coordination of “adopt a corner” programs in the Northwest side of Chicago as we face ongoing ICE violence in our communities. He has helped his neighbors organize to support immigrants and fought alongside day laborers who have been relentlessly targeted by this administration. Migration is a human right, and Illinois must be a model of how to innovatively and unapologetically protect our immigrant community members.

That’s why Miguel will fight in Springfield to…

• Build a robust community network with Northwest Side electeds and community members to defend and protect our communities from federal attacks, as well as support those impacted by ICE.

• Strengthen the TRUST Act, which prohibits police cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, and advance Illinois’ status as a true sanctuary and welcoming state.

• Create novel provisions to protect neighbors from federal interference in partnership with organizations like the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) and Organized Communities Against Deportation (OCAD).

• Reinstate and fully fund Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults (HBIA). The program funded health insurance for low income adults ages 42 to 64, and it was sunset in 2025 instead of taxing the rich to pay for it. We cannot continue to treat immigrant health and safety as an afterthought or disposable—or only rally behind them when it’s convenient.

Hurricanes like Maria and Helene have destroyed communities across Puerto Rico and the United States. Miguel was deeply involved in environmental organizing in Puerto Rico and saw the governmental indifference to disaster that we are now seeing on a larger scale, including with the dismantling of FEMA under its so-called leadership from the Trump administration. In this void, Illinois must step in and continue to position itself as a climate champion.

That’s why Miguel will fight in Springfield to…

• Regulate AI-driven data centers to reduce energy waste and carbon emissions.

• Invest in clean and efficient energy statewide to promote renewable energy independence.

• Ensure fully-funded, fast, and reliable public transit, and advance successful implementation of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) that will replace the RTA, to transform, energize, and fortify one of the largest transportation systems in North America.

• Invest in climate resilience infrastructure by prioritizing projects that support communities impacted by environmental injustice.

• Protect Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes from pollution and overuse through strengthened environmental safeguards.

Like many people in the U.S., Miguel is still paying student loans. He and others are dealing with a system that consistently disinvests in public education to avoid taxing the wealthy. As a former educator, Miguel understands that an equitable, accessible educational system is the first step in preparing our children for a lifetime of success. We also need to continue to build policies that will broadly support the wellness of students and families.

That’s why Miguel will fight in Springfield to…

• Demand equally distributed resources, effective class sizes, strong after-school programs, and access to mental health counselors and school nurses.

• Advocate for restorative justice programs inside and outside of our schools.

• Increase assistance to school districts as they expand dual language programs and bolster bilingual staff.

• Advocate to increase funding for special education, and advocate for sustainable special education resources over time.

• Support the expansion of sustainable community schools.

• Expand affordable, high-quality childcare for all families.

• Expand Green Schools to ensure our students are both gaining access to curriculum to secure green jobs but also infrastructure in their classrooms to ensure temperature, water, and air quality concerns are addressed as we revitalize classrooms with new technology.

• Promote community-led democracy in public education, including fair maps for Chicago’s new elected school board, and an elected board for the City Colleges of Chicago.

Our current for-profit health system prioritizes corporate bottom lines while leaving patients and their providers in dire straits. In the second Trump administration, our healthcare system has faced destabilizing cuts, not just to larger systems but also to local grants that help people stay safe and well. Illinois must step up to provide care for its residents, even in the face of attacks from the federal government.

That’s why Miguel will fight in Springfield to…

• Support a single-payer healthcare system that ensures universal coverage and access.

• Increase investments in community-based violence prevention and intervention initiatives.

• Partner with the City of Chicago and Cook County to expand public mental health crisis response programs.

• Safeguard and promote equitable access to immunization, HIV prevention and treatment, maternal and child health services, and comprehensive healthcare for seniors.

• Improve department cooperation to streamline the implementation of public health policy and to better reflect the needs of the community.

• Decriminalize sex work. Marginalizing and criminalizing sex workers makes everyone less safe, including by preventing people from accessing the healthcare that they need or being able to report violence on the job.

The disabled community in Illinois faces ongoing violence from the Trump administration, from attacks on benefits and public health initiatives, to the criminalization of unhoused community members and those facing mental health crises.

For a short time, Miguel took care of his father due to his developing a disability later in life. He saw firsthand that our society is only as good as the care that it demonstrates to each and every person—and how much of that instead falls on individuals. We must continue to improve our resources and infrastructure to adequately service people with disabilities, as well as to protect their autonomy and civil rights.

That’s why Miguel will fight in Springfield to…

• Expand access to integrated care, independent living options, and equitable employment opportunities.

• Support initiatives that increase accessibility, including to natural resources and green spaces.

• Decriminalize mental health and substance-use disabilities, rejecting the Trump administration’s efforts to expand forced treatment and criminalize homelessness.

• Invest in proven, evidence-based approaches like harm reduction and Housing First initiatives.

• Increase accessibility programs within our public transit system: Reduce fees for Pace’s Taxi Access Program (TAP) and Rideshare Access Program (RAP) rides, dramatically increase the current cap of 30 rides per month, and increase funding and resources for Pace’s Paratransit program.

The second Trump administration has trampled on human rights for all people in this country. Our state governments and systems have been slow to respond and find their role in protecting our people. In this gap, our community members have stepped up. But they should not have to shoulder the burden of keeping ourselves safe from fascist violence.

That’s why Miguel will fight in Springfield to…

• Hold Illinois State Police to account for assisting ICE at Broadview.

• Change how we enforce violations of the TRUST Act and other statewide rules that prevent cooperation with ICE and immigration enforcement. Right now, those systems are too slow to meet the day-to-day aggression and terror ICE is waging in our communities. We need “spot enforcement” and ongoing conversations and accountability with law enforcement. As this threat has changed drastically, so must our policy systems to meet it.

• Support activists and community members who have been harmed by police cooperation or indifference.

• Create funds and support systems for those impacted by fascist violence.

• Oppose anti-BDS legislation to protect First Amendment rights.

• Remove ICE presence from all state facilities and continue to plug loopholes to ensure they do not have access to any kind of public data or information.