Jessica de la Cruz admits to looking forward to the government reduction promised by the President-elect
The Portuguese descendant and Republican senator from Rhode Island, Jessica de la Cruz, hopes that her party “does not waste the opportunity” generated by Donald Trump’s victory, admitting to Lusa that she longs for the government reduction promised by the President-elect.
Daughter of immigrants from the Azores and Madeira, Jessica de la Cruz never thought that her life would involve the world of North American politics, but, in the November 5 elections, she ended up re-elected senator with 70% of the votes, in addition to being the leader of the Republican minority in the state senate, a position that made her the “face” of this ‘caucus’ among the public and the press.
In an interview with Lusa, the senator explained that she decided to run for the Republican Party because it is the one that most aligns with her ideologies, including that of a “smaller Government”, the “protection of constitutional rights” or being able to “decide how educate” their children.
Taking these ideals into account, Jessica says it was like “music to her ears” when she heard the proposals of the newly elected President, Donald Trump, to reduce “the size of the Government and the salary burden and, consequently, reduce corruption.” .
“I think my biggest concern is how big the Government has gotten. So it was like music to my ears. I loved hearing this proposal to make the Government smaller. We’ve seen so much wasted money and so I hope to see things happen to reduce the size of the Government”, he argued.
Looking ahead to the next four years under Trump’s leadership, Jessica de la Cruz assumes “optimism” but hopes “that Republicans will work together and not waste the opportunity to bring about the change they want to see” after the Party has achieved not only the Presidency, but also control of the federal Congress.
At the local level, the senator likes to maintain a close relationship with the electorate, admitting that her political priority is always listening to what “the community wants”.
It was with this strategy in mind that during the campaign period he knocked on the doors of Rhode Island voters and wanted to know what problems affected them the most: “They told me that it has become completely unaffordable to live here, that their children cannot buy a house Even with good jobs, elderly people have told me that they are unable to pay for groceries, medication or medical bills.”
But the senator guarantees that this closeness with voters did not stop during the campaign period, trying to hold – at least once a month – a “coffee hour” with constituents, so that they can tell her what worries them most.
On social media, Jessica de la Cruz describes herself as a “proud daughter of immigrants” and, in an interview with Lusa, she acknowledged that “the majority of immigrants are very hardworking”, a reality that she witnessed in her own family.
However, the senator considers that the USA faces a “serious problem”, since it “doesn’t know who is crossing its border”, and argued that the country should prioritize aid to national citizens who need it most, instead of channeling resources for immigrants who enter the country illegally.
“We are a nation of laws. (…) I tell people that I am 100% in favor of immigration, as long as they come here the right way. We need workers. There are industries in which it is very difficult to find Americans to work. I know this from experience, my family is very hardworking. Most immigrants are. But we have a serious problem in the US, we don’t know who is crossing our border, if there are terrorists or violent criminals coming here. . We need to know who is in the country”, advocated.
Donald Trump, who was elected the 47th North American President at the beginning of the month, had as one of his biggest campaign slogans the promise to carry out the “largest mass deportation in history” of illegal immigrants, whom he accused of ” poison the blood” of the United States.
There are about 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US, according to Department of Homeland Security estimates for 2022, the most recent year with available data.
“There are a series of reasons for Republicans to say that people need to come legally. It’s not that we don’t want immigrants. We are also children of immigrants, but we need to know who is here and we need to protect ourselves”, defended the Portuguese descendant.
Jessica de la Cruz also recalled that the USA is facing a housing shortage crisis, in addition to recording a large number of homeless people in several cities across the country, criticizing the provision of shelter to immigrants before helping the North’s own citizens. -Americans.
“We first need to make sure that our veterans have a place to live, that they are not living on the streets, without shelter. (…) Once we get that under control, then we can open the borders for people to come legally “, he argued.
“But having people come to the US and pay for hotel stays, health insurance, pay for purchases and not do that for Americans? That doesn’t make sense,” he further stressed.
In addition to Trump’s victory in the November 5 elections, the Republican Party gained control of Congress, a scenario that will give the President greater access to federal funds to finance his plan for the mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants.
