Editor,
As we celebrate Hispanic-Latino Heritage Month, we honor the voices, histories and achievements of Latino and Hispanic communities that have shaped our country and region. In San Mateo County, we elected our first-ever Latina County Supervisor, Noelia Corzo, and, in Pacifica, our first Latina City Councilmember, Mayra Espinosa — milestones reflecting our growing civic engagement and leadership.
Yet progress does not erase the challenges we continue to face. Latinos nationwide still experience attacks through mass deportations, racial profiling, and discriminatory policies — a painful echo of history. After the U.S.–Mexico War, Mexicans became “foreigners” in their own land and were treated as a threat to society. During the Great Depression, the Mexican Repatriation campaign deported about 2 million Mexicans and Mexican Americans. Later, Operation Wetback, under President Eisenhower, once again targeted our families.
Today, Latinos are the second-largest voting bloc in both California and the United States, with more than 36 million eligible voters nationwide and 8.5 million in California. This growing political power gives us not only a strong voice but also a profound responsibility to help shape the policies and elect the leaders who will advance equity and opportunity for our communities.
Hispanic-Latino Heritage Month is not just a time to celebrate culture. It is a call to action: to register and turn out to vote, to advocate for equity and justice, and to support leaders who defend our rights. By recognizing our resilience, leadership and contributions, we honor the past and ensure a future that we are all committed to creating, where all communities thrive.
Victoria Sanchez De Alba
Pacifica
Alexis Lewis
San Mateo
Maryann Moise
Portola Valley
The letter writers are members of the San Mateo County Democratic Central Committee Executive Board and wrote this on its behalf.
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