As President Donald Trump begins to implement his hardline immigration agenda, Latino lawmakers in Nevada are proposing a bill to ensure Nevada children have care and access to legal, social and educational resources if their parents are deported. 

The Family Unity Support Act was announced Monday at a press conference in Carson City where the nine-member caucus unveiled its priorities for the session.

The caucus called the bill “crucial” in addressing the challenges faced by Nevada’s mixed-status families, which make up about 9 percent of the state’s households, preventing leaving children vulnerable from instability. The caucus said they will remain committed to the bill despite the chance that Republican Governor Joe Lombardo, who has backed some of Trump’s immigration platform, could veto it later on.  

“As a member of a mixed status family with a biracial background, this issue is extremely personal to me. I feel and see the fear in our community every day,” González said Monday. 

Other caucus priorities range from criminal justice reform to affordable housing and education. Lawmakers announced Monday that they plan on advocating for stronger gun safety measures, better protections for immigrant workers and universal free school lunches.

The caucus is also supporting the Second Look Act, which would enable individuals who received excessively long sentences at a young age to have their cases reviewed and potentially reconsidered based on their rehabilitation, and the English Learners Accountability and Success Act, which would require schools to develop plans for English learners’ success and establish training requirements for educators.

Immigration policy

Although the effects of Trump’s promised mass deportation campaign could be especially pronounced in Nevada, which has the largest per capita undocumented population of any state, González said in an interview a few weeks ago that the caucus’ future plans on tackling the immigration issue are uncertain.

“We just don't know what is going to happen yet,” she said. “We don't want to fear monger people. We want people to have their documents. We want people to know the resources that are available.” 

González said she “can't speak” to whether legislators are working on any policies revolving around 287(g) agreements, which allow state and local agencies to act as immigration enforcement agents. Although there are currently no such agreements in Nevada, opponents of 287(g) have pointed out that they can make immigrant communities distrustful of local law enforcement and risk turning arrests for minor infractions into deportations. 

In 2021, Assemblywoman Selena Torres-Fossett (D-Las Vegas) sponsored legislation that would’ve blocked 287(g) agreements. Two years ago, the caucus pushed Sen. Doñate’s HOPE Act which would have expanded Medicaid to undocumented people. 

“We continue to remain adamantly opposed to raids that are occurring and just inciting fear in our community,” Torres-Fossett said at the Monday press conference. 

González said that looking forward, the entirely Democratic caucus plans on continuing to collaborate with community organizations such as Make the Road Nevada, the Asian Community Development Council and Silver State Voices on developing legislation. Already, González is working with Make the Road Nevada on revising provisions relating to school police.

Just two weeks ago, Latino legislators Sen. Edgar Flores (D-Las Vegas) and Assm. Cinthia Moore (D-North Las Vegas) co-led a “know your rights” forum at the Immigrant Home Foundation with Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford and Southern Nevada Deputy Secretary of State Ruben Rodriguez. Last week, the caucus held a similar event at Winchester Dondero Cultural Center.

Although she isn’t sure what the future holds for Nevada’s Latinos and immigrant communities under the new presidential administration, González says she will keep fighting. 

“A lot of this stuff is personal to us, to our families, and so I want our community to know that we will be fighting for them,” González said.  

New leadership

González, the newly elected leader of the caucus, first got her start in politics as a young college student advocating for criminal justice reform and domestic violence victims. After obtaining her master’s degree in criminal justice years ago, she began to advocate for the end of cash bail and worked for the Mass Liberation Project, a group dedicated to ending mass incarceration. 

“Those experiences are when I first started going to Carson City, and inspired me to run for office,” González reflected. 

She plans on championing many of the same issues in her new leadership role as Nevada’s 83rd legislative session kicks off. 

González says she remains proud of the caucus’ growth, noting that many of the members serve in leadership roles. Previously, the caucus was led by State Sen. Fabian Doñate (D-Las Vegas), who chairs the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, and Assemblywoman Selena Torres-Fossett (D-Las Vegas), who chairs the Assembly Education Committee. 

González, a Democrat, won re-election against Republican challenger Jesse Holder (50 percent to 46 percent) in the majority-Democratic, Las Vegas-area Assembly District 16 this November. González is also juggling work as a part-time instructor at UNLV, doctoral student, and teacher at Mater Academy charter school.

As someone of Thai-Mexican descent, González says that her election to a leadership role feels especially significant and serves as a reminder that more representation is needed for biracial legislators like herself. She often notices students that look just like her in the classroom — “little Cecelias” — and wants to make sure that their voices are heard at the legislative level. 

As a member of the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Nevada Legislative Caucus, González said that her own racial background feels significant as Trump steps into his presidency.

“There's a need for us,” González said. 

González also has her own list of priority bills lined up headed into the 2025 session, including a bill that would help start and fund an internship program for children's mental health professionals at the UNLV practice clinic and a bill that would mandate courts to send out reminders, such as a text or phone call, to let defendants know their hearing date is coming up. 

She also plans on reupping a previous bill on driver authorization cards that was embraced by pro-immigrant groups but died in committee last session. Those cards permit people to drive without requiring a birth certificate or U.S. passport to apply, allowing undocumented immigrants to drive legally in the state. 

González’s bill would have changed the expiration date of driver authorization cards to align with the expiration period for driver's licenses, making it so they would have to be renewed less often.