Student Loan Debt Almost Stopped Jessica Cisneros From Running For Congress

Jessica Cisneros is willing to offer south Texas with change — no matter what walls stand in her way.


Cisneros is 26 years old, just one year older than the required age to run for Congress, and is already fielding criticisms that she’s “too young” to be running. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is also trying to create it harder for same-party challengers to run against incumbent Democrats. And fundraising is notoriously tough for political newcomers, especially for women. Nevertheless added challenges aren’t stopping Cisneros from running for congress in Texas’s 28th district.


On June 13, the 26-year-old lawyer from Laredo, Texas, officially kicked off her campaign for the seat, which has been contained by Democrat Henry Cuellar since 2004. She’s running with the help of Justice Democrats, a crowd that seeks to recruit candidates who believe in progressive policies over corporate interest. (They’re the same people who worked with Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley.) Nevertheless while as a Democrat, Cuellar is among the minority of Texas’s legislative breakdown, Cisneros believes it’s time for change within Texas’s Democratic party, and within her house county.


Deciding to run wasn’t a choice she made lightly. Among other things, she had to imagine whether she’d have the ability to pull off a campaign and pay off her student cash advance debt from law school (it’s in the six figures, she admits). Still, the overwhelming response to her campaign kickoff has been encouraging, and she’s looking forward to Texas’s primary on March 3, 2020 — and for November 3 soon after that.


MTV News discussed to Cuellar about her choice to run, how she’s using a campaign playlist to send a message, and how people who think she’s also young to run need to take her seriously.


MTV News: to begin, what inspired you to run for office?


Jessica Cisneros: The simple piece of information that south Texas really needs a leader. Texas deserves better, and so they require somebody that's going to be championing the interest of people that are here and not outsiders like ExxonMobil, the NRA, and the Koch brothers.


I was place on Earth and raised in Laredo. I'm the overjoyed daughter of Mexican immigrants, like so several hardworking South Texans. Just growing up here, I saw firsthand how complicated it is to raise a family member. I would visualize injustices that led me wanting to be an immigration and human rights lawyer. I committed myself to one day giving back to the community that gave so much to me.


The culture here really inspired me to supporter for families that look like mine, and that's what led me to go to law school. Whenever I was actually an attorney I also got to be able to see firsthand how the policies in Washington affected American families. I can tell you it was very heartbreaking to display showcase the ideal cases possible and give immigrants some of the perfect representation that they could have gotten and still have a judge tell you, "I aspire to assist you and I'd like to help your client, yet I just can't as the laws just aren't there yet."


To me, that was sort of a wake-up call: “If the laws are the problem, and if there's a judge telling me that she can't grant [what she wants to] due to the laws, then let's go to Congress and change them.”


MTV News: How do you plan to use your background to inform both your campaign and, if elected, the work that you would do in Congress?


Cisneros: All these experiences that I've had growing up here, as a South Texan, and then also my experience as an attorney where I visualize first-hand how these policies are affecting people around me — I'm certainly going to be using those to inform my campaign. On a personalized level, it's been good because people finally visualize themselves reflected in a campaign, nevertheless I also know the implications of the policies and what effect they're having to the people of south Texas.


now we're seeing young girls wanting to be involved and take up these spaces that we for so long have been denied access to, and right now we're fighting have the ability to take up those spaces. [TX-28] has never been represented by a woman, which is especially critical because votes against women's health have devastating implications for girls down here. Just the other day my friend texted me saying that she had to [cross the border and] go to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, for a checkup with her OB/GYN, and that's not the way things should be. We should have the ability to get women's health care assistance on this side.


as well as in terms of immigration, the Congressman is voting for funding for the wall, and that has very real life implications for people down here. People in Starr County are right now going to lose their property, and so they are certainly so angry about this. The Congressman can mention that he's being reasonable, and that he's all for bipartisanship. Nevertheless bipartisanship comes at what cost? Just so he can have that label? Meanwhile the folks are suffering. [Editor's note: MTV News reached out to Cuellar for comment prior to publication yet did not hear back.]


MTV News: It's interesting that you point out the idea of bipartisanship, because in recent days a couple of other politicians have claimed that's the way you get things done, and that making concessions is just the way it is. Nevertheless there’s a lot of pushback to that thinking, especially from Millennials and Gen Z, who tend to be progressive. As somebody who is in those generations, what does it mean to you that we are seeing such a concerted call for action?


Cisneros: Here in the district, there's this myth that we are so conservative, that we aren't ready for these progressive ideas and laws. It just validates what we're doing because people like Cuellar benefit from that myth that south Texas is so conservative; it permits him to just stay silent on issues, and do what he believes he has to do.


In the opening starting week since we launched our campaign, there's been an overwhelming outpouring of support. We headed down to the valley, and community members were, first of all, very surprised that somebody that's running for Congress was asking them what they thought the problems and the solutions were. They were also talking about their generic needs, and needing health care although not having access to it. That's why Medicare for All is so key out here. They’re also working really long hours for far less pay. That's why a $15 minimum wage is very crucial, especially in a district where poverty is so rampant. You've got the younger folks that hope to go to college, nevertheless they're facing the dilemma of taking on crippling debt. That's why free college and universities and trade schools are so critical. It's not fair that we don't have access to these generic resources have the ability to follow our dreams.


MTV News: Given that you went to both college and law school, do you have experience with student debt yourself?


Cisneros: I was very blessed have the ability to go to my dream school, The University of Texas School of Law. Luckily for me, it was a state school and because I am a state resident, tuition was way lower than other schools. I still took on a lot of debt and it also was just crazy because for undergrad, I had a full ride. So I was coming out of undergrad without debt, and then I took on a large quantity of debt to get my law degree. Nevertheless I can use it to help the people. That’s routinely been my plan: to use my law degree to contributor for people down here.


That's the story of so several other American students. We're one trillion dollars in debt, and the high interest rates are incredible. We walk out with so much debt that it's basically a mortgage. I can tell you that my debt is at six figures. That was actually one of the factors Whenever I was considering whether I should run or not: if I can actually afford it. Luckily, my parents mentioned that they would take on some of my payments if needed. However again, that's another thing that's discouraging young people from running.


MTV News: Something notable about your campaign video and social media eats is how you consistently use Spanish and English with each other. Was that a conscious choice?


Cisneros: It's actually not really a conscious choice. In the event you come down here, there's so several people [who] just seamlessly transition between English and Spanish. Some days I do not actually learn that somebody's talking to me in one language or the other. I may respond in a different language; they converse with me in English language, and I could respond in Spanish. That's just segment of the experience here. Whenever you go into restaurants, they'll first converse with you in Spanish because it's just segment of the culture here.


MTV News: What message would you have for people who are still discounting the youth vote, and the growing collection of young people who are running for office?


Cisneros: They have to take us seriously. For me, there's so several factors that people attempt to use to discount me, or just not take me seriously. One of those is how young I am, and the other is that I'm woman, plus a brown woman at that. I feel like some people find it very easy to dismiss me, nevertheless they certainly shouldn't. We've already shown that this campaign is serious, that we are taking people's concerns seriously. We were able to meet our very ambitious fundraising objective of $100,000 in 48 hours. A lot of people were telling me, "That's impossible. You're not going to get there." Yet did.


we may be young, nevertheless that doesn't mean that we don't bring the experience. Older folks are telling me, "You don't have any experience." It's like, "What are you talking about?” I was place on Earth and raised here. I know what it's like to be a South Texan. And I have a very good professional experience that's going to really inform my decisions As soon as I get to Congress.


I've habitually been told, especially by older gentlemen, white males, that I don't belong in these spaces, that I'm going to fail, that I'm not going have the ability to carry out what I set to carry out. Nevertheless I've Been proving them wrong each and every step of the way — and I’m not alone. To me, it just means that I'm on the correct track. Plus it means that we need to turn out as several people as possible here in south Texas. If they don't aspire to take us seriously now, they plan to later on down the road, trust me.


MTV News: Social media is already proving to be a big piece of your campaign, so you just released a campaign playlist. What went into the songs you chose?


Cisneros: “Old Town Road” came out While I was considering whether I should run or not, and I just kept thinking about, that’s Texas, right? Just going out into that old town road, and attempting to get out the vote. It's such a catchy song.


We also have “Somos Mas Americanos” by Los Tigres del Norte. This song is especially critical to me because my parents introduced me to that sort of music and I'm an enormous fan. A lot of their songs are really woke — they talk about the immigrant experience here In America. This particular song, I remember playing it on repeat the day immediately after Trump was elected because it discussed to the idea of how we were being made to feel like we didn't belong in this nation as soon as this country's actually ours. We've been living here for so several years, and for a white man to tell us, "No, you don't belong here,” is fully inaccurate.


Beyoncé and Cardi B are in there. Beyoncé just has so several female power songs. As a Tejana, I certainly need to have some Selena in there. We also have stuff from groups that were created here in the district, like Intocable and Duelo. They're Norteño music; my sister got me into that from a young age.


I don't know if you've saw a map of our district, yet it's huge. There is a lot of driving involved, so we're going to be in that vehicle for very long periods of time. The playlist is like four hours long or something, which still wouldn't mask the distance of the district if we were to drive it from tip to tip. So we're really looking forward to those long drives now.


MTV News: If elected, you would actually be the youngest woman elected to Congress. Did you ever imagine you'd be running for office at 26?


Cisneros: I actually didn't know that. Wow. I guess it shows more reason for us having to win, right? The Constitution just says you've got to be 25, and that's one of the reasons I don't understand why folks are like, "Why running? You are a baby." No, the Constitution says I just need to be 25.


It's funny because right now that we launched the campaign, a lot of my companions and family member are like, "Yeah, we knew Jessica was going to one day serve in office because she's habitually mentioned that she wanted to be in a position to help the people here in south Texas. Yet we didn't think it was going to happen so soon." Although south Texas can't wait. We need change right now. And thus While I was asked to run, I was like, "Alright, let's do this. We can't wait.”


This interview has been edited for length.