Catalina Cruz: Career Timeline
Catalina Cruz's career has moved from an undocumented childhood through law school and a series of government and legal positions to the New York State Assembly, where she became the first former DREAMer to hold elected office in the state. The timeline below traces that progression in chronological order, with citations to primary or strong secondary sources for each major moment.
High school graduation
Cruz graduated from John Bowne High School in Flushing, Queens 1. Her high school years were spent navigating life without legal status.
Marriage, citizenship, and education
Cruz married her high school boyfriend in 2003, obtained a green card in 2005, and became a U.S. citizen in 2009 1. She earned a bachelor's degree with honors from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2005 and a Juris Doctor from CUNY School of Law in 2009 1,3. Her path to citizenship and legal education was intertwined.
Legal and government career
After law school, Cruz worked as a housing attorney representing low-income tenants, served as a Volunteer Assistant Attorney General (immigration-fraud cases), counseled the City Council's Immigration Committee (helping create sanctuary-city legislation and IDNYC), served as chief of staff to Council Member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, and directed Governor Cuomo's Exploited Workers Task Force 4,5. This progression built her policy expertise and professional network.
Elected to the Assembly
Cruz won the 2018 Democratic primary with 53 percent, defeating the party-backed incumbent, and ran unopposed in the general election 1,6. She became the first former DREAMer elected to office in New York State and took office in January 2019 1. Her campaign was driven by President Trump's threat to end DACA, which she described as the catalyst for her decision to run 7.
Assembly tenure
In the Assembly, Cruz has chaired the Task Force on New Americans and passed more than 20 laws, including the Jose Peralta DREAM Act, the Green Light Bill, the Child Victims Act, and rent-law reforms 8,5. She co-sponsored over 400 bills and led pandemic-response efforts in her hard-hit district 8. She has been re-elected since 2018. Her legislative record is detailed in the legislative section of this series.
Summary of offices and roles held
* Housing attorney; Volunteer AAG (immigration fraud); counsel, City Council Immigration Committee; chief of staff, Council Member Ferreras-Copeland; director, Governor's Exploited Workers Task Force; counsel, NYS Department of Labor.
* New York State Assembly, 39th District: January 2019 to present.
* Chair, Assembly Task Force on New Americans.