Like many in the Valley I was born in Mexico. My mom has Mexican heritage but was a natural-born US citizen. She left America as a teenager, to live with her abuela back in Zacatecas. My father was a legal US resident. Even with ties to the US for both parents, the laws didn’t give me automatic citizenship or paperwork at birth.
When I was about two years old my dad ran for mayor of our small town, Jalpa, Zacatecas. There’s a video somewhere of me chanting PRD PRD (the party name), so my political activism started early. PRD is Partido De La Revolucion Democratica, AMLO left them and started Morena.
When I was four years old my parents took our family to the US to find work. We crossed the border by bus in Laredo, Texas. My sister and I were both undocumented so this was risky, but like millions of immigrants, we had no choice, since the U.S. had ruined the Mexican economy with NAFTA.
After brief stays in East L.A. and Parris, California, our family was priced out of California due to the poor leadership of the Democratic Party, and we settled in McAllen, Texas when I was eight years old. I’ve lived in the RGV ever since.
My childhood was defined by being undocumented in McAllen – I felt uneasy all the time, with Border Patrol everywhere and the Falfurrias checkpoint pinning us in.
I remember going on a school trip to the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio. Passing through the border checkpoint in Falfurrias was terrifying. As an undocumented child even small things, like a class field trip, came with extra fears and dangers.
I finally got U.S. citizenship at age 15. But it was bittersweet, because none of my peers with the same issue had the same opportunity.
While I was fortunate to gain U.S. citizenship as a teenager, I will never forget how it felt growing up undocumented, and I will always fight for fair and compassionate treatment for our undocumented community members. We must abolish ICE. And we must consider the rights and needs of indigenous and oppressed people everywhere.
Growing up an immigrant, undocumented, gay, Latino, and poor – I saw and felt a lot of the injustices in the world. So I have focused my career on activism and community organizing, working to stop injustice wherever and however I can make a difference. My career has spanned many types of activism and community organizing work. For over a decade I’ve regularly done nonpartisan GOTV door canvassing and phonebanking for LUPE. LUPE is La Union del Pueblo Entero, they do important advocacy work in the Valley.
I’ve joined or led protests and campaigns on: Marriage Equality, Border Wall, Wage Theft, Environment, Immigration Reform – organized with the Dreamers, “Minority Affairs Council”, repro rights with STRJ, Sierra Club, STEJN, AFT union, Fuerza Del Valle, a local worker’s center. I’ve organized several ICE protests. Occupy Wall St / Occupy McAllen at Archer Park.
For the Jill Stein 2024 Campaign, I was the Texas state field organizer.
I’ve also worked as a paid translator at community meetings and political events, helping our people gain a voice.
Now, I am running for Congress in the hopes of protecting our community and bringing real change for the people of my district.
¡Cuellar, escucha, estamos en la lucha!
Marlon Duran For Congress! 