当加州民主党众议员皮特·阿吉拉尔宣誓就职时第118届国会今年1月，他成为国会中级别最高的拉美裔人，担任众议院民主党核心小组主席，这是他所在政党在众议院的第三号人物。
阿吉拉尔是第四代墨西哥裔美国人，最近他与美国广播公司新闻撰稿人玛丽亚·埃琳娜·萨利纳斯(Maria Elena Salinas)坐在一起，讨论他的个人故事、他在众议院的新角色以及代表一个经常感到被忽视的人口群体的压力。
“这是一种机会感。阿吉拉尔在接受采访时告诉萨利纳斯，我的故事与其他许多人没有太大不同，你知道，拉丁美洲人在他们不得不努力工作才能生存的社区中长大，采访于周日在美国广播公司的“本周”播出
年仅26岁的阿吉拉尔在加利福尼亚州雷德兰兹开始了他的政治生涯，这里距离他长大的地方以东11英里。
阿吉拉尔说:“我加入雷德兰兹市议会，实际上是因为被任命填补一个离开小镇的人的空缺，然后在27岁当选，30岁成为市长。”
他在2014年赢得了美国众议院的选举，代表着现在加州的第33个国会选区。现在，作为众议院民主党核心小组主席，他的工作是围绕立法和党内问题团结党内成员，同时寻找跨党派的共同点。
"你认为你和共和党人在哪些问题上可以达成共识?"萨利纳斯问。
“我认为在‘梦想家’成为公民的能力方面已经有了共识，”阿吉拉尔回应道，他指的是成千上万在童年时被非法带到美国的年轻人。“我们有共和党人支持。”
围绕移民的政策一直处于阿吉拉尔政治生涯的最前沿，保护“梦想家”是他的首要任务。阿吉拉尔支持梦想行动这将允许年轻移民建立永久居留权，并最终授予他们美国公民身份。
他最近的努力包括一封推动立法允许“梦想家”将在联邦政府任职。
“参议院提出了一项法案，帮助引导‘梦想家’实现身份合法化。萨利纳斯说:“这种情况已经发生了几十年，但从未有过结果。”。“需要发生什么才能让它成为现实?”
“我认为我们在美国参议院需要更多的朋友和盟友，”阿吉拉尔回应道。“我尊重这一点，你知道，在某些时候，众议院有错，参议院也有错。但在过去10年里，民主党人不断地将这些法案搁置，而共和党人一直站在众议院一边，阻止任何真正的改革发生。”
阿吉拉尔说，他也关注南部边境移民的涌入。
"你认为拜登总统在边境问题上表现如何?"萨利纳斯问。
"我想分数会是不完整的，对吗?"阿吉拉尔回答。“还有很多事要做。我们知道这是南部边境的人道主义问题。拜登总统试图做的也是清理前任政府留下的烂摊子。”
“但现在并没有那么乱，”萨利纳斯催促道。
阿吉拉尔说:“嗯，但我要告诉你们，我们解决这个问题的方式非常非常不同。”。
他还指出，民主党必须赢回拉丁裔选民的选票，因为最近的选举显示，民主党正在失去这些选民的支持。根据过去三个选举周期的全国出口民调，支持民主党的拉美裔选民比例下降了9个百分点，从2018年的69%降至2022年的60%。
阿吉拉尔说:“我认为，我们如何与选民交谈，我们如何在他们所在的地方会见他们，我们如何与他们讨论这些问题，这真的很重要。”。“谈论拉美裔问题没有一成不变的方式。我们需要认识到，我们需要有一个计划来与这些选民和个人交谈。我认为我们需要在这方面做得更好。”
这位议员说，他已经在制定如何赢回众议院多数席位的战略，强调立法者需要走出去，与选民谈论他们的立法胜利，如两党基础设施法和两党打击枪支暴力的更安全社区法案。
“所以我们可以把这理解为你最大的挑战是在2024年赢回房子吗?”萨利纳斯问。
“我们必须这样做来拯救民主，帮助我们的社区，”阿吉拉尔回答说。
'There's plenty to do': Rep. Pete Aguilar speaks on border crisis, being highest-ranking Latino in Congress
When Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., was sworn in for the 118th Congress in January, he became the highest-ranking Latino in Congress, serving as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, the No. 3 position in his party in the chamber.
Aguilar, a fourth-generation Mexican-American, recently sat down with ABC News contributor Maria Elena Salinas to discuss his personal story, his new role in the House and the pressure of representing a demographic that often feels overlooked.
"It's a sense of opportunity. My story is not very different than so many other, you know, Latinos who grew up in communities where they had to work hard to get by," Aguilar told Salinas in the interview, which aired Sunday on ABC's "This Week."
At just 26 years old, Aguilar began his political career in Redlands, California, 11 miles east from where he grew up.
"I joined the Redlands City Council, actually, by getting appointed to fill a vacancy for someone who had left town, and then became elected at the age of 27 and became mayor by 30," Aguilar said.
He won election to the U.S. House in 2014, representing what is now California's 33rd Congressional District. Now, as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, his job is to unite members of his party around legislation and party issues, while also finding common ground across the aisle.
"What issues do you feel that you and Republicans can have common ground on?" Salinas asked.
"I think there has been common ground on the ability for 'Dreamers' to become citizens," Aguilar responded, referring to the hundreds of thousands of young people who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children. "We have Republicans on board with that."
Policies surrounding immigration have been at the forefront of Aguilar's political career, with the protection of "Dreamers" being at the top of his list. Aguilar supported the DREAM Act, which would allow the young immigrants to establish permanent residency and eventually grant them U.S. citizenship.
His most recent efforts involved a letter pushing for legislation to allow "Dreamers" to hold federal employment.
"The Senate introduced a bill to help guide 'Dreamers' toward legalization of their status. This has been happening for decades now and it never comes to fruition," Salinas said. "What needs to happen to make it a reality?"
"I think we need more friends and allies in the United States Senate," Aguilar responded. "I can respect that, you know, that certain times the House has been at fault and the Senate's been at fault. But in the last 10 years, Democrats have continually put these bills on the floor, and Republicans have stood in the way on the House side to see any real reform happen."
Aguilar said he is also concerned with the influx of migrants at the southern border.
"How do you think President [Joe] Biden is doing on the border?" Salinas asked.
"I think the grade would be incomplete, right?" Aguilar answered. "There's plenty to do. We know that it's a humanitarian issue down at the southern border. What President Biden sought to do was to clean up the mess from the prior administration, too."
"But it's not less messy right now," Salinas pressed.
"Well, but I would tell you that the tone of how we address this is very, is very different," Aguilar said.
He also noted that the Democratic Party has to win back the Latino vote, after recent elections show the party losing ground with those voters. According to national exit polls of the last three election cycles, the share of Latino voters backing Democrats has dropped nine points, from 69% in 2018 to 60% in 2022.
"I think that how we talk to voters, how we meet them where they are and we talk about the issues with them really is important," Aguilar said. "And there's no cookie cutter way to talk about Latino issues. We need to realize that we need to have a plan to talk to those voters and those individuals. And I think that we need to do a better job of that."
The congressman said he is already strategizing how to win back a House majority, emphasizing that lawmakers need to get out and talk to constituents about their legislative wins, such as the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to combat gun violence.
"So can we interpret that as your biggest challenge is going to be winning back the House in 2024?" Salinas asked.
"We have to do it to save democracy, to help our communities," Aguilar replied.
