"I think that the experiences of immigration and really seeing firsthand how broken our immigration system is opens me to all of the injustices. And, really, what I lived is nothing compared to what many of the women I work with or have worked with over the years [have lived]."I’ve been the only woman of color in so many rooms over the course of my life. Seeing the perspective of women of color rarely being brought to the table — whether it is immigrants or Black women or any Native-American women — has shaped how I think of legislation. It has shaped how I think about the most vulnerable, because often women of color are at the bottom of any scale . It has also shaped my deep, abiding respect for wanting to reframe the experience of women of color in politics and the general world, so we’re not just seen as victims, but we’re seen as the strong, resilient, courageous people that we are.""I became a citizen in 2000. It was a fairly harrowing process. Not as harrowing as for some, but it took me 18 years to obtain my citizenship."When I finally got [it], it was this deep sense of gratitude, of relief, and a real recognition of how many tried to get the U.S. citizenship and don’t get it. And then I really had to make sure to use my place in this country to help other people."When 9/11 happened, it was just a year after I got my citizenship. And so all of the hate and the discrimination and the civil-liberties abuses that were happening — there was a piece of me that was like, 'I can’t believe this is the country that I just became a citizen of, that I’ve been so proud to be a citizen of. It’s violating the very same things that I think make it a great country.' And that’s why I stepped up to fight back against the Bush administration , against the Patriot Act, against civil-liberties violations."It was very, very personal, in a way, but it was also very political. It was not just about me. It was, 'Wait a second. We as a country cannot undermine the deepest values that make us who we are.'"