Cesar Vargas remembers praying at a cathedral in Puebla, Mexico when he was five years old before embarking on a 1800-mile journey to the border town of Tijuana with his siblings and mother. He crossed with his family into the U.S. without legal papers, traveling to Brighton Beach in Brooklyn to live with Vargas’ older brothers who were teenagers at the time.
“Brighton Beach was a hub for new immigrants from Mexico, Latin America, Russia, South Asian communities where immigrants like me would feel welcomed. And I did,” Vargas recalled.
Decades later, Vargas, the first undocumented immigrant to be admitted to the New York State Bar, became a U.S. citizen last week. This week he announced he’s running for Staten Island Borough President in the Democratic primary.
Vargas gained prominence in 2015 after winning a three-year legal battle to practice law. The New York State Bar initially denied him entry because he lacked legal status.
“It was a huge victory because we were able to allow other undocumented lawyers to be practicing,” Vargas said.
A relative newcomer to Staten Island politics, Vargas said he is looking to appeal to a diverse group of voters with a message of unity, focusing on issues like high property taxes and flood protection measures. He moved to the borough in 2005, and lives in the more conservative neighborhood of South Shore.
He is the first person in his family to go to college and become a lawyer. From a young age he and his brothers worked as busboys and dishwashers and in supermarkets and vegetable stands. Recently he joined the U.S. Army Reserve.
“It’s not just communities of color living in one part of the borough,” he said. “We literally are living on an island all to ourselves so we need to help each other.”
Six other candidates are running for borough president, two Republicans and four Democrats, filling the seat of term-limited James Oddo. The Staten Island Democratic Party interviewed three of the four candidates Mark Murphy, Lorraine Honor, and Radhakrishna Mohan. Brandon Stradford, another Democratic candidate, was not interviewed. Last week they endorsed Murphy, a real estate broker who ran a close race against Michael Grimm in 2012.
“Mark brings the experience of running a borough-wide campaign needed to end the decades-long Republican stranglehold over Borough Hall,” the party wrote in a statement.
It’s been more than 30 years since Staten Island had a Democrat as Borough President. But James Clinton, executive director of the island’s Democratic Party, said Staten Islanders are willing to look beyond labels.
“They vote for the person they like,” he said. “It’s not just about party.”
He cited Democrat Michael Cusick as an example. Cusick won a seat in the state Assembly with 53% of the vote in a district that also voted heavily for former President Donald Trump.
In the city's most conservative borough, home to newly elected Representative Nicole Malliotakis who’s closely aligned with Trump, Vargas said residents need leaders who are less divisive.
“We're fractured,” Vargas said. “We're not united to show the city that we should be taken seriously.”
Vargas must collect signatures to be put on the ballot, raise money, and make his case before the June 22nd primary.
