PHOENIX — Erika Andiola, the young immigrant activist who prompted outrage on social media last week after her messages and tearful video chronicled the arrests of her mother and brother during an immigration raid here, is the new outreach director for Representative Kyrsten Sinema, the freshman congresswoman known for her staunch opposition to Arizona’s stance on illegal immigration.
The hiring is at once recognition of Ms. Andiola’s connections in the Latino community and a statement by Ms. Sinema, who as a state senator delivered one of the most scathing critiques of Arizona’s controversial immigration legislation, S.B. 1070, debating its main sponsor, Russell Pearce, for hours on the Arizona House floor.
“She’s a phenomenally hard worker, she is organized and she has great experience organizing the community,” Ms. Sinema said in a telephone interview from Washington. Ms. Andiola also lives in the Ninth Congressional District, which Ms. Sinema represents and which encompasses parts of southern Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa and Chandler, as well as Tempe.
Ms. Andiola, 25, crossed the border illegally as a child and used the experience to shape her advocacy. She co-founded the Arizona Dream Act Coalition and staged protests outside the offices of Senator John McCain here and at the United States Capitol to push for immigration reform.
In November, she got a work permit under a policy put in place by the Obama administration in June giving temporary reprieve from deportation to certain illegal immigrants who came to the country as children. Wednesday was her first day on the job.
“To me, this is a great way to connect whatever is happening in Congress to the community, especially the Latino and the immigrant community,” Ms. Andiola said.
(Immigration authorities released Ms. Andiola’s mother and brother hours after their arrests, saying the case contains some of the elements covered under “prosecutorial discretion policy.”)