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Fighting for Opportunities
The trail Nunes blazed from a Portuguese immigrant farming family to Capitol Hill embodies the American dream. But how far can the young congressman go?
Devin Nunes represents California’s 21st District and at 30 is one of the youngest members in the House of Representatives. Youth and a deeply rooted philosophy of hard work to achieve success helped him get ahead.
His family came from Portugal’s mid-Atlantic Azores Islands three generations ago and established the dairy farm he still runs. Nunes says he became a congressman so young because the family system trained him well–all of them started working on the farm at an early age. From his youth he has always worked full time, seven days a week, so he takes his demanding schedule as an elected official in stride.
Being involved in the family business gave him direct knowledge on how the people in farming and agriculture were impacted by laws passed at federal and state levels. Nunes’s wish is to protect the livelihoods of these people. “I felt freedom and opportunity were being taken away from young people, and from immigrant families and folks that came to this country thinking that the harder they worked the more opportunities they could have.” In other words, he is fighting to make sure young people nowadays get the same opportunities his grandparents had.
For Nunes, opportunity is not about gaining handouts from the government, but the chance to work and succeed in whatever field one chooses. That is why he is a Republican: he feels this party stands for “less government, fewer rules, fewer regulations,” and more for the rewards of hard work. In his opinion, Democrats deal with issues through new government programs and mandates, thus creating unnecessary red tape. Nunes believes that states and local communities should have the right to do as they wish to handle their own problems.
California is chiefly Democrat, but his Latino background was a huge advantage in getting the voters’ support because his district is heavily Portuguese-Azoria and Mexican-American. He thinks Latino immigrant communities all go through the same hardships and share certain values such as a work ethic, family support, and Catholicism, but that it is essential to acknowledge the different backgrounds and particular issues that matter to each community. Nunes believes Democrats have made a great mistake in “grouping everybody under the ‘Latino’ umbrella.” His scope is all-inclusive: all people, regardless of their roots, should be able to get ahead in life. Similarities hold together all Hispanic groups, but, for him, the ability to be independent is the ultimate success for these communities.
Making informed decisions and lining up the political support to accomplish his goals define the style of this politician, who claims he will be around for as long as he feels he is making a difference in people’s lives. It seems we will be hearing more about his passionate convictions for some decades.
