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Real Conversations for Real New Mexicans.
The Chile Wire with A. Baldonado. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to The Chile Wire. This week, I'm delighted to introduce my guest, Ruiz from House District 36 down in Donna Ana County.
Abe Baldonado:Julia, thank you for joining The Chile Wire.
Julia Ruiz:Absolutely. Thank you for having me, and I appreciate the invitation. I'm super excited, and, thank you. Thank you so much.
Abe Baldonado:My pleasure. And, you know, you've been busy, Julia. It's getting crunch time now. We're, just a little under two weeks away from election day, but you've been everywhere. You've been engaging with folks for a very long time now.
Abe Baldonado:Really excited to see your race. I I really believe that you're gonna pull this off because this race was very close just a couple years ago. And with your skills, your talent, but your passion, what I've seen is you really wanna bring representation to a district that has not been truly represented in House District 36.
Julia Ruiz:Absolutely. I'm here for the people. I think we need good representation. We need somebody that cares about the people, about New Mexicans. And at the end of the day, Abe, it's not about the party.
Julia Ruiz:It's about why we're running. It's it's the it's the New Mexicans, New Mexican people that that I care about, our community, that where we work, live, and play, and that's what I'm passionate about.
Abe Baldonado:Absolutely. And and I believe that's what voters are looking for. They're looking for someone who says, look. The person I'm electing isn't running for party. They're running based on principles, values, and policies that uplift me as a voter, that they're going to make my quality of life better.
Abe Baldonado:They're going to address education. They're going to address crime in our streets. They're going to work harder to build better infrastructure on our roads and our housing. And I think those are the issues that really matter. And, you know, it's it's unfortunate.
Abe Baldonado:One thing I do love though is that you and I as conservatives fit a different bill. We're... We we got some we got some brown on us there, Julia, that I think sometimes people are like, wait. How are you a conservative? It's like, well, let me tell you about my views.
Abe Baldonado:Let me tell you about my faith and my values and my principles that are not being represented in Santa Fe right now.
Julia Ruiz:Absolutely. You know, I was born in in Mexico, and Hispanics are inherently conservative. I I... I'm not understanding why it's such a surprise. One, being female, two, being Hispanic, three, being here illegally, a lot of people like to assume that, oh, you're definitely Democrat.
Julia Ruiz:No. I'm I'm not. We're... My parents brought us up working where we work. We we we we we work.
Julia Ruiz:I mean, that's one of the big things. We're private. We're... We want to... We're not here for a handout.
Julia Ruiz:Absolutely. I understand that some people need help at times, but we wanna do it ourselves. We can do it ourselves. We're absolutely capable of working, and we want to work. That's that's that's my family.
Julia Ruiz:I mean, we worked our whole lives.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. It's the pursuit of happiness in the American dream, right, that you come here because you wanna work hard. Because you see what happens in America that when you work hard, you can do really well. And you'll definitely do far better than you would in any other country in the world because of the opportunities here that do exist. And you're you're the epitome of that, Julia, and I love that you're now bringing your voice to politics in Donna Anna County because I believe there are many folks down in Donna Anna that resonate with those same values, that that same mindset.
Julia Ruiz:Absolutely. We we all work and play here. We all want safe communities. We all want, again, the pursuit of happiness. We want opportunity, and and there is.
Julia Ruiz:That's one of the the reasons my parents came to The United States is for opportunity. And Mexico right now, of course, I haven't been back in a long time, but they couldn't achieve that there. And here in The United States, this is the greatest country in the world. I've been I've been to a lot of different countries, and every time I come home to The United States, it's just... It's amazing.
Julia Ruiz:I absolutely love it. I love our flag and everything that stands... That stands with it... With that. So, yes, absolutely.
Julia Ruiz:Very proud to be an American... Became an American citizen in 2018, and that was one of my proudest moments, and it and it still is. So... Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:And, you know, Julia, I've had the privilege when I worked for former lieutenant governor John Sanchez, I attended a number of naturalization ceremonies, and it is one of the most beautiful moments when you see folks say, I'm ready to be an American, and, you know, they they get sworn in and naturalized as as US citizens. And, you know, it is a very special thing that, unfortunately, I think there are folks who try to undermine that that ceremony and how truly amazing it is. You know? I I have family who immigrated from Mexico, and, you know, again, a lot of people don't understand immigration. They don't understand border security.
Abe Baldonado:And one thing that I try to tell people, those are two very different conversations. When you talk about border security and you talk about immigration, they're very different. You know, one thing on border security, yes, a nation has its borders and we have to protect them. Immigration is the process for which you come to The United States and you apply. And those are conversations we need to have.
Abe Baldonado:I think you and I can both agree that our immigration process is broken, but both parties are to blame for not fixing it. And I... I'm I'm willing to say that is that both parties have failed to address the fractures in our immigration system.
Julia Ruiz:Oh, absolutely. No doubt. I mean, our... And not only that, Abe, it's also the Mexican side that is so, so broken. It's both sides that, I remember when we were applying for for citizenship, it was always, oh, you need...
Julia Ruiz:And on the Mexico side, oh, you forgot this or you need this. It was always la more data. Right? Mhmm. That they wanted more money so that you could get ahead, so that you could get, oh, you need this paperwork done?
Julia Ruiz:Well, you need to pay a little bit more. And it's all... It was always something that was needed on the Mexico side. I don't know what it's... What the process is like.
Julia Ruiz:I can't imagine it's any better or or or any worse. But, yes, it is broken. It absolutely is broken on on both sides.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. And and, Julia, I think where where it's also broken now is that you have a segment of coyotes right now exploiting immigrants and putting them in danger by telling them, hey, you don't want to do it this way. We'll we'll get you over. And, unfortunately, the amount of deaths that we've seen from that and victims who have been exploited, their money taken, they've been injured or or or even harmed. You know?
Abe Baldonado:I mean, it's a dangerous situation and they've exploited that for the reasons, as you mentioned, that, you know, there are barriers on the Mexico side that are making people say, you know what? This way sounds easier because, you know, I pay one time and they'll get me over, but they don't understand the inherent risks that exist with doing that.
Julia Ruiz:Oh, it's absolutely dangerous. I was an interpreter for the federal courts, and that's who I worked with is all of the illegals coming in. Some of them are such sad stories, Abe. It it just breaks my heart. I I understand that they want a better life in The United States, but just to get here, they were called at that at that time.
Julia Ruiz:I don't know if it's the same term now. But they would have their backpacks. The coyotes would give them the the, the backpacks, full of drugs. If they were arrested, then they owed that backpack full of drugs so they'd have to come back again re... Just to make up for all that...
Julia Ruiz:All the drugs that were lost, make up for that money. It's a vicious, vicious cycle that it's dangerous. It's Mhmm. It's horrific. It's absolutely horrific.
Julia Ruiz:And these are young young and older older men and and women that are wanting to come in, and they're stuck in that horrific cycle. I... I'm absolutely against that. A lot of people ask me, oh, you were here illegally. Why why would you say that border patrol is bad?
Julia Ruiz:Well, they're arresting criminals. They're they're taking them back to where they they need to go. At the end of the day, if you're here illegally, like we were we were indentured servants. That's the sad part. If somebody committed a crime against us, we couldn't go to the police.
Julia Ruiz:We couldn't go for help or assistance or anything. There was nothing we can do. Absolutely nothing. And it's a sad life. It it really is.
Julia Ruiz:Speaking from experience from my parents and from what we lived when we were here undocumented it with... Illegally. So I I absolutely am supportive of border patrol and and definitely illegal immigration is not is not a good thing.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. And, you know, we have to have the realistic conversation, right, Julia, that there are individuals out there that do not have good intentions for The United States or its communities that want to wreak havoc with violence, drugs, human trafficking. I mean, I don't think we talk about human trafficking enough because that is a very big issue, and New Mexico is a hub for it. You know? They utilize safe spaces in our oil and gas basins.
Abe Baldonado:You know, we need a lot of awareness, there's folks and programs that are doing great work to bring awareness on human trafficking, but we don't hear it enough in the media. And I I don't know if it's... They intentionally don't want people to know about this because then it undermines, you know, the whole border security, effort that they're they're trying to paint this picture against border security, but there are criminals out there. You know, like, I've always used the analogy, if I give you a bowl of M and M's and I tell you two of them are poisonous, are you going to know which ones are are the poison? Probably not.
Abe Baldonado:And, you know, and the reality is is that foreign terrorists have even found ways to try to immigrate into America coming through our borders, and that's the They they try to blend in and they try to come into The United States, and that's why we we do have to have the honest conversation. I I believe we can have a conversation that is compassionate, but also Absolutely.
Julia Ruiz:And I think that's one of the issues that people don't want to face. It's it's ugly. It is ugly out there. Illegal immigration, the closed borders, open borders, that it is an honest conversation that we've got to have, and we've got to understand that, yes, it's it's ugly. It's not pretty, but it's a discussion that we have to have, and people need to understand that people are dying.
Julia Ruiz:Children are dying. People are getting hurt. Children are being hurt. It's it's something that needs to be brought to light and something that we absolutely need to to have discussions about and and and open it up more. And it's it's it's the reality.
Julia Ruiz:It's a sad, ugly reality.
Abe Baldonado:Absolutely. And I think it's very dangerous rhetoric when you say we have open borders because it puts a lot of people in jeopardy. It puts them in a lot of danger. And I think that doesn't do any help for those individuals who are trying to escape problems from their countries that they're immigrating from. No doubt cartels and, you know, drug activity has wreaked havoc.
Abe Baldonado:And it's not even just Mexico. Right? I mean, we go down into South America. Mean, are issues that plague many countries. And many folks want to feel safe.
Abe Baldonado:Right? And where do they want to go? They want to go to The United States. And this is where I always tell people, I'm like, Americans are very privileged. We're very, very privileged because many of us have not seen what it's like to live in another country and the problems that exist.
Abe Baldonado:You know? And so these folks that say open borders, I'm like, well, you don't understand the position that you're putting immigrants in because it's going to become very dangerous for them. You have people who are going to prey on them. You're going to... Like, we don't even know how many people have gone missing or human trafficked because they put their faith into the wrong people who said, we can get you to America.
Julia Ruiz:Right. Right. No. It's dangerous. Absolutely agree.
Julia Ruiz:I mean, it's dangerous, and that's that's something that we need to start talking about and and bring bring to light. Absolutely agree with that.
Abe Baldonado:And, Julia, there's no better person than you. I just have to say someone who has gone through the system, understands what it's like to come from a family that has immigrated here and also has gone through the process of being naturalized. And I think it's a beautiful story to tell, and I'm glad we have you to share it. And I'm delighted that you're sharing it with your constituents down in Dona Ana County. Julia, I kind of want to shift here because I want people to get to know Julia Ruiz.
Abe Baldonado:And one of the things that I have to ask because we need to know this that, you know, when you're running in New Mexico politics, this is the hardest question you're going get, Julia. Red or green? Because we're the Chile Wire. I have to ask you. Red or green?
Julia Ruiz:Oh, I love red, but I also like a green.
Abe Baldonado:Hey. That's controversial for Southern New Mexico to say you like red. Red Chile is usually a Northern New Mexico staple, so you might get in trouble down there.
Julia Ruiz:Is that right? Well, I love red. I love my red enchiladas. I love... But I also love my green salsa.
Julia Ruiz:It's delicious. I make both of them, and I do love them both.
Abe Baldonado:That's amazing. Julia, I got to ask you because Las Cruces to me has some amazing cuisine, and I I enjoy my time down there. I have my restaurants. But is there a restaurant of yours that you enjoy in Las Cruces?
Julia Ruiz:You know, I'll be honest with you. A lot of... There are a lot of Mexican restaurants. I love my mom's cooking. I am Oh, yeah.
Julia Ruiz:I'm not gonna let... I just love my mom's cooking. I like to like to cook as well Mexican food. And, yes, absolutely. Andales is one of our favorites.
Julia Ruiz:Yes. That's one of ours. Let's see what else. There's... There...
Julia Ruiz:And there are a lot of hole in the walls that are that are delicious. I can't think of any right now, of course, but, yes, there's so many of them that that they are just so good. In fact, yesterday, I went for lunch to Taqueria Chavez. Delicious. Absolutely delicious.
Julia Ruiz:So I
Abe Baldonado:haven't heard that. I'll have to keep that in mind next time I'm down with Scrooge's.
Julia Ruiz:But Mhmm.
Abe Baldonado:Andale is one of my favorite restaurants going to there, the doghouse across the street to have a meal. And I tell people, if you haven't tried their green chile cheese sauce, it is to die for. And it is a staple of Las Cruces because you don't find that in Northern New Mexico. So anytime I'm down there, I'm like, I have to get my Andalay green chile sauce because
Julia Ruiz:Come on over. Take you there.
Abe Baldonado:Absolutely. Well, Julia, I want to transition now. I want folks to get to know who you are now that we know you love red chili. But I'd love to learn your why. Why you jumped into running for office because one thing I found is when good people start to run for office, it means that a line was crossed with them.
Abe Baldonado:Some government, an issue really said, you know what? I need to start speaking out because this isn't okay. And I would just love for folks to hear your story of how you got involved.
Julia Ruiz:Sure. So like I said, I'm... I was a... Became a US citizen in 2018. I looked at the presidency election, and everybody was so against Trump But...
Julia Ruiz:Because before they loved him, there was a television show that was on there, and everybody loved him. And then all of a sudden, they they switched on him, and then COVID came. We were mandated for... To get the shots, to get the... All of this stuff, and I'm thinking, this doesn't make sense to me.
Julia Ruiz:It just it just doesn't. So I ran for school board. I lost, and I got deeper into politics and trying to understand what's going on here. Why... What what is going on?
Julia Ruiz:There... There's something... There's a disconnect here between politicians and the people and the community, and it's just not... It it it doesn't make sense to me. So I I, again, decided to run for House District 36, and I saw that we didn't have representation.
Julia Ruiz:We didn't... It was always politics first. The people were always the ones that were getting hurt.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah.
Julia Ruiz:People were not were not being put first. Their constituents were... Weren't even thought of. They weren't they weren't part of the conversation. They weren't part of these laws.
Julia Ruiz:Are these laws good for you? Are these laws bad for you? How are they going to benefit? Are they going to benefit you? It was just this is what we want as a politician.
Julia Ruiz:This is what we're going to do, and never mind the people of New Mexico. Mhmm. So that didn't resonate very well with me. And I thought, you know, I'm not a politician. I am a working mother, single mother.
Julia Ruiz:I've worked my whole life. I've raised my two girls, and I felt that we were not represented. My family was not represented at all. The decisions that were being made, they weren't in alignment with what I thought. And so that's one of the reasons why I I wanted to run.
Julia Ruiz:I I... And I am running. So we need more people that care about the people, and it's the people. It's the New Mexicans. I'm here to serve.
Julia Ruiz:I haven't heard that from any other... Anybody, and that's why I'm here. I'm here to serve. I am certainly not a politician. I am certainly not well versed on a lot of these laws, but at the same time, I graduated from an MSU.
Julia Ruiz:I think I'm... I can I can learn? I can research. Yeah. And anything that is put out, I will always consult the people.
Julia Ruiz:What do you want? What do you need? What's important to you? And that's what's important to me is nobody has ever asked... Not so much that I have...
Julia Ruiz:They have to ask me personally. Right? But at least say, hey. What's going on in in your life that you feel is important? And that's why I'm out here in the community asking the people.
Julia Ruiz:I'm at Nesta's every Tuesdays and Thursdays, and people do come in and talk to me, and that's what I wanna hear. What's important to you? Why is it important to you? How can I be of service to you? Because ultimately, that's that's what I am.
Julia Ruiz:You are my boss. What do you need me to do? How can I serve you?
Abe Baldonado:Amen to that, Julia. And it is so refreshing to hear from a candidate that has such humility like yourself and also being very humble because I think we need more leaders like that. And unfortunately, in Santa Fe, we do have a lot of voices. I love that you acknowledge, hey, I don't know everything, but I'm willing to learn. Unfortunately, we have, some egos in Santa Fe of represent...
Abe Baldonado:Representatives, and folks that truly believe that they know everything when they in fact don't. And they're they're out of touch with their communities. Some of them don't even live in their communities that they claim to represent. That's just a reality. I think it's refreshing to have someone who is saying, I'm going to talk to my people, my gente.
Abe Baldonado:I'm going to talk to them. I'm going to share with them. And I'll tell you, your opponent Nathan Small, I doubt that he's engaged the Hispanic community, has spoken to them in their first language and Espanol. I doubt that he's ever done that. And, you know, he he has played party politics for far too long.
Abe Baldonado:And Yes. I think it's great that someone like you is saying, hey, enough's enough because you're you're not representing the community. I mean, let's look at the Project Jupiter thing. Right? A lot of folks down in Donna Anna, a lot of the Democrats are now trying to say, I don't like this, but they've taken a lot of money from the data centers and they supported it once upon a time.
Abe Baldonado:And, you know, again, you have to stay true to your convictions. And when you start saying, well, now I don't support it because it's politically convenient, how are we to trust someone like that in office?
Julia Ruiz:Right. Absolutely. Project Jupiter, I feel that... Of course, I wasn't privy to a lot of the the deals that that went down right. I just feel that it was rushed.
Julia Ruiz:There was no consideration for the people of New Mexico. There was no consideration for the people in Santa Teresa. There was no consideration for, is this good? Is it bad? What what is their actual benefit?
Julia Ruiz:It was just rushed in. Bring it in here. Bring it in. Let's get... Let's make our money and and be done with it.
Julia Ruiz:And do we need the economic development? Absolutely, we do. Mhmm. But before that happens, let's ask the questions. Let's have some transparency.
Julia Ruiz:Let's see if this is really a good a good idea, a good investment. Our water, I mean, that was... That wasn't even taken into consideration either. We are we are a desert. That's not a secret.
Julia Ruiz:We're a desert. And here we are putting this massive data center that's going to consume millions of of gallons of water that we don't have. You know, that that is that's a disservice. That's an absolute disservice to the people of New Mexico, to District 36, to to New Mexicans in general. We didn't ask enough questions.
Julia Ruiz:And
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. No. I I was gonna say I think the most infuriating thing is seeing current incumbent lawmakers that live in that area trying to wash their hands clean of it when they were supporting the initiative. Look. And I I I don't have a position on on Project Jupiter.
Abe Baldonado:I think there's a lot of things that we just don't know and we should ask questions and we should have conversations. Again,
Julia Ruiz:it would
Abe Baldonado:be hypocritical of me to say, I don't like data centers when you and I are able to do this podcast right now because this is going into a data center. It's running through a data center right now with our Zoom and our podcast. Mhmm. I do think, though, when we talk about community, we should always find out what's the benefit to the community, how does it impact the community, good or bad. Those are conversations.
Abe Baldonado:But I think one of the most infuriating things for me that I've seen are lawmakers who supported this now trying to say that they don't support it yet. They're funded by the folks that are building the data centers. And it's like, look, just be honest with folks. Tell them why if you did support this initiative, just tell them why. But don't try to backtrack and say, I I don't like this now, but yet your whole campaign is funded by money they gave you.
Abe Baldonado:Like, that to me just creates a serious distrust in our political system.
Julia Ruiz:Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. At first, there were there were the three that I think Nathan Small, Sarah Silva, and John Ferrari were the three that that actually penned a letter to the newspaper. It was public, and they were all for it. They were convincing the the citizens.
Julia Ruiz:Yes. This is a great thing. All of a sudden now, oh, well, it's not good. It's not... It's it's...
Julia Ruiz:We we we don't support it. Well, you're right. Transparency. Let's stick to your decision and and be honest with the people. They've never been honest, and that's that's the sad part.
Julia Ruiz:Yeah. There is no trust there.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. And I think data centers are so new that I believe elected officials have a duty to educate their constituents. So if you know something about this project, share it with your community. We don't see town halls anymore. We don't see legislators engaging with their folks, answering the hard questions, and giving them answers to issues that they care about.
Abe Baldonado:You know, I think if a legislator said and came out, hey, did you know Project Jupiter is using a closed loop system where it's a one time fill that will last, you know, this many years? The water, we're actually not tapping into fresh water resources. We're actually bringing in our own water that was sold to us. We're not going to tap into the community's fresh water. We're also bringing our own micro grids, so we're not going to hurt utility rates in the county and in nearby communities.
Abe Baldonado:I think those are things that individuals need to share with the community and educate them on because I think a lot of legislators right now aren't doing their due diligence to share more of the information of how this project came to be, how it'll exist one year from now, two years from now, twenty years from now, and what the economic impact will be. But I think you get this frustration when people are like, I don't know anything about this. It sounds bad, and no one's giving me information. My own legislators supported it, but they're not telling me why they supported it. And if they did support it, now they're telling me they don't support it because our community's mad, but they're not explaining to us how this all came to be.
Abe Baldonado:And I I think that is that is a frustration. I think legislators need to step up and take some accountability and tell your constituents why you supported this. Give them the reasons why it may be good. Give them the reasons why it may be bad. If you were reluctant on this project, I don't understand why you would vote yes, you know, unless you felt like, hey, this is actually a really good project.
Abe Baldonado:It's going to benefit Dona Ana County. It's going to bring in jobs and some great opportunities. That's great. But answer the tough questions. Give people information, you know, so that way they're not panicking and just believing whatever they see on the Internet.
Julia Ruiz:Yes. Absolutely. Transparency. If you're for it, then be for it. If you're not...
Julia Ruiz:If you're against it, then be against it. Give us your reasons. Be ethical about it. Be transparent. Be truthful.
Julia Ruiz:That's all we're asking is is the truth, And and we don't have it right now. We've got a lot of questions. There are way too many questions right now with this project, Jupiter. I mean, like you said, we've got our... A little data center on our...
Julia Ruiz:In our hands all the time, our our cell phones. So... Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. I mean, I I think those of us that are reasonable will say, well, I'm not opposed to data centers because obviously I have a cell phone, I have social media. Obviously can't utilize any of that without a data center. So, I mean, if you're completely opposed to data centers, well then I assume you live off the grid and you're not using any electronic devices, you don't have email, you're essentially a hermit is what I would expect. So...
Abe Baldonado:But again, I think we just need understanding. We need folks to have the conversations, to educate New Mexicans so that way they're not fearmongered and they feel comfortable. Hey, I know about this project. I know it's doing... Being built on due diligence and research, and it's not going to hurt me or my family, and in fact, it might actually benefit me, and then they'll understand.
Abe Baldonado:Or, hey Sure. This is a good project. However, there's a problem here that I'm concerned about. And then you could address those concerns. Absolutely.
Abe Baldonado:The public just needs some folks to give some insight to that, though.
Julia Ruiz:More information. Yes. Absolutely. More information, more transparency, more quest... Answer the questions, respond to the questions, and and exactly.
Julia Ruiz:No more fear mongering.
Abe Baldonado:Absolutely. Julia, just curious. As you're engaging with your constituents, what other issues are they concerned about? You know, every community in New Mexico is very unique. What's happening in Santa Fe may be very different than what's happening in Albuquerque.
Abe Baldonado:What's happening in Albuquerque may be very different than Rio Dosso, and Rio Dosso may be very different than Las Cruces. So I'd be curious. What are you hearing from your neighbors and and your friends, your family that are living in your district and what they're sharing with you?
Julia Ruiz:So there's a lot of concern about crime, juvenile crime, homelessness, our taxes. I mean, it's a combination of so many things, Abe, that free... The free childcare. They're they're... They asked me a lot of questions about that.
Julia Ruiz:Crime. We're number one in in crime, and they they don't understand what's going on. Why why are we first in crime? Last in education. What's going on?
Julia Ruiz:They want answers to that. They're saying that we pour so much money into education. Why are we fiftieth in the state? Mhmm. We've got so much money in there.
Julia Ruiz:What's going on? And and I can only speak on about myself in in school. I... My first language was Spanish. I was I was put back in kindergarten because I didn't speak the language.
Julia Ruiz:And I think that's one of the problems that we have in the school system is is that we're passing our kids from kindergarten to first grade to second grade to middle school to high school, graduating them, and they're not proficient in any of the basic subjects. That's wrong. I think that holding kids back... And and I know that that sounds bad, but it's it's not. It's just making sure that they are proficient before they go on to the next grade.
Julia Ruiz:Just like that it happened with me. I didn't understand. Well, wait wait, mom. I'm not going. I'm flunking kindergarten.
Julia Ruiz:And I used to be really embarrassed to say, oh, I I flunked kindergarten. Well, did I flunk kindergarten? No. I didn't flunk kindergarten. They put me back because I wasn't proficient in English.
Julia Ruiz:So had they moved me up from kinder to first to second, I would have fallen behind and more behind and even behind in math, reading, all of the subjects because I didn't speak the language. So putting me back and holding me back and moving me forward until I became proficient, that saved me. That saved me years of of probably studying or not understanding, not knowing, not not being proficient in in in the basics. A lot of people ask me, well, you're from Mexico. You don't you don't have an accent.
Julia Ruiz:Well, that's because I worked hard in understanding and reading and and learning the language. And that's what we need to do with our kids is make sure that they are proficient before we pass them along to the next to the next grade level. I think that's very important. And it's not it's not going to stigmatize them. It's not going to harm them.
Julia Ruiz:It's gonna make them better at the end of the day. It truly is.
Abe Baldonado:Absolutely. And, you know, someone like yourself, even my wife, my wife's first language was Spanish, and now she's fluent in both. And it's a great thing because it helps her... I mean, she has a skill that I don't... It is a great skill to to be fluent in both languages, and now it's an asset in the workforce and in anything that we do to, especially in New Mexico where we're predominantly Hispanos.
Abe Baldonado:And so to be able to communicate in our native language is something that I really wish I would have taken more seriously and really learned when I was younger because it is a hard... A lot harder to learn when you're older. That's for sure.
Julia Ruiz:It is. And, you know, now it seems like, yes, we have English as a second language in in the schools now. When I was in school, we didn't have any of that. And I'm finding that the students are not proficient in English, the grammar skills in English or in Spanish. It seems like there's a disconnect in both languages now that Wow.
Julia Ruiz:They're not proficient in either one. And I I don't know if that's because of the ESL that... Again, to learn a language, you've gotta immerse yourself in it, which is what we did. We immersed ourselves in it, and that's probably the only way to to really learn a language. If we're teaching kids in Spanish, they're never going to assimilate.
Julia Ruiz:That's another issue that we're not assimilating anymore. Yes. I'm Americanized because I live in America, but I also love my Mexican traditions. Nobody has taken them away from me. I still celebrate in my home, you know, the holidays at my Christmas.
Julia Ruiz:Of course, we'd we'd know that that's really not a holiday, but Yeah. But we celebrate that.
Abe Baldonado:I mean, those are
Julia Ruiz:all Absolutely.
Abe Baldonado:Observations. Absolutely.
Julia Ruiz:Yes. But we've got to we've got to simulate. That's very, very important and something that I've done. It's something that I see that a lot of people don't wanna do. They want to flee from their country.
Julia Ruiz:They hate their country, wanna come to The United States, but yet they're... They want to continue bringing their ideal... Ideology here to The United States, and it's... It it doesn't work. You've got to assimilate to to where you are.
Julia Ruiz:And Absolutely.
Abe Baldonado:And that's that's the whole part. Right? You have to buy into the American life that you want to be American. And you're you're so right that now, you know, you and I having this conversation, there will be people who tell us that we're probably hateful for telling people that they have to assimilate. No, both need to assimilate to them.
Abe Baldonado:And I'm like, no, no, we don't. Like, if you want to come to America and live the American dream, then you need to buy into the American belief system and be all in. And there's nothing wrong with saying that. There's nothing wrong with expecting that. And and and, Julia, I want to go back to a good point that you made about retention in our public schools.
Abe Baldonado:I'm a former educator, and, you know, I I tell this story not to to diminish or or or hurt students that I taught, but I saw a system that failed them because I inherited twelfth grade... Twelfth graders, eleventh graders who were reading at a sixth grade level because the system passed them on and didn't hold them back when they could have done it early on and intervened and done some literacy intervention to help them get up to speed, would have benefited them in the long run. But many of these students were being sent out into the real world with skills that they did not have to be successful. And you look, many of them did really well and adjusted and did really well. They succeeded through college, and those are amazing stories that we need to highlight.
Abe Baldonado:There are also the ones where I had students who went into life of crime and trouble, and it's sad because these kids, you know, they just needed someone to care for them. They needed someone to to look out for them. The system that should have done that failed them. They they pushed them on and said, let's get them out of here. And, you know, back in second, third grade, they could have prevented that.
Abe Baldonado:They could have said, hey. You know, this student is not meeting our our our proficiency levels. We're gonna hold them back for one more year. It's one year. But in the long run, twenty, thirty years from now, it it would have benefited them so much more.
Abe Baldonado:You know? I think about students, you know, who could have gotten scholarships to better schools and better opportunities, you know, had the grades and proficiency levels been where they should have been. And so I think it's important that we need to talk about those issues and we need to talk about the system that is passing kids and, you know, again, let's call it for what it is, participation trophies, and it's this Yeah. Pober de cito mentality. No.
Abe Baldonado:Pober de cito is not helping that kid and getting them out of the system and not giving them the skills and the tools necessary to be successful in everyday life, whether it's career, college, you know, whatever path that they want to forge for themselves. They at least have the necessary skills to pick and choose what they want to do in life, and they could be very successful. Right? If they want to start a business, they learn that. They understand math.
Abe Baldonado:They understand taxes. They understand some basic funding principles of how to do that. Or they want to go to college, they want to become a doctor, you know, they have the science literacy that is necessary, the math, the... You know? And again, reading to me is the number one issue that if you can't read, you can't do anything.
Abe Baldonado:Even for for skilled labor programs, if your proficiency isn't there, you are going to struggle even in blue collar, what we call blue collar work. But if you can't read, you will struggle. And that's why literacy is so important that, you know, it lit... You need reading and comprehension literacy to succeed in any career field. It doesn't matter which one.
Abe Baldonado:And if you are struggling in reading, you're gonna struggle in finding good career opportunities because it is difficult.
Julia Ruiz:Oh, absolutely. I... When I was a paralegal, well, but we would hire students, high school students. I had an assistant that didn't know what an index was in the back of a book. She had no idea what an index was.
Julia Ruiz:We had our home that... We needed some doors, some wrought iron doors, and the young man that came to measure the doors, measured them. I assume he knew what he was doing. Come to find out, the doors were two inches too small or two inches too big, so they had to... The owner had to come back and remeasure every single door.
Julia Ruiz:And he said, you know what? This is what's happening with all of these young kids that I'm that I'm hiring. They don't know how to measure. They don't know what centimeters are. They don't know what inches are.
Julia Ruiz:They don't know how to write anything down. And I'm having to hire these kids, but I'm having to come back and redo their work. And that's just a disservice to the students... To the kids. It just is.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah.
Julia Ruiz:People don't understand that it's not compassionate. It's not it's not... Like you said, the No. It's not. You've got to make sure that they are proficient before we move them on to the next grade.
Julia Ruiz:It's not it's not something bad. It's... You're giving them a gift and and telling them this is what you need to help on. We're happy to help you. It's nothing to be embarrassed about.
Julia Ruiz:I needed help. I mean, to this day, I still... I probably still need help. I Yeah. We're all new.
Julia Ruiz:To know. We're learners. All learners. Learners. We're absolutely, absolutely still learning for for the rest of my life.
Julia Ruiz:No no doubt about that. Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:Wonderful. Well, Julia, I don't want to take up too much more of your time because you've dedicated a lot of time to have this conversation today. Just want to say, how are you feeling going into the next, you know, under two weeks as we get near election day? How are things looking in District 36?
Julia Ruiz:So I'm excited. People people are super excited. I know that I've got a lot of support. People are ready for change. People have said, oh my gosh.
Julia Ruiz:You're a breath of fresh air. This is what we need. You are representative. I'm here to serve the community that... The same one that I live, work, and play in.
Julia Ruiz:And we need representation. We need somebody that's accessible, and that's that's been me. I've been I've been accessible. I've been working hard. I care about our community.
Julia Ruiz:I I care about our community, our our our New Mexicans. That's that's who's first and foremost in in in my campaign. And nervous for sure, fearful for sure, scared. I mean, all all emotions at the same time. Excited.
Julia Ruiz:We'll see what happens. We need people to come out and vote, and don't vote for the party. Vote for the person. Vote for the values, vote for what they stand what they stand for. Yeah.
Julia Ruiz:I'm not beholding... Yes. I'm a republican because that's who I align with, but at the same time and at the end of the day when I'm elected and even now, I'm here for the people. I'm I'm for New Mexicans.
Abe Baldonado:That that is truly amazing, Julia. And just to echo, I am delighted that your constituents are resonating with that. I will say you are a breath of fresh air, so I agree with them. And Julia, for our folks watching, if they want to learn more about you, where can they go to learn more about you? And also, I know you do some weekly, sit downs with your constituents, but if they want to meet you, where can they find you?
Julia Ruiz:Yes. So please, I am absolutely accessible. You can email me at ReeseJulia@Proton.com. Go to my website, Julia for New Mexico, dot com, and give me a call. My phone number is all over the place, (575) 635-3649.
Julia Ruiz:I answer my phone calls. I answer my text messages. If you wanna meet me, I'm absolutely happy to meet with you, and I love talking to my constituents. I love talking to people. I love learning about what's important to them.
Julia Ruiz:And, again, at the end of the day, that's why I'm here for you for you. I'm here to serve you. So please contact me. Again, I'm absolutely happy to meet with you at any coffee shop that that you like or a restaurant. I'm I'm very open.
Julia Ruiz:I... I'm not here to to, not meet with you. This is my job is is to meet with you, to learn about you, to learn more about our community, and ultimately to serve. I'm here to serve. That is my...
Julia Ruiz:That's what I've I've run on is I'm here to serve. I'm here for the people.
Abe Baldonado:Absolutely. And and public servantship means so much to us here at The Chile Wire. That's why we enjoy talking to folks like you who are looking to make a difference for our state and to serve, to truly serve, not self serve, but serve the people that elect them ask And them to do a Julia, I have to ask. So I I... My name's Avanicio, but I go by Abe.
Abe Baldonado:You know, do you go by Julia or Julia or do you prefer...
Julia Ruiz:I prefer Julia.
Abe Baldonado:Yes. Julia? Okay.
Julia Ruiz:Yes. Mhmm. But a lot of people call me Julia. Of course, Mexican. Right?
Julia Ruiz:So... But I... Yes. And that's... That is my name.
Julia Ruiz:But, yes, Julia Julia. But, yes, I I like Julia.
Abe Baldonado:Okay. Good to know. Yeah. I had to ask. Mhmm.
Abe Baldonado:I was a little late to it, but I I heard you say Julia, I'm like, oh, that's kind of like me. You know? There's some people that don't know. My name's Abenicio. They just call me Abe.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. Sure. You know? I'm happy to be called by both, but I was like, I should just double check.
Julia Ruiz:Yep. I'm I'm good with both, honestly.
Abe Baldonado:Mhmm. Well, Julia, thank you so much. God bless you. God bless your family as you all hit this final stretch leading up to November 3. And who knows?
Abe Baldonado:Maybe here pretty soon. We'll be calling you state representative, Julia Ruiz.
Julia Ruiz:Thank you. Super excited. Thank you for your time, and thank you for the questions. And please, anytime, I'm I'm open and available. Thank you so very much.
Abe Baldonado:Thank you so much, Julia. Well, y'all, that's it for this week's Chile Wire. We'll see you next time.