My family’s story in the United States begins with them as refugees, fleeing a collapsing Yugoslavia to build a new life in America. They believed in the promise of this country, a place where hard work and perseverance could allow ordinary people to rise. That is their story, and it’s the prologue to my own. It gave me the foundational knowledge that freedom is fragile, dignity must be defended, and injustice must be confronted directly and without compromise.

After college, like many early Millennials, I was a bit adrift. I graduated in 2007, foolishly believing history was over and a six-figure consulting job was waiting for me whenever I was ready. I spent years working odd jobs, from managing restaurants to trying stand-up comedy in Beijing, before the reality of the 2008 crash and its aftermath set in. That experience, however, taught me how to build things from scratch. I founded a healthcare marketing agency, a consultancy, and eventually, my own immigration and labor law firm.

That work showed me the stark contrast between America’s promise and its reality. Reporting in Asia, I saw governments treat healthcare as a right, not a privilege, and provide the universal care and affordable housing that America, the wealthiest nation in history, still denies its own people. Returning to the U.S., I founded the nonprofit Mi Maletín (later FronteraTECH.org) to bring legal access to immigrants trapped in rural detention centers—places where the system is designed to strip people of their voice and their rights.

For the last decade, I’ve worked as a civil rights and immigration lawyer here in New Haven and across the South, fighting for families threatened with deportation and workers caught in abusive systems. I know what it’s like to go up against a rigged game. I’ve learned that while direct action is vital, it isn’t enough. If we don’t rebuild the levers of government, the powerful will continue to crush the vulnerable.

Let me be clear: I am a reluctant candidate. Our district has never had a primary challenger against an 18-term incumbent. I’m running to force a long-overdue conversation about retirement and the need for new energy. My goal is to bring in new leadership, whether that’s me or someone else who steps up. Our community deserves a representative who will fight for them with urgency, not just occupy a seat.

That fight requires holding power accountable. At home, a corporate-backed authoritarianism is gutting our rights. Abroad, politicians, including our own, send billions of taxpayer dollars to enable what the International Court of Justice calls “plausible” acts of genocide against Palestinians. Mass killing and the deliberate denial of food and water are not “complicated foreign policy”—they are crimes, and when we fund them, we are complicit. There can be no democracy at home while we bankroll authoritarianism and genocide abroad.

Here in Connecticut, our needs are urgent. We can’t revitalize our harbors, housing, and infrastructure with good intentions alone. New Haven Harbor hasn’t seen a federal channel improvement since 1950, and countless shoreline and housing projects have stalled. Only the federal government has the scale to build what our region needs.

I am running for Congress not out of ambition, but out of a sense of responsibility to the community that is my home and the country that gave my family refuge. This campaign is about finding a new voice to carry us into the future and preserve continuity of community, but also about what we can build together: a district where healthcare is guaranteed, housing is affordable, our environment is protected, and democracy and peace belong to the people once again.