William Sanchez: Fighting for the People

William-Sanchez

William Sanchez campaign.

By Giselle Balido

October 14, 2021

A vocal proponent of affordable housing, universal child care, Biden’s Immigration Act of 2021, and Medicare for All, Sanchez believes the decisions Sen. Marco Rubio has been making “are not in the best interest of Floridians.” That is why he is running to oust him in 2022.

If there is one thing William Sanchez says he stands for, it is this: fighting for the marginalized, protecting the most vulnerable, and strengthening the middle class to build a more robust future for Florida.

One way to make that happen, he believes, is to turn overwhelmingly red (Republican) Florida a bright shade of blue (Democrat). That is why Sanchez, who was born in New York to Cuban immigrant parents, is running for the US Senate to unseat Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.  

“The decisions [Rubio] has been making are not in the best interest of Floridians,” said Sanchez, who has participated in the creation of nonprofit groups around the world, and in the US helped establish one of Florida’s largest micro-finance institutions, Partners for Self-Employment.

The fact that Rubio called the investigations into the Jan. 6 insurrection in the Capitol Building “stupid” fueled Sanchez’s resolve to unseat the incumbent.

“That’s basically like saying, ‘These people came into my house, they robbed [it]… and I don’t care, I don’t want to find out who they were,’” Sanchez told Floricua. “Someone should replace him who represents the people of Florida.”

‘We Need More Immigrants’

Sanchez obtained his Jurist Doctorate at Georgetown University Law Center, where he graduated in 1986 and has been practicing immigration law for over 30 years. He is a vocal defender of President Biden’s Immigration Act of 2021, which he calls “a great bill.”

RELATED: These Florida Dems Are Out to Unseat Republican Sen. Marco Rubio in 2022

“It’s going to allow millions of immigrants—not criminals—who have been law-abiding citizens get a work permit,” he said. “And with that work permit they get a social security number, and they start paying taxes. That’s billions of dollars in taxes that are going to come to the federal government.”

Rubio, however, called the bill “an amnesty”, a position Sanchez vehemently opposes. According to Sanchez, “most immigration lawyers and most seasoned politicians that care about America’s growth in the future, say we need more immigrants.”

Looking to Puerto Rico

Growing up in the multicultural Big Apple made Sanchez especially sensitive to other ethnicities and nationalities. In fact, when he speaks in Spanish, most people think he is Boricua. That is because before moving to Florida at age 11, he was raised in a barrio in Manhattan where most of his friends were Dominican or Puerto Rican.

“I believe the Puerto Rican people in Florida and on the island are not getting their fair share, as I’ve read on Floricua,” he said, adding that he believes Puerto Ricans need an advocate in Washington.

“We have to make sure that the people on the island and Boricuas in Florida are getting the federal assistance that they are entitled to,” said Sanchez, who has advocated on the radio on behalf of the Puerto Rican community in Florida.

RELATED: Florida Sen. Víctor Torres, Jr.: ‘Latinos Need to Know That en la Unión Está la Fuerza’

‘I’ll Fight Tooth and Nail for Medicare for All’

Sanchez is also a keen proponent of affordable housing and tenants’ rights, the implementation of universal child care, which he says is “a must,” as well as gun safety, LGTBQ equality, and Medicare for All, an issue that is very close to his heart, as Sanchez recalls what is what like growing up poor with no access to medical insurance. “One time I got a really bad cut on my leg and my parents couldn’t afford to take me to a doctor, so we patched it up at home as best as we could.” This has made him especially sensitive to the plight of working families who can’t afford health coverage.

“I want to make sure that anybody who is below a certain income level can get access to health care. The same type of Medicare that is available for older people, should be available across the board,” he said. “I’ll fight tooth and nail to get Medicare for All.”

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