RAMOS: Vote for Tiffany Cabán for Queens DA

Tiffany Cabán (left) and State Sen. Jessica Ramos. Photo courtesy of Make the Road Action

By Jessica Ramos

On Tuesday, June 25, Queens voters have a very important decision to make: we have to choose our county’s next district attorney (DA).

After decades of continuity, with a DA who daily criminalized our loved ones, we need a change. We need Tiffany Cabán.

Cabán, a Latina born in Queens to a working-class family, has devoted her entire professional career to fighting as a public defender for the rights of people who lacked the resources to defend themselves — and especially to defend Black and Brown people who are daily criminalized in our city.

As a candidate, Cabán has pledged not to take a single dollar from the real estate sector that has dominated New York’s politics for decades or from large corporations that routinely violate our community members’ rights.

She is also firmly committed to fighting to end mass incarceration of our communities in Queens. Cabán wants to eliminate cash bail that criminalizes poverty; decriminalize the recreational use of drugs, sex work, and other minor charges that have been used by prosecutors to dehumanize and cage our people; stop any collaboration with ICE and get them out of our courts; and focus the resources of the DA’s office to demand accountability from employers and landlords that abuse our families.

This year, as chair of the State Senate’s Committee on Labor, I fought alongside community organizations, labor unions, and allied state legislators for many similar things in Albany — and, to be sure, we have won stronger tenant protections, expanded labor rights, the Dream Act, access to driver’s licenses for all, criminal justice reform measures, and more. 

But, I am also clear that we need local leaders — especially DAs, who enforce the law—fighting for the same goals. 

That's why I support Tiffany Cabán — her candidacy reflects our shared values and our shared vision of a New York that delivers real justice to our community, particularly for Black and Brown people.

On Tuesday, June 25, vote for Tiffany Cabán to be our next Queens DA.

State Sen. Jessica Ramos represents District 13. Follow her on Twitter: @jessicaramos