AUSTIN, Texas – State Rep. Victoria Neave Criado, D-Mesquite, delivered the Latino State of the State address for the Mexican American Legislative Caucus.
Although education, workforce development and Uvalde were key themes in the speech, Neave Criado did discuss the Texas-Mexico border region. In one passage she gave a shoutout to the Port of Brownsville.
“From building spaceships in Houston to the leading international port in Brownsville, our Texas economy is incredibly diverse,” Neave Criado said.
She also said: “Our border is home to 2.8 million Texans and counting. Cities like Laredo and El Paso have invested their own resources to welcome folks who are coming into our state determined to work for a better future. We recognize that the border is facing a complex situation, but we must build bridges, not walls. The importance of working with our federal counterparts for a pathway to citizenship cannot be understated.”
Editor’s Note: Here is a video of the Latino State of the State:
Video
Biography
Here is the official biography of state Rep. Victoria Neave Criado:
Victoria Neave Criado represents Texas House District 107, which includes parts of Dallas, Mesquite, and Garland. For the 88th Legislative Session, Representative Neave Criado has been appointed to serve as Chair of the House County Affairs Committee and is a member of the Business and Industry Committee. Neave Criado will serve as one of four women appointed to a committee Chairmanship this session and remains the sixth Latina in Texas history to serve as a Committee Chair.
Victoria Neave Criado was also elected to serve as Chair of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC), the largest and oldest Latino caucus in the country, becoming the first woman elected in thirty years since the late Representative Irma Rangel.
Representative Neave Criado has passed the language of more than two dozen bills, including the historic Lavinia Masters Act—comprehensive legislation to address the backlog of thousands of untested rape kits—as well as various bills to address sexual assault and sexual harassment, domestic violence, and human trafficking in our state, bills to help increase access to higher education and make college more affordable, and legislation that designated June 12 as Women Veterans Day in Texas. The Lavinia Masters Act was allotted an unprecedented $50 million from the state budget in the 86th Legislative Session to tackle the rape kit backlog.
Victoria grew up in Dallas and comes from a working-class family. Her parents emphasized the importance of education and compassion for others. The daughter of a father with a sixth grade education who had a small TV and VCR repair shop in Mesquite, Victoria became the first in her family to graduate from college and earned her degree in Government and Politics from The University of Texas at Dallas and then graduated magna cum laude in the top 3% of her law school class at Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law. She began her legal career as an attorney in the Complex Commercial Litigation group at Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP, a global top 10 law firm. As an attorney, she has represented a broad range of clients from multinational corporations and small businesses to women and children in civil litigation, family, and employment law.
Professional Recognitions:
• Recognized as “Best Legislators” by the Texas Monthly, 2019
• Recognized as “Legislator of the Year” by the Association of Texas Professional Educators, Region 10, 2021
• Recognized as “Best of 2019 Texas Legislature” by the Dallas Observer and “Legislator of the Year”
• Recognized as “Freshman of the Year” by the House Democratic Caucus, 2017
• “Top 5 North Texas Legislators” by the Dallas Observer, 2017
• “Public Elected Official of the Year” by the National Association of Social Workers, North Central Texas-Dallas Area Branch, 2017
• “Hero in the Movement” award from the Dallas Fort-Worth Urban League Young Professionals, 2017
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