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Remembering Arizona Congressman Raúl Grijalva, who served in the House for 20 years

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva died last week from complications of his lung cancer treatment. He was the son of a Mexican immigrant and served in the House of Representatives for more than 20 years. Arizona Public Media's Paola Rodriguez reports.

PAOLA RODRIGUEZ, BYLINE: Raul Grijalva was born in 1948 and grew up in the barrios of South Tucson. His father was a ranch laborer under the Bracero guest worker program.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RAUL GRIJALVA: My parents came here seeking a dream, not necessarily for themselves, but for their children. And they succeeded. And for that, I am very grateful.

RODRIGUEZ: He started in politics as a Tucson Unified School District board member, where he pushed for bilingual education programs and was elected to Congress in 2002.

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting) [inaudible]

RODRIGUEZ: A proud progressive, Grijalva was arrested twice as a congressman, first in 2013 at a big immigration rights rally at the Capitol and again in 2017 outside Trump Tower in New York, protesting the cancellation of protections for DACA recipients. A champion for conservation issues, he was chairman and ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, and Grijalva advocated for Native Americans.

CARLETTA TILOUSI: He shared the struggles of our community. And he heard our voices as tribal leaders and stood next to us.

RODRIGUEZ: Carletta Tilousi is a former councilwoman for the Havasupai tribe. In 2023, she worked with Grijalva to designate a new national monument in Arizona, the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni - Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon. It protects nearly 1 million acres of public lands from uranium mining. Tilousi says Grijalva's death will be felt far and wide.

TILOUSI: The lesson I remember is his kindness, his willingness to talk to even Republicans and other leaders and unite us all together to find a common ground for future generations.

RODRIGUEZ: Raul Grijalva was 77 years old and is survived by three daughters. For NPR ¹ÏÉñapp, I'm Paola Rodriguez in Tucson.

(SOUNDBITE OF GUSTAF LJUNGGREN & EMIL DE WAAL'S "SKOMAKARSKEPPET") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Paola Rodriguez
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