Miguel first learned the meaning of collective action at thirteen years old, growing up in Puerto Rico, where government corruption often left communities to fend for themselves. He saw that real power did not come from waiting for institutions to act, but from neighbors supporting one another—sharing meals, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, and transforming hardship into collective action. Today, Miguel lives in Albany Park with his wife Vero and their cats, Mingo and Luisa. An avid cyclist, environmentalist, and classical guitarist, he is running as a people-powered candidate to represent Illinois’s 40th House District.

Over the past decade in Chicago, Miguel has fought for policies that raise wages, expand healthcare access, protect immigrants, and invest in mental health, housing, and public education. As Executive Director of Latino Union, he has spent five years organizing alongside Albany Park’s day laborers and domestic workers to combat wage theft and hold exploitative employers accountable. When federal immigration raids threatened Chicago neighborhoods, Miguel helped create a volunteer ICE Watch network and launched an “Adopt-a-Corner” program to help keep day laborers safe.

Miguel’s work also centers education and community resilience. He was twice elected to the Local School Council at Roosevelt High School, where he collaborated with parents, teachers, and administrators to support immigrant students and guide the school’s budget. Through teaching adult English language learners and working in after-school programs, he has seen firsthand how education empowers people to build stronger communities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when many support systems failed, Miguel and his neighbors transformed an unused campaign office into a community food pantry, providing food and diapers to more than 200 people each week—demonstrating the power of solidarity in times of crisis.