Council of Mexican Federations in North America (COFEM)

Yessenia Cux (she/her)

“As an unaccompanied minor, I migrated alone and was placed in a foster home before living with my older sister. I had to navigate unfamiliar systems without guidance—becoming the first in my family to attend high school and pursue higher education in the U.S. As a low-income, undocumented student, I didn’t qualify for federal aid, despite having the will to succeed.

Being undocumented meant facing constant barriers, from exclusion from safety net programs, to fear of deportation, to navigating systems never built with us in mind. Our initiative is rooted in these lived experiences. It aims to remove those barriers, hold decision-makers accountable, and ensure immigrant communities are no longer an afterthought in policies and budgets. Immigrants like my family contribute deeply to this country but are too often denied dignity, access, and political power. This work is deeply personal—it's about building a system that sees, includes, and supports us.”

Yessenia Cux is originally from Totonicapán, Guatemala, and migrated to the United States in 2016 as an unaccompanied minor. She recently graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Political Science and Spanish, Community, and Culture. As a proud immigrant and first-generation college graduate, Yessenia is deeply committed to advocating for equity and expanding opportunities for immigrant communities. Through her role at the Council of Mexican Federations in North America (COFEM), she works to uplift and empower those often excluded from decision-making spaces. Grounded in her lived experience, Yessenia is driven by a strong sense of purpose and continues to learn from, grow with, and stand in solidarity with her community, family, and peers, striving to create lasting change in the place she now calls home.