Menendez, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Host Roundtable on Transportation and Infrastructure Challenges Impacting Latino Communities

July 17, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Congressional Hispanic Caucus (“CHC”) Vice Chair of Policy Rob Menendez hosted a roundtable discussion with CHC members and national and local transportation stakeholders focusing on transportation systems and their impact on Latino communities.

During the roundtable, attendees spoke about the need for a continued focus on reliable, accessible, and high-quality public transportation, ensuring that infrastructure investments equitably benefit Latino communities. Participants also focused on a multi-faceted approach to strengthening infrastructure resiliency, mitigating the impacts of climate change and protecting the workers who make this possible.

“Latino communities are more likely to rely on public transportation to access jobs, health care, and other essential services, but too often lack access to the infrastructure available to other communities,” said CHC Vice Chair of Policy Rob Menendez (NJ-08). “This conversation brought together important perspectives from national and local leaders, advocates, and policy experts to discuss meaningful steps that we can take to build equity and resiliency in our transportation and infrastructure systems, ensuring that everyone can benefit from these important resources. I’m grateful to my colleagues and to all of the participants for making this roundtable a success.”

“Latinos build, maintain, and move our nation-- but too often, we’re shut out of the very infrastructure benefits we help create,” said CHC Chair Rep. Adriano Espaillat (NY-13). “We’re also disproportionately impacted by climate change, living in frontline communities where extreme weather threatens our homes, health, and livelihoods. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act delivered real progress, but that progress is now under attack by the Trump administration. This roundtable brings together labor, environmental justice, industry, and policy leaders to make one thing clear: infrastructure investment can and must be a win for equity, climate, and the economy.”

In addition to Vice Chair of Policy Menendez, the following Members of Congress were present at the roundtable:

Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02), Ranking Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-36), Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus
Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24)
Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia (IL-04)
Rep. Nellie Pou (NJ-09)
Rep. Luz Rivas (CA-29)
Rep. Darren Soto (FL-09)
Rep. Gil Cisneros (CA-31)

The following policy experts and advocates participated in the roundtable:

Christina Stacy, Principal Research Associate, Urban Institute
Carmen M. Feliciano, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, UnidosUS
Shruti Vaidyanathan, Director of Transportation Advocacy, Climate and Energy, Natural Resources Defense Council
Julio Ceron, Political and Legislative Representative, Transport Workers Union of America
Jerry Arroyo, President, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 822
Jacqueline Gomez, Executive Director, Hispanic American Construction Industry Association Nile Elam, Vice President of Government Affairs, National Asphalt Pavement Association
Commissioner John W. Bartlett, North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority
Oscar Torres, President, National Hispanic Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees
Sara Fuentes, Vice President of Government Affairs, Transportation Institute