Delia Ramirez

Early life and education

The daughter of undocumented immigrants from Guatemala, Ramirez was born in Chicago and raised in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. She graduated from Sabin Magnet Elementary School and earned a Bachelor of Arts in justice studies from Northeastern Illinois University. She graduated from St. Gregory High School in Chicago.

Early political and advocacy career

Before entering elected office, Ramirez worked in and led social service agencies, nonprofit advocacy organizations, and local community organizations. She was president of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association from 2005 to 2007, executive director of the homelessness-focused nonprofit Center for Changing Lives from 2004 to 2013, and president of the Latin United Community Housing Association (LUCHA) from 2016 to 2019.

In the 2018 Illinois House election, she ran for the open 4th District seat to succeed incumbent Cynthia Soto. Her campaign focused on areas of concern such as stable housing and stable schools, reliable and responsible government, and public safety and justice reform. She was part of a slate of Latino candidates backed by then-Cook County Commissioner and congressional candidate Chuy García. She was also endorsed by several local elected officials, labor unions, and progressive organizations, including U.S. Representative Luis Gutiérrez, aldermen Carlos Ramirez-Rosa and Roberto Maldonado, Chicago Teachers Union, Illinois AFL–CIO, SEIU Healthcare and Local 73, United Working Families, and Our Revolution Illinois. Ramirez won a four-way Democratic primary election on March 20 with 48% of the vote, and she ran unopposed in the general election on November 6, 2018.

Illinois House of Representatives (2018-2022)

After the 2018 general election, retiring incumbent Cynthia Soto resigned effective December 18, 2018. Ramirez, the recent winner of the general election, was appointed by local Democratic leaders and sworn into office on December 21, 2018. After serving the remainder of the 100th General Assembly, she was sworn into the 101st General Assembly on January 9, 2019. She was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives Progressive Caucus.

Committees

As of July 2022, Ramirez was a member of the following committees:

Adoption and Child Welfare Committee

Appropriations - Human Services Committee

Elementary and Secondary Education: Administration, Licensing & Charter Schools

Executive Committee

Housing Committee

Judiciary – Criminal Committee

Medicaid and Managed Care Subcommittee

Tenure

In October 2019, Ramirez was part of a group of Democratic state legislators who opposed Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot's proposed plan for the use of a new real estate transfer tax, arguing that a portion of the funds from the new tax should be explicitly set aside to address homelessness and affordable housing. In early 2020, Ramirez chaired a task force in the state legislature focused on the condition of children of incarcerated people.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ramirez sponsored legislation to establish a temporary moratorium on rent and mortgage payments and strengthen eviction moratoriums, but the bill was defeated after strong opposition from real estate agents. However, she was able to persuade lawmakers to increase the size of a relief fund for tenants and landlords in the 2021 budget bill passed during the pandemic by 90%. She also led a successful effort to include a provision that would provide Medicaid benefits to undocumented seniors in the budget bill. Ramirez had been advocating for such a provision since 2019, and its successful adoption made Illinois the first state to provide Medicaid regardless of immigration status.

In the 2021–22 session, Ramirez was named vice-chair of the newly created Housing Committee in the House, and introduced new legislation to address housing issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. A version of this legislation was passed and signed into law in May 2021 as the COVID-19 Emergency Housing Act, including provisions that created guidelines for administering $1 billion in federal funds for rent relief from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, automatically sealing evictions filed during the pandemic, extending a statewide eviction moratorium until May, and pausing judicial sales of possession until July.

U.S. House of Representatives (2023-present)

Elections

On December 7, 2021, Ramirez announced that she would run in the 2022 U.S. House election for Illinois's 3rd congressional district. The district was an open seat due to redistricting after the 2020 U.S. census. In the Democratic primary election, she won 66% of the vote, defeating Gilbert Villegas, a member of the Chicago City Council, and Iymen Chehade, a professor and foreign policy advisor. The district's electorate is heavily Democratic, and as such, the Democratic nominee was widely expected to win the general election in November.

Ramirez defeated Republican nominee Justin Burau in the general election, receiving 68.5% of the vote.

Ramirez ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. She defeated Republican John Booras in the general election.

Tenure

In January 2026, Ramirez and Yvette Clarke introduced the Melt ICE Act, which would end funding to the DHS to detain or monitor immigrants.

In 2023, Ramirez was among 56 Democrats to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.

On July 18, 2023, she voted against a resolution that states that Congress rejects "all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia", that "the United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel", and that "the State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state". In a statement, Ramirez said, "The threat of antisemitism is real, it is deadly, and I wholly condemn it in the strongest terms... I believe we need to continue to work towards a world where the full humanity and rights of all Israelis and Palestinians are honored. This resolution does not do that, and therefore, I could not support it." Eight other members joined her in voting against the resolution, all Democrats: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman, André Carson, Summer Lee, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib.

On October 25, 2023, Ramirez and eight other Democrats (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Andre Carson, Al Green, Summer Lee, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib), along with Republican Thomas Massie, voted against congressional bi-partisan non-binding resolution H. Res. 771 supporting Israel in the wake of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. The resolution stated that the House of Representatives: "stands with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists" and "reaffirms the United States' commitment to Israel's security"; the resolution passed by an overwhelming 412–10–6 margin.

Committee assignments

For the 119th Congress:

Committee on Homeland Security

Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement

Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability

Committee on Veterans' Affairs

Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity

Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (Ranking Member)

Caucus memberships

Black Maternal Health Caucus

Congressional Hispanic Caucus

Congressional Equality Caucus

Congressional Progressive Caucus

Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment

Congressional Ukraine Caucus

Congressional Freethought Caucus

Personal life

In October 2020, Delia Ramirez married Boris Hernandez. Hernandez is a DACA recipient.

Ramirez is the first United Methodist Latina in Congress. She has said: "In this church, my parents have shown me and my siblings that being a Christian is much more than words and certainly much more than participating on Sundays. Being a Christian is a way of living, a way of treating people, and the way we show the light of God through our actions."