They were deported as kids. Now the Rubio sisters are California lawmakers

BY KEVIN MODESTI - San Gabriel Valley Tribune

They spent their childhood on both sides of the Mexican border, on both sides of U.S. immigration laws. Dad was a factory worker, mom a housekeeper. The family spoke little English. In high school, in the 1980s, when Blanca and Susan Rubio expressed interest in college, a high school counselor suggested they look instead at home-economics classes to get ready for marriage and children.

The Rubio sisters did not grow up imagining careers in elected office. “I used to believe you could only be in politics if you were related to a Kennedy,” Susan Rubio said recently.

What a difference education, persistence and a lot of teamwork can make. When Susan Rubio, a Democrat, defeated a more established Democrat in last November’s election for a state Senate seat representing the San Gabriel Valley, she and second-term Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio, also a Democrat, became the first sisters to serve together in the California Legislature...

In a surprise, the sisters recently discovered they have Jewish relatives on their mother’s side who came from Spain. They’ve become members of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus. “We’re Catholic, but I would love to know the (Jewish) traditions and participate,” Blanca said. “I have a lot of learning to do.”