The Real Crime in America: Poverty, Injustice, and Why I’m Running for Congress
Dear Friends and Supporters,
America has always promised opportunity and justice for all. But if you look beneath the headlines—beyond the slogans and speeches—you’ll see a harsh truth: in this country, poverty is criminalized. Every day, millions of people are arrested, locked away, or shut out of society—not because they’re dangerous, but because they’re poor. And while Wall Street bankers who wrecked the global economy walked free, ordinary people like me found ourselves at the mercy of a system built to punish, not protect.
I’m running for Congress not as another career politician, but as the only candidate in this race who has lived through the criminal justice system. My story isn’t unique. In fact, it’s the story of millions of Americans who have been targeted—by the War on Drugs, the War on Migrants, and by an economy that rewards the powerful and punishes the vulnerable.
Let’s talk about real accountability.
After the Great Recession, not a single Wall Street executive went to jail for destroying the economy. The government bailed out the banks, but Main Street was left to fend for itself. I lost my job as a banker for refusing to participate in fraudulent practices—then, after a single mistake, I was arrested. Instead of being offered help, I was pushed further into the criminal justice system, while the true architects of the crisis cashed their bonus checks.
This isn’t just my story. It’s the story of every undocumented immigrant arrested by ICE simply for seeking a better life—often fleeing crises our own policies helped create. It’s the story of every young person thrown in jail for a minor drug offense, their future derailed by a system that profits from mass incarceration. The so-called “War on Drugs” was never about protecting communities; it was about controlling and oppressing them.
I’ve seen the inside of this corrupt machine. I know how it grinds people down, how it turns poverty into a crime and makes survival a daily struggle. I know what it means to lose everything—to be told you don’t deserve a second chance, even when the deck was stacked against you from the start.
That’s why we must go much further than simply restoring the right to vote. We need radical change:
Ban the Box: Employers should not be allowed to discriminate against job applicants with a criminal record. Everyone deserves a real chance to rebuild their lives.
True Reentry Programs: We need real education, job training, and mental health support for people returning from incarceration—not empty promises. Let’s create workshops and support systems that help people become assets to their communities, not perpetual outcasts at risk of recidivism.
End the Criminalization of Poverty: Whether it’s cash bail, court fees, or targeting unhoused people, we need to dismantle laws and practices that punish people simply for being poor.
The system is fundamentally broken. I’m not running to play by its rules—I’m running to tear it down and build something new. We don’t need more politicians who look the other way while injustice flourishes. We need leaders with the lived experience and courage to demand real accountability. I am that candidate.
My journey—from the marble counters of Wells Fargo, through the indignity of losing everything, to years under supervision—has given me a perspective no other candidate in this race can offer. I’ve felt the pressures that lead good people to make impossible choices. I’ve seen how the system protects the powerful and punishes the rest. And I know that until we fundamentally reform our economy and our justice system, the cycle of poverty and punishment will never end.
Let’s fight for a future where no one is criminalized for being poor. Let’s demand a system that values people over profit. It won’t be easy, but together, we can make it real.
In solidarity,
Gamy Enriquez, MPA
Independent Democratic Candidate, Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District
