About Carlos Garcia
Carlos Garcia, currently represents the people of District 8 as Councilmember at the City of Phoenix. Today, District 8 is a community of 200,000 plus people and it encompasses parts of downtown, East Phoenix, South Phoenix, Sky Harbor Airport, South Mountain, and Laveen.
Carlos was elected to the Phoenix City Council in 2019 after a long-standing career as a community organizer. He’s led on the issues of police accountability, housing, and COVID relief during his time in office. He believes in Putting People First when making decisions on council.
Carlos was born in Cananea, Sonora, Mexico and migrated to Arizona at the age of five. He grew up in South Tucson where he was raised by his mother and grandfather. Carlos moved to Phoenix to attend Arizona State University where he found a passion for history and where he grew into his leadership as co-chair of MECHA at ASU and as national chair of the student organization.
After graduating from ASU and experiencing family separation first-hand, Carlos co-founded the non-profit Puente Human Rights Movement and served as its Executive Director for 9 years. Under Carlos’ leadership, Puente members organized in neighborhoods to fight back against deportations, SB1070 the “show me your papers” law, Sheriff Arpaio, and anti immigrant bills and laws in Arizona.
With a strong vision, Carlos has led the way for a national immigrant rights movement that has stopped the separation of thousands of families across the country. Carlos has also been a key player in the transformational change of Arizona by co-founding One Arizona, a non-profit coalition focused on civic engagement. He was a leader in defeating Sheriff Joe Arpaio and in bringing about the lawsuit that challenged SB 1070. In 2019, he ran for Phoenix City Council to counter the right wing extremism in the White House under Trump.
His work stands on the belief that diverse people with common struggles and vision have the power to change the course of history.
Currently, Carlos lives in South Phoenix with his wife, Alexis, and their two small children, Chimal and Yaretzi. On the weekends, they enjoy cheering on Chimal at basketball games at the Kroc Center and at chess tournaments.