Felicia Gomez brings more than a decade of policy and advocacy experience to the ACLUF-SDIC. She has led notable California statewide legislative fights to disentangle local law enforcement from deportations, such as the campaigns to pass the TRUTH Act (AB 2792) in 2016 and the CA Values Act (SB 54) in 2017. This work resulted in the passage of the strongest anti-deportation laws in the country. At the federal level, Felicia co-drafted the Movement for Black Lives’ BREATHE Act in 2020. The BREATHE Act offers a visionary framework to divest taxpayer dollars from policing and systems of harm, and invest in community needs to ensure all people can thrive. Overall, her work seeks to center the people most impacted and utilize policy as a tool to create lasting, positive change.
Felicia has dedicated her career to the liberation of communities of color from all forms of criminalization. Prior to joining the ACLUF-SDIC, she was senior policy associate at Essie Justice Group. Here, she spearheaded statewide policy centered on eliminating the harms of mass incarceration on women with incarcerated loved ones. Felicia previously worked at the California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC), where she focused on detention, deportation and immigrant workers’ rights policies and led the statewide ICE Out of California coalition.
Felicia holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of San Diego in international relations and Spanish with a minor in peace and justice studies. She earned her master’s degree from Columbia University in international educational development.
Felicia grew up and still lives in Vista in North County San Diego. During her free time, she enjoys camping, baking, trying out local breweries and spending time with her family and dog, Nacho.
