Benitez-Perez, Jorge

Jorge Benitez-Perez

Jorge Benitez-Perez (he/him) is Maryland Community Organizer for CASA Maryland. He started as a volunteer and advocate with CASA in 2018. He has grown into a badass community organizer from Prince George’s County. He was part of the team who spearheaded the fight for Prince George’s County to become a sanctuary county, a resounding victory with an unanimous council vote of 11-0. As a DACA recipient himself, he was a part of the fight to maintain the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Jorge also helped turned the city of Riverdale, Maryland, into a sanctuary city. He is fighting for immigrant liberation and believes we have nothing to lose but our chains. The COVID crisis underscored the extreme housing instability of tenant communities. Since the pandemic started, Jorge has led half a dozen rent strikes and efforts to pass two local and county-wide rent stabilization laws. Through our c4 sister organization CASA in Action, Jorge led a campaign that successfully elected a tenant activist to the Riverdale Park City Council.