Malliotakis draws on parents’ immigrant experience
In Public Service: Assemblymember’s Mom Fled Castro’s Cuba, Dad Hails from Greece
Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis’ parents are immigrants who came to the U.S. with next to nothing and achieved the “American Dream.” Her father George was born in Greece. Her mother was born and raised in Cuba and fled when Fidel Castro came to power in 1959.
“My dad comes from the birthplace of democracy. My mom came from a place where democracy was crushed,” Malliotakis told the Brooklyn Eagle over lunch at The Pearl Room, a Bay Ridge restaurant.
The immigrant experience of her parents is the rock upon which Malliotakis built her world view. “It has had a big impact on me,” she confided. She credits her mother’s experience as a Cuban émigré for forming her political view as a Republican. “It’s the reason I’m anti-Communist and anti-Socialist,” she said.