JD Mazuera Arias spent part of his childhood in East Charlotte afraid that coming home from school might mean finding an empty house, his parents swept up in a deportation he couldn't stop. Today he represents that same district, East Charlotte District 5, on Charlotte City Council, after becoming the city's first Latino, first Gen Z and first formerly undocumented member in its history.
Arias migrated to the United States in 1999 and his family settled in East Charlotte in 2001, where his parents worked jobs stretching from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., his father in construction and his mother at a small business in the district he now represents. He was born in Pereira, Colombia, and first moved with his family to Queens, New York, as an eight-month-old before the family eventually landed in Charlotte, according to a profile from NYU Wagner. For years, his family lived in the U.S. without legal status, and Arias has described himself as a Dreamer who participated in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program before becoming a naturalized citizen in June 2021, casting his first vote as a U.S. citizen that same year.
A Childhood Shaped By Fear and Displacement
Arias attended East Mecklenburg High School, where he ranked among the top 20 students in his class, swam on the school's swim team and took part in Student Congress. As reported by WBTV, his biggest fear during those years was returning to an empty home, a reflection of the constant anxiety undocumented families faced over possible deportation.
That instability extended beyond his family's immigration status. In 2013, developers purchased the Silver Oaks Apartments property where Arias lived, displacing him, according to the Charlotte Observer. The same year, Eastland Mall, which had closed in 2010, was demolished; the city bought the property in 2012, leaving East Charlotte without major redevelopment at the site for more than a decade.
From Charlotte Classrooms to Washington Policy Work
Arias graduated from Queens University of Charlotte before earning a graduate degree, an MPA from NYU's Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, in New York City. In 2020 he moved to Washington, D.C., for a policy fellowship with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and later worked in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's office, the Observer reported. He returned to East Charlotte after graduate school and ran to represent District 5 on Charlotte City Council.
His path to office was not easy. Arias, a first-time candidate, challenged incumbent Marjorie Molina over what he said was a lack of communication and transparency, along with her support for the Silver Line light-rail extension through East Charlotte, according to WFAE. The race was exceptionally close: WFAE reported Arias won by 37 votes in unofficial results, while Qnotes Carolinas reported the margin was 34 votes following a recount. Molina, for her part, had pointed to her role in helping launch the Eastland Yards development, which was under construction at the time of the race, the station noted.
Taking Office and Taking On Eastland Yards
Arias won the District 5 election in November 2025 and took office on December 1, 2025, becoming Charlotte's first Latino elected to city council and its first Gen Z member, with no Republican on the ballot to challenge him, per the same WFAE report. Charlotte City Council approved a sports campus for the former Eastland Mall site in 2023, before Arias took office.
Arias has said East Charlotte, which he describes as an immigrant, Latino, Black and working-class district, has been neglected amid the city's rapid growth. He told The Charlotte Post he wants the district to grow at the same pace and with the same opportunities the rest of Charlotte has enjoyed, without displacement or harm. East Charlotte, he has said repeatedly, is his home.
Pushing Policy for Immigrants and a Generational Shift in Style
Since taking office, Arias has pushed for improvements affecting Latinos and other immigrants in Charlotte, and helped create the city's first dedicated international relations office, which aims to bridge gaps through community relations and immigrant integration while supporting workforce development, economic opportunity, affordable housing and public safety, and expanding Charlotte's foreign direct investment footprint. As councilman-elect, he was also a vocal opponent of Operation Charlotte's Web, described as the federal immigration surge that rattled the city in November, according to the Observer.
Arias has framed his approach to governing as generational. Speaking to WFAE, he said he wants Gen Z to be remembered as the generation that favored less talk and more doing. It is a mindset born, by his own account, out of a childhood spent worrying whether his family would still be together when he got home from school, and a political career built around making sure the district that shaped him is not left behind again.
