Carlos Eduardo Espina

Last updated
Carlos Eduardo Espina
Carlos Eduardo Espina.jpg
Espina in 2025
Born (1998-12-09) December 9, 1998 (age 26)
Montevideo, Uruguay
Citizenship
  • United States
  • Uruguay [1]
Years active2020–present
Known forImmigrant rights activism
TikTok information
Page
Followers12.5 million
Likes869.1 million

Last updated: May 16, 2025
Website carloseduardoespina.com

Carlos Eduardo Espina (born December 9, 1998) is an Uruguayan-American progressive activist, law school graduate, and content creator, He is a social media personality advocating for democratic and immigrant rights. [2] [3]

Contents

Biography

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay to a Uruguayan father and a Mexican mother, Espina migrated with his family to Texas. He studied political sciences at Vassar College, graduating in 2020; He graduated in 2024 with a law degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.[ citation needed ]

Since his teens, Espina has been an advocate for socially disadvantaged people, and promoted the creation of NGOs. In June 2017, he created Football for the Future, [4] a volunteer-run nonprofit that hosted a free, annual summer camp in the Bryan-College Station area, aiming to provide low-income central Texas kids with free soccer and educational programs. The summer camp ran from 2017 to 2019, and had plans set for 2020, but announced its cancellation in May 2020 due to an increasing number of COVID-19 cases among the community. As of May 2025, the nonprofit's status is unknown. In October 2019, he established the Detained Refugee Solidarity Fund, with the purpose of supporting migrants and refugees detained in ICE detention centers. [5] In December 2020, he was described as "the immigrant postman" (Spanish : El cartero de los inmigrantes) for his benevolence, writing letters to those detained and using the funds raised from the Detained Refugee Solidarity Fund to send US$ 15 alongside the letters, enabling detainees to contact their families. [6]

Currently, he is a social media content creator, posting to a combined 20 million followers across TikTok Instagram, and Facebook. [2] [1] [7]

In June 2024, Espina met with Vice President Kamala Harris, and shortly afterwards, with President Joe Biden. [8] Then, on August 21, 2024, Espina delivered a speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. [9] [7]

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 Fidanza, Andrés (August 24, 2024). "Hay cosas que no me gustan de Kamala Harris, pero el extremismo de Donald Trump es aterrador" [There are some things I don't like about Kamala Harris, but Trump's extremism is terrifying]. El Observador (in Spanish). Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  2. 1 2 "A One-Man Telemundo on TikTok". The New York Times . July 18, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  3. Bio, Demian (19 September 2024). "Meet Carlos Eduardo Espina, the Latino TikToker who got to Speak with Obama and Biden". Latin Post. Archived from the original on 16 May 2025. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  4. Espina, Carlos Eduardo. Return of organization exempt from income tax 2018: Football for the Future (Form 990). EIN  830747343. Archived from the original on 2025-05-16. Retrieved 2025-05-15 via Cause IQ.
  5. "Joven uruguayo publicó un video mostrando cómo son los retenes fronterizos en EE. UU" [Uruguayan young man showed a video of a US immigration checkpoint]. Montevideo Portal (in Spanish). December 4, 2021. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  6. Alvarenga, Jacqueline (2020-12-18). "Carlos Espina, el cartero de los inmigrantes detenidos por el Servicio de Control e Inmigración de EEUU". NotiBomba (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  7. 1 2 "Walz's night, Bill Clinton's dig at Trump, influencers flexing clout". The Washington Post . August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  8. Zeballos Báez, Lorena (June 21, 2024). "El influencer uruguayo con millones de seguidores que estuvo detrás de dos anuncios clave de Joe Biden" [The Uruguayan influencer with millions of followers who was behind two key announcements by Joe Biden]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  9. "Carlos Eduardo Espina at the 2024 Democratic National Convention". C-SPAN . August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  10. Flores, Griselda (July 25, 2024). "Premios Juventud 2024". Billboard.com (in Spanish). Retrieved August 26, 2024.