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Running for his third term on the Cambridge City Council, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler says he wants to make Cambridge a model for progressive policy and fighting threats from the Trump administration, as it has attacked the universities and many immigrants who call Cambridge home.

Sobrinho-Wheeler, who started serving as councilor in 2020, but saw his stint interrupted by a failed reelection campaign in 2021, has been one of the Council’s loudest voices against the second Trump administration, and was an original sponsor on major initiatives to end broker fees and add 25 miles of separated bike lanes across the city.

Since political winds across the country changed when Trump took office, Sobrinho-Wheeler has aggressively pushed to strengthen Cambridge’s sanctuary city ordinance, seeking to further separate Cambridge police operations from federal immigration enforcement amid backlash from the presidency against such policies.

“It’s not enough to just say we care about folks, no matter what country they’re from, or their sexual orientation. We actually have to be a place that people can afford to live,” Sobrinho-Wheeler said in an interview.

“And if they’re fleeing from these other states — if they’re looking for a welcoming place — whether they can actually afford to live here.”

In advancing such efforts, Sobrinho-Wheeler says he wants other cities to take inspiration from Cambridge — the same way that some have in some of the city’s biggest housing policies over recent years.

“Cambridge can lead the way — not just pushing back against that and saying, ‘no, these values don’t represent us’ — but in putting forward an alternative vision for the country,” Sobrinho-Wheeler said.

“It's a big goal, but it’s one I think Cambridge, of any city, is really positioned to do,” he continued, pointing to the city’s resources and institutions.

When it comes to the issues Sobrinho-Wheeler sinks his time into, he often has a personal connection to the renter-friendly policies he cares the most about — like ending broker fees.

“I’m a renter. We have hardly any renters on the council,” the councilor said. “I grew up the son of a single mom. We depended on affordable child care and affordable housing, and I’m running for reelection to make sure more folks have access to that.”

Ending broker fees was one of the largest affordable housing feats the Council achieved this term — and one which Sobrinho-Wheeler has claimed as a personal triumph, too, as its main sponsor. It had long been common practice for landlords in Cambridge, and elsewhere in the U.S., to charge new tenants an upfront fee for the cost of hiring a broker during the leasing process to serve as a middleman.

“I was really excited to lead the fight in Cambridge to end forced broker’s fees. No one should have to pay a month’s rent just to rent an apartment in the city, and it keeps people stuck in bad situations,” he said.

That achievement stands next to Sobrinho-Wheeler’s other work on bike and pedestrian safety over recent years.

Endorsed by Cambridge Bike Safety, one of Cambridge’s three Super PACs, Sobrinho-Wheeler has been one of the lead voices in favor of the Cycling Safety Ordinance, which requires the city to install 25 miles of separated bike lanes by Nov. 1, 2026.

“I lost part of two teeth in a bike crash — This is very personal for me,” he said.

For Sobrinho-Wheeler, bike lane ordinances and other priorities always come back to his vision for a city welcoming to all, and everything that entails: safety, affordability, and accessibility.

“We need to be a city that is affordable, that prepares for climate change, that is possible to get around, whether or not you have a car or a bike or walking, those are all pieces towards this vision that this alternative that we want to put out there,” Sobrinho-Wheeler said.

—Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at shawn.boehmer@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.

—Staff writer Jack B. Reardon can be reached at jack.reardon@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @JackBReardon.