|
|
|
|
Left to right: Hector De La Rosa, Vilma Guerrero, Douglas Keegan, Paul Brindel In SEPTEMBER of 1997 the bipartisan U. S. Commission of Immigration Reform released its report called, “Becoming An American - Immigration & Immigrant Policy”. The Commissioners and staff dedicated the final report of the Commission to the memory of Barbara Jordan, three term Congressperson from Texas who had been Chair of the Commission from December of 1993—until January of 1996. On the first page of the report she is quoted as saying, "We are a nation of immigrants, dedicated to the rule of law. That is our history— and it is our challenge to ourselves. . . .It is literally a matter of who we are as a nation and who we become as a people. E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one. One people. The American people.” Now, more than ever before, we are a nation of immigrants. The 2000 Census show a significant rise in foreign-born residents and their children. One out of 5 Americans was born in another country or born of parents who were born in another country.“The War On Poverty in the 21st Century” is a series of programs focused on anti-poverty efforts in a national, regional and local context, historically, currently and in the future.
The second episode will explore the relationship of immigration and immigrants to the War on Poverty and will feature as guests: Hector De La Rosa, Community Worker for California Rural Legal Assistance in Salinas.
Mr. De La Rosa has been a Community Worker for California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) since 1966, working on the legal needs of farm workers and immigrants for over 35 years. He has participated in several landmark cases affecting immigrants including the “Short Handled Hoe” case, that outlawed the use of short-handled farm implements that crippled thousands of farm workers, and the Diana case, which halted the practice in California schools of placing non-English speaking students in special education classes without proper testing. In the area of housing and economic development, Hector was instrumental in forming La Cooperative Santa Elena in Soledad, a cooperative mobile home park that has made it possible for hundreds of farm workers to realize the dream of owning a home. Hector has been a perennial resource for immigrants with problems involving their employment, housing, education, and health.
He and his family were themselves part of the migrant stream of farm workers during the 1950’s until his family settled in Soledad, CA where he continues to live with his wife and several of his eight children. He is presently active in developing Latino leadership in the Salinas Valley.
Vilma Guerrero, an attorney in private practice in Santa Cruz County focusing on immigration.
Ms. Guerrero emigrated from Chile as a child and grew up in southern California. She graduated from UC-Irvine in 1991, and from UC Davis School of Law in 1994. While in law school, she was the Student Coordinator for the Immigration Law Clinic, mainly assisting Guatemalans with asylum related needs.
Upon graduation from law school, Ms. Guerrero was an attorney for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network from 1994 to 1996 at Catholic Charities in Salinas. She then became Supervising Attorney for the East San Jose Community Law Center, a project of the Santa Clara University Law School, handling deportation defense, asylum, services for immigrant victims of domestic violence, and making frequent appearances in Immigration Court. Since 1999, she has been in private practice in Santa Cruz. Ms. Guerrero is a former Chairperson and current Board Member of the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County.
And Douglas Keegan, an Attorney and Program Director for the Santa Cruz County Immigration Project, a Program of the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County, Inc.
Mr. Keegan received his law degree from Boston College Law School in 1977. Since then he has taught at two law schools, Suffolk University Law School in Boston, and the University of San Diego Law School.
In addition, he has practiced in legal services and legal aid organizations representing the low-income community for 18 years, in Pennsylvania, New York, and here in California, where he worked for California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) in Salinas for over eleven years.
For CRLA, he worked with immigrants and farmworkers in the areas of housing, government benefits, education, and employment rights.
He has been with the Immigration Project since November of 1998, providing the immigrant community with the full range of immigration services. He lives in Watsonville with three teenage children.
The host and CAB Inc. producer of the series, Paul Rachuy Brindel, has been in public service since 1968 as a teacher, a principal, a day care director, and an administrator of non-profit private corporations. He is an Interfaith Minister and a Videographer. He has been a program director at the Community Action Board since 1989 and has lived on the Central Coast of California since 1972. He was a talk show host on KSCO for three years. He served as the Foreperson of the United States Grand Jury from June 2000 through June of 2001 and currently serves on the Board of Commissioners of The Santa Cruz County Housing Authority, The HIV Consortium Board, The Continuum of Care Working Group, The Community Assessment Project Research Committee, and the City of Santa Cruz Housing Element Advisory Committee.
|
|
|
