BIO
For two decades, my work has centered on strategic interventions to advance civil and human rights in the U.S., Mexico and Caribbean region. Im glad to connect about this work, or about the music, feel free to reach out thru this website.
I direct campaigns at the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) in defense of the rights of immigrant and Latino workers and families. For over ten years, this work has placed me on the frontlines of the fight for civil rights in cities across the country, with years of experience building grassroots infrastructure and moving cities to reject federal overreach on immigration. Today, these localities are a critical line of defense against mass deportations - and authoritarianism.
My most recent article, The Uses of the Border, breaks down the weaponization of the border in American politics today! It also offers a reality check about the economic regional bloc we do live in, where labor migration is neither accidental nor incidental. I offer suggestions for the necessary political practice in these times. Prior to joining NDLON, as Advocacy Officer for RFK Human Rights, my work was to document and seek redress for the human rights violations caused by U.S. security aid and foreign policy toward Mexico, Haiti and the DR. During this time, I authored "Of Donors and Disasters," about needed reforms to international disaster funding to Haiti; as well as "New Alliances, Same Dirty War: The Real Cost of the Merida Initiative," about the human rights implications of short-sighted U.S. security aid to Mexico.
And just as importantly, I'm Mexican-American, Chicano. I’m also a folk musician and jaranero from the immigrant and creative stronghold of Santa Ana, California. I studied political science and pedagogy at UC, Irvine and at UNAM in Mexico City; attended law school at UC, Davis King Hall; and am a member in good standing of the Washington, DC Bar.
I direct campaigns at the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) in defense of the rights of immigrant and Latino workers and families. For over ten years, this work has placed me on the frontlines of the fight for civil rights in cities across the country, with years of experience building grassroots infrastructure and moving cities to reject federal overreach on immigration. Today, these localities are a critical line of defense against mass deportations - and authoritarianism.
My most recent article, The Uses of the Border, breaks down the weaponization of the border in American politics today! It also offers a reality check about the economic regional bloc we do live in, where labor migration is neither accidental nor incidental. I offer suggestions for the necessary political practice in these times. Prior to joining NDLON, as Advocacy Officer for RFK Human Rights, my work was to document and seek redress for the human rights violations caused by U.S. security aid and foreign policy toward Mexico, Haiti and the DR. During this time, I authored "Of Donors and Disasters," about needed reforms to international disaster funding to Haiti; as well as "New Alliances, Same Dirty War: The Real Cost of the Merida Initiative," about the human rights implications of short-sighted U.S. security aid to Mexico.
And just as importantly, I'm Mexican-American, Chicano. I’m also a folk musician and jaranero from the immigrant and creative stronghold of Santa Ana, California. I studied political science and pedagogy at UC, Irvine and at UNAM in Mexico City; attended law school at UC, Davis King Hall; and am a member in good standing of the Washington, DC Bar.