Faculty

Brian Gratton
Professor of History
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Brian Gratton dedicates his research to the history of immigration and migration in the United States and particularly among Mexican-Americans and Hispanics, with a specific focus on how family structures have changed over time. As a National Institutes of Health senior fellow at the Population Research Center at University of Texas at Austin in 1997, he developed a new series of representative samples of the Hispanic population and its subgroups in the U.S. from 1850 to 1970. As an NIH Principal Investigator on several grants and as a Fellow at the Russell Sage Foundation in New York City in 2003, Gratton examined assimilation trajectories for Hispanic and other immigrants at different periods in our immigration history. He is now carrying out research on the origins of immigration policy in the United States. He teaches courses in immigration and ethnicity, economic history and 20th century social history.

B.A., University of New Mexico
Ph.D., Boston University

Evelyn Haydee Cruz
Associate Clinical Professor and Director of the Immigration Clinic
Sandra Day O' Connor College of Law

Evelyn Cruz was born in El Salvador, immigrated to the United States when she was 12 years old and is now an American citizen. Her vast experience with immigration includes working with grassroots organizations in the California Central Valley, conducting trainings for lay advocates and experienced attorneys throughout the U.S. and consulting on complex immigration cases from around the country. In addition, Evelyn has taught immigration law for more than five years and was a clinical teaching fellow at Yale University School of Law. Evelyn also has worked closely with members of national organizations in advocating for clarification and changes to U.S. immigration policy, and served as a liaison between the Northern California District Citizenship and Immigration Services (Formerly INS) and community non-profit agencies. She has co-authored several immigration law manuals used by immigration practitioners and pro-se detainees at immigration detention centers throughout the nation. Evelyn also has written articles on immigration law, clinical education and therapeutic jurisprudence.

B.A., University of California, Santa Cruz
J.D., Santa Clara University School of Law

Rodolfo Espino
Assistant Professor of Polical Science
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Rodolfo Espino is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Arizona State University. His primary research and teaching interests are in the fields of political behavior, legislative institutions and political methodology. His expertise has focused on the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Latino representation in Congress, specifically focusing on how institutional and electoral forces both hinder and facilitate the representation of Latinos. He is presently engaged in a number of research projects that include an examination of Latino political empowerment, the campaign rhetoric of Latino candidates and Spanish political campaign ads, and the political behavior of whites in response to Latinos. Espino has published a co-edited book with the University of Virginia Press on the subject of Latinos in the American political system.

B.A., Luther College
M.A., Ph.D., University of Wisconsin

Luis F.B. Plascencia
Assistant Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences
New College of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences

Luis F.B. Plascensia's primary research interests are citizenship, migration, migrant contract worker programs (bracero"/"guestworker" programs), Mexico-U.S. borderlands and Mexican-origin communities in the United States. Prior to joining Arizona State University, he was project coordinator/research associate for the Public Policy Institute in the Government Department, and lecturer for the Center for Mexican American Studies, at The University of Texas at Austin. He also has taught courses at Northeastern Illinois University, Elmhurst College, and The University of Texas at San Antonio. In addition, he co-directed a national research project that estimated the size and distribution of the U.S. migrant agricultural workforce for the 50 states and Puerto Rico; the U.S. Congress used the results in the allocation of Migrant Legal Services funds. He has held the position of policy and budget analyst at the Texas Governor's Office, and associate director of the Texas office of The Tom‡s Rivera Policy Institute. Included in his publications and research are articles on citizenship and migration, and on popular culture issues such as lowriding in the Southwest, and the death of Selena.

B.A., California State University, San Diego
M.A., The University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin

Alonzo R. Pena
Special Agent-in-Charge
Phoenix, Ariz. Office of Investigations
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Alonzo R. Pena is the special agent-in-charge (SAC) of the Phoenix, Ariz. Office of Investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within the Department of Homeland Security. Pe–a oversees ICE investigative activities and operations throughout Arizona. The office's priorities include anti-terrorism; criminal alien arrests; the smuggling of humans, narcotics, weapons and contraband; money laundering; human trafficking; child pornography and financial crimes.

Pe–a previously served as special agent-in-charge of ICE's Office of Investigations in San Antonio, and associate special agent-in-charge in Houston. He spearheaded the creation of Laredo's Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) to address border violence in the area. Based upon the Laredo model, the BEST concept was expanded to 10 other areas, including Arizona, to target the leadership and supporting infrastructures of cross-border criminal organizations.

Pe–a began his law enforcement career in 1982 as a Texas state trooper, serving in Alice, Texas. Two years later, he accepted a position as a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in Santa Ana, Calif. After several years with the ATF, he joined the U.S. Customs Service and served as assistant director for that agency's Smuggling Division.

In addition to his bachelor's degrees, Pe–a also completed the U.S. Customs Service Graduate School of Management at National-Louis University; the advanced executive leadership training course from the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Va.; and the Senior Executive Fellowship Program at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is a member of several law enforcement task forces and associations, including the Texas Sheriffs' Association, the Alamo Federal Executive Board and the Federal Executive Institute Alumni Association. He is currently the president of the ICE Hispanic Agents Association (ICEHAA) and a volunteer member of the Make-a-Wish Foundation of the Texas Gulf Coast.

B.A., Pan American University

Katrina S. Kane
Field Office Director
Detention and Removal Operations, Phoenix Field Office
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Katrina Kane has served as field office director, Detention and Removal Operations (DRO), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since January 2007. She previously served at ICE headquarters in various capacities and participated at great length in the transition of legacy Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to ICE. She supported the transition efforts of the assistant secretary and the executive associate commissioner for field operations for ICE, facilitating operational briefings involving all ICE components and ensuring agency-wide coordination.

Prior to this Kane served as deputy district director of the Philadelphia District Office of legacy INS where she was responsible for the oversight of immigration enforcement and benefits operations. She also served in the enforcement division of legacy INS where she was responsible for the facilitation and coordination of issues among all legacy INS enforcement programs including Detention and Removal Operations, Investigations, Inspections, the U.S. Border Patrol and the Office of International Affairs.

Kane began her service with legacy INS in 1988 in Phoenix, Ariz., as a participant in the Cooperative Education Program - this program provided an opportunity to pursue a career in law enforcement and experience the various INS operational programs.

B.S., M.A. Arizona State University

Rick Van Schoik
Director
North American Center for Transborder Studies

As Director of the North American Center for Transborder Studies at Arizona State University, Rick Van Schoik develops, manages, and interprets complex, multidisciplinary, trinational research and policy programs. He studied oceanography and engineering from the U. S. Naval Academy and was a Navy SEAL until returning to school and acquiring a master's degree from San Diego State University in biology. He conducted post-graduate studies in philanthropy at Harvard Graduate School of Education, sustainable development at Tufts, and attended the first Natural Resources Leadership Institute in North Carolina. He teaches energy, ecological, and environmental policy, science, law, economics and engineering. He was previously the managing director of SCERP.

He has served as a trustee or on the board of directors of several educational, environmental, transportation, and energy organizations. Van Schoik is invited to give 25 to 30 talks per year and publishes articles in the scientific, lay, and professional press that inform the several perspectives on transboundary security, transportation, water, energy, environmental, and related issues.

B.S., U.S. Naval Academy
Phoenix, Ariz. Office of Investigations

Erik Lee
Director of Development and Institutional Advancement
North American Center for Transborder Studies

As Director of Development and Institutional Advancement for the North American Center for Transborder Studies at Arizona State University, Lee manages the development of resources to grow and sustain NACTS.

From 2006-2007, Lee was program officer for the Merage Foundation for the American Dream, a foundation based in Newport Beach, Calif., that is dedicated to building opportunity for immigrants to the United States. He was assistant director at the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California, San Diego from 2002-2006. Previous to that, Lee served as Assistant Managing Director at the Southwest Consortium for Environmental Research and Policy at San Diego State University. He has consulted for philanthropic and educational organizations and has also served as a resource for a large number of local, national, and international media outlets.

Prior to completing his master's degree in Latin American Studies Lee worked as a university administrator and instructor in Hermosillo, Sonora for two and a half years.

B.A., English Literature, University of Arizona
M.A., Latin American Studies, University of California, San Diego

Dawn McLaren
Research Economist at JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center
W. P. Carey School of Business

A lead economist in the Southwest, Dawn McLaren provides analysis of current issues facing the western states and Mexico to both government and business. Her research at ASU focuses on border issues, economics of networking and the forecasting of regional and international economic variables, including income, retail sales, construction, population and exchange rates. McLaren serves as the editor of the Western Blue Chip Economic Forecast, Blue Chip Job Growth Update, National Consensus Forecast of Labor Employment, Compensation and Productivity and the MŽxico Consenso de Pron—sticos Econ—micos. She also prepares and analyzes the monthly Arizona Business Conditions Index, which is based on a survey of the local Institute for Supply Management affiliate members. She created the Arizona Tourism Barometer, an index that measures the health of the travel and tourism industry in the state.

B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
M.A., North Carolina State University

Carlos Valez-Ibanez
Motorola Presidential Professor of Neighborhood Revitalization
Professor of Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies and School of Human Evolution and Social Change
Chair, Department of Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies
Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside

Carlos Valez-Ibanez was born in a hospital a few feet north of the cyclone fence between Mexico and the United States "con un pie en cada lado," that is, with one foot on each side of the political border. Throughout his distinguished career he as contributed signficantly to applied anthropology and particularly to an understanding of the contemporary lives of Mexican and Mexican-American populations. Through widely respected books and articles he has creatively explored themes and problems central to the life of these populations - the education of children, the emergence of socially viable communities, the role of women in politics, the development of cultural identity, the political economy of border life, and the social basis of economic survival in scarce circumstances to name a few.

B.A., M.A., University of Arizona
Ph.D., University of California, San Diego

Carlos Flores Vizcarra
Consul General of Mexico in Phoenix

Carlos Flores Vizcarra was appointed by the President of Mexico and ratified by the Mexican Congress to serve as Consul General of Mexico in Phoenix, Ariz. Under this appointment, he oversees the career Consulates of Mexico in Tucson, Yuma and Las Vegas. For the past four years, he has been able to develop robust relationships with the Governor of Arizona, the Arizona-Mexico Commission, local, other state and federal officials. Prior to that appointment, in July 2001, he was designated the Consul of Mexico in Tucson; where he developed strong ties with the community leaders, human rights organizations and state and federal government officials.

Prior being part of the Mexican Foreign Service, Consul General Flores was elected as a member of the Mexican Congress where he was appointed Secretary of the Foreign Relations Commission; before that, he served as Executive Secretary for the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin American and the Caribbean (COPPPAL, Spanish acronyms); and Undersecretary for International Affairs.

B.A., National Autonomous University of Mexico
M.A., University of Paris Institut Des Hautes Etudes de l'Amerique Latine

Mary-Esther G. Johnson
Field Office Director
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Mary-Esther Johnson is the field office director for the Phoenix Field Office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). She is responsible for the operations and administration of this office that has jurisdiction over four counties within the state of Arizona, namely, Clark, Esmerlada, Lincoln and Nye Counties. Prior to her assignment in Phoenix, Johnson served as the interim officer in charge, for USCIS El Monte, Calif., Los Angles District, from July 2002 to November 2006. This position encompassed the administration of 85 percent of naturalization interviews for the Los Angeles District, comprising of seven counties. This position was also responsible for the planning and the coordination of monthly naturalization ceremonies that averaged between 7,000 to 11,000 candidates.

Johnson previously served as supervisory adjudications officer in the Los Angeles Office and the San Bernardino Office, Los Angeles District, from 2000 to 2002, where she her officers handled all types of applications for immigration benefits. In addition, Johnson served as the deputy area port director for inspections at the Los Angeles International Airport from August 1994 until May 2000 where she was responsible for the INS operations at the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors.

The majority of Johnson's immigration career has been spent in inspections along the southern border -- immigration inspector in 1984 and supervisory immigration inspector in 1989, San Ysidro Port of Entry, San Ysidro, Calif., and assistant area port director in 1992 to 1994 at the Calexico Port of Entry, Calexico, Calif.

Rudy Bustamante
Community Relations Officer
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Since 2001, Rudy Bustamante has served as the Community Relations Officer for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. He oversees community outreach in Arizona and Nevada and acts as a liaison with local governments, community groups, libraries, educators and law enforcement agencies. During 2003, Bustamante was assigned to Washington D.C., where he served as acting director of community relations for the Immigration and Naturalization Service during its transition to the Department of Homeland Security. In this capacity Bustamante oversaw all community outreach programs.

Prior to joining the federal government, Bustamante had a career in law enforcement with the Phoenix Police Department. He managed the Hispanic Advisory Board to the Phoenix Police Department that involved investigating important community issues, meeting with community leaders, and keeping community members informed of critical incidents.

Bustamante currently serves as an advisory board member to the North American Center for TransBorder Studies program at Arizona State University. NACTS addresses a variety of TransBorder issues, including immigration, business, health, quality of life, and environment, as well as cultural and societal issues.

Marie Thérèse Sebrechts
Regional Media Manager, Southwest
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Marie Thérèse Sebrechts handles communications activities for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in southern California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam. Prior to this, she worked in various immigration positions, as a public affairs officer with Immigration and Naturalization Services within the U.S. Department of Justice, and then as a public affairs officer with the newly established Department of Homeland Security. She also served as the national public affairs field liaison for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Before this, Sebrechts was an international marketing and design consultant, working with both the private and public sectors. She also spent 14 years with the U.S. Government, first as a photographer and audiovisual producer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Edmundo Hidalgo
Chief Operating Officer
Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc.

Edmundo Hidalgo has been Chief Operating Officer since 1999 for Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc. (CPLC), a community development corporation in Phoenix, Ariz. He has more than 20 years experience in community development, having developed, financed, or sold more than $320 million in single- and multi-family affordable housing.

An accomplished and progressive senior executive, Hidalgo has spearheaded the development of retail and commercial centers, as well as the development of subdivisions for affordable housing. Under his management, Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc., acquired the largest portfolio-valued in excess of $83 million--of multi-family housing by a non-profit. Hidalgo's leadership has led to double-digit growth for the non-profit agency in each of the last five years and has catapulted the organization into a highly visible advocate for social and economic development, particularly in low-income, Latino communities. The U.S. Small Business Administration's Arizona District Office honored him as 2005 Minority Small Business Champion of the Year.

B.A., MBA, Arizona State University

Chris Simcox
Founder and President
Minutemen Civil Defense Corps.

Chris Simcox is founder and president of Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a citizen political action group that assists Border Patrol in better defending the United States border. Simcox and volunteers are focused on preventing deaths in the desert , as well as demanding that the leaders of this country take care of what he says is an "embarrassing and deadly problem - lawlessness and anarchy on a sovereign border of the United States." The volunteers who have joined Simcox in his effort have turned over 13,712 illegal entrants representing 26 nationalities to Border Patrol without one incident of violence. They have also aided migrants in need. "Our goal is firm but humane enforcement of our rules for entering the United States," Simcox says. "What is wrong with demanding that people enter this country legally and prove they have a productive reason for being here? We must awaken the nation and challenge ourselves to face the serious realities and consequences of ignoring the sovereignty of our borders and the importance of enforcing the rule of law."

Simcox holds an associate's degree in early childhood education and bachelor's degree in human development and spent 15 years as an educator. He also was owner, publisher and editor of the Tombstone Tumbleweed Newspaper.

A.A., B.A., Pacific Oaks College

Roberto A. Reveles
Retired after 30 years in public policy and community relations
Former President of Somos America/We Are America

Roberto A. Reveles is a public policy and community relations specialist with more than 30 years experience in both the public and private sectors. He served on the congressional staff of five congressmen in Washington, D.C., including Stewart L. Udall, Morris K. Udall, George F. Senner.

Reveles began his second career in the private sector as manager and later vice president for government affairs of Homestake Mining Company, headquartered in San Francisco, where he was responsible for designing, implementing and communicating corporate actions on government public policies.

Reveles retired and now lives in Gold Canyon, Ariz., where he enjoys competing in middle distance running and figurative and portraiture sculpting. As a member of the Arizona Hispanic Community, he remains active in promoting civic participation of Latinos. He is a volunteer with Humane Borders and was president of Somos America/We Are America, the coalition of community groups that organized the historic Phoenix pro-immigrant march in 2006. Reveles seeks to promote meaningful and comprehensive reform of immigration policy at the federal level and is committed to defense of the undocumented immigrant community against hostile public policies in Arizona.

B.S.F.S., School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

Keenan Strand
President
Northeast Phoenix Neighborhood Action Alliance

Keenan Strand has been a resident of Phoenix for 25 years. He has been a member of the Northeast Phoenix Neighborhood Action Alliance, which has approximately 100 members, for the past eight years and has been the alliance's president for the last four years.

Strand was drawn into the current immigration debate with other business leaders and residents whose neighborhood was suffering from intimidation tactics from those protesting an area day-labor center. A contentious battle over day laborers and illegal immigration spread from Pruitt's furniture store in east Phoenix to the Palomino neighborhood when members of several groups began protesting outside the Macehualli Work Center, on 25th Street, south of Bell Road in early January. The Macehualli center opened in 2003 and serves as a gathering spot each day for about 80 to 100 laborers looking for work. The protests forced parents to keep their kids out of school and area business owners, like Strand who owns a McDonald's just yards from the day-labor center, said their business is down about 15 percent.

Stand's group is not in favor of any illegal activity, but they "don't want to be ground zero for the national immigration issue," he says. The center is legal and has become a solution to a neighborhood problem.