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Immigration Panel Guests
New Mexico’s Attorney General- Raúl Torrez
Raúl Torrez was sworn in as the 32nd Attorney General for the State of New Mexico on January 1st, 2023. Born and raised in Albuquerque, Torrez is a former federal prosecutor and senior advisor in President Obama’s Department of Justice. After nearly a decade as an Assistant United States Attorney, Assistant Attorney General, and Assistant District Attorney, Torrez has worked at every level of the criminal justice system to protect our community and fight for justice and was the Bernalillo County District Attorney from 2017 to 2022 when he was elected Attorney General.
As a prosecutor, Torrez fought for our families and worked to ensure that our kids grow up in safe communities. He has handled some of the toughest cases, having prosecuted child pornographers, bank robbers, sexual predators, and
armed career criminals in both state and federal court. In 2009, President Obama appointed Torrez to serve as a White House Fellow and Special Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General of the United States. In that role, he represented the Department of Justice in critical criminal justice issues including efforts to reduce southwest border violence, crack down on drug cartels, and reduce violent crime and domestic abuse in Indian Country.
Prior to his legal career, Torrez helped a start-up company dedicated to good government and served as the Development Officer for the César E. Chávez Foundation. He is a former American Bar Association/Young Lawyers Division Scholar, a past Deputy Regional President of the Hispanic National Bar Association, a former Treasurer for the New Mexico Hispanic Bar Association and a past board member of the Rio Grande Community Development Corporation, a community-based, non-profit organization established to pursue, foster and promote economic development in Albuquerque’s South Valley.
Torrez graduated from Harvard University, went on to receive a Master’s Degree from the London School of Economics, and attained his law degree from Stanford University. He currently lives in Albuquerque with his wife and their two children.
New Mexico’s State Senator- Cindy Nava
Senator Nava is a proud immigrant and lifelong policy advocate. The daughter of a construction worker and a housekeeper, her parents came to the U.S. seeking a better life for their children. Senator Nava learned early what families go through to make ends meet. Senator Nava is a committed public servant. As the Executive Director of Transform Education New Mexico, she spearheaded the creation of a platform to advance education reform that reflects and incorporates the cultural heritage of our diverse communities in our state, values educators, and ensures resources are allocated to public schools to ensure success. With the support of her family, Senator Nava became the first in her family to graduate college and the first Dreamer (DACA recipient) in the country to be appointed by the White House, where she served as Senior Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Senator Nava’s work nationally included the expansion of HUD resources to support affordable housing across the department’s 64 field offices, the implementation of innovative methods to address homelessness, and ongoing Tribal engagement in partnership with the Office of Native American Programs and the First ever HUD Tribal Intergovernmental Advisory Committee. Senator Nava was elected State Senator for SD 9 in 2024. Her district represents constituents in Bernalillo and Sandoval Counties.
UNM Professor of Political Science- Dr. Gabriel Sanchez
Dr. Gabriel Sanchez is a Professor of Political Science at the University of New Mexico and serves as the Executive Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy and Co-Director of the Institute of Policy, Evaluation and Applied Research (IPEAR) at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Sanchez was formerly the Director of Research, and now Principal at Latino Decisions, the nation’s leading survey firm focused on the Latino electorate.
Dr. Sanchez is one of the leading national experts on Latinos and health policy. Dr. Sanchez is an expert on politics in the Southwest having directed many research projects and polls for Latino Decisions in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona and he has been invited to give talks and presentations at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, LULAC, AFL-CIO, the Democratic
Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and often serves as an expert policy advisor to the New Mexico State Legislature. Dr. Sanchez has been the lead organizer for several large conferences focused on health policy, including the highly successful 2013 Congressional Tri-Caucus Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Summit. Dr. Sanchez is also a Community Leadership Network Fellow for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Dr. Sanchez received his Ph.D in Political Science from the University of Arizona. His research explores the relationship between racial/ethnic identity and political engagement, Latino health policy, and minority legislative behavior. Dr. Sanchez has published more than forty scholarly research articles, chapters and books that examine minority public opinion, electoral behavior and racial and ethnic politics more generally in the United States. He is the author of the recent book “Latinos and the 2012 Election: The New Face of the American Voter,” and is currently working on the second edition of this book that will focus on the 2016 election. Sanchez is also co-author of “Hispanics and the U.S. Political System,” one of the most popular Latino Politics textbooks in colleges today.
Dr. Sanchez has been the lead principal investigator on several large-scale surveys, including the Latino Decisions National Poll on Health Care Reform, the Collaborative Multi-racial Post-election Study, and the recent National Latino Immigration and Health Survey. A leading expert on Latino and New Mexico politics, he regularly provides political commentary to several state, national, and international media outlets including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the Economist. Dr. Sanchez is also overseeing polls in multiple Congressional districts and a consultant for Latino outreach for the DCCC.
New Mexico Immigrant Law Center- Jessica Martínez
Jessica joins NMILC as a Corinne Wolfe Fellow for Transformative Advocacy. Jessica will be representing unaccompanied minors and vulnerable immigrant children eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Her fellowship project will also increase the well-being of New Mexico’s immigrant children by developing relationships with rural medical clinics, schools, and social workers to create a referral system for families and children in need of immigration legal services.
Jessica graduated from UNM School of Law in 2021. She obtained an Indian Law Certificate and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Tribal Law Journal, Vice President of the Student Bar Association, and Chief Justice of the Graduate and Professional Student Association. Jessica interned for the ACLU of New Mexico during law school, where she conducted legal research on immigrant rights issues.
Jessica also served as an advanced clinical law student in the Southwest Indian Law Clinic, where she worked with tribal communities on criminal law and environmental law matters. As an intern and clinical law student, Jessica dedicated additional hours to work for the Leaffer Border Justice Initiative. Due to her efforts, she was awarded the Dean’s Award for Significant Contribution to the Law School Community.
Before law school, Jessica worked as a legal secretary and was a community activist and volunteer. She has been a volunteer with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) for over sixteen years and was elected to leadership positions locally and nationally. Jessica currently serves as a commissioner on the national LULAC Women’s Commission. Jessica is proud of her Indigenous heritage and is an enrolled member of the Chihene Nde Nation of New Mexico (The Warm Springs Band of Chiricahua Apaches). She is also proud to be the daughter of a Mexican immigrant. Her mother’s strength and resilience inspired her to become involved in social justice efforts and motivated her to serve her community as a legal advocate.
Executive Director of Somos Un Pueblo Unido- Marcela Diaz
Marcela Díaz is the Founding Executive Director of Somos Un Pueblo Unido, a statewide immigrant-based organization that works to promote racial and worker justice in New Mexico. She’s been hosting Nuestra América for over a decade: interviewing community members, elected officials, advocates and academics about the struggles and triumphs of workers and families in our America.
Civic Engagement Program Director for El CENTRO de lgualdad y Derechos-
Rosalinda Dorado
Rosalinda Dorado-Mendoza, a Civic Engagement Organizer with El CENTRO de Igualdad y Derechos and El CENTRO Poder y Acción, hails from Chihuahua, Mexico, immigrating to Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the age of three. She is the first in her family to attend college at the University of New Mexico and has dedicated her life to economic, social, civic, and civil justice. Her journey with El CENTRO began in 2010 when her brother faced deportation after a routine traffic stop. This personal ordeal ignited her passion for community organizing and advocacy. Dorado-Mendoza’s career in the nonprofit sector includes grassroots organizing, policy advocacy, leadership development, voter engagement, and strategic litigation. She believes her path was shaped by a higher purpose and remains committed to making a positive impact through her work in community-led projects and campaigns.
Executive Director of El Centro- Rachel LaZar
Rachel is a native-born Burqueña. In 2000 she co-founded Enlace Comunitario, a domestic violence agency serving Spanish speaking survivors which aimed to bridge the gap between direct services and policy advocacy. Out of Enlace, Rachel, mano a mano with immigrant leaders, launched El CENTRO de Igualdad y Derechos in order to address systemic barriers and grow the power of low-wage immigrant workers. El CENTRO's members have been at the
forefront of winning bold immigration, workers' justice, and inclusive economy campaigns in New Mexico. Most recently, Rachel helped to found El CENTRO Poder y Acción in order to grow power in the ballot box.
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