LatinoJustice PRLDEF
Encyclopedia
LatinoJustice PRLDEF, long known by its former name the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, is a New York
-based national civil rights organization with the goal of changing discriminatory practices via advocacy and litigation. Privately funded, nonprofit and nonpartisan, it is part of the umbrella Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
.
The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund was founded in 1972 by three lawyers, one of whom, Cesar A. Perales
, became the president of the group for much of its history. PRLDEF played a key role in the installation of bilingual education
in New York City schools, and soon became the most important legal advocacy group for Puerto Ricans in the U.S. mainland. The group became known for its part played in redistricting
battles, its opposition to civil service exams it thought discriminatory, and its attempts to combat anti-Latino sentiment especially as arising from the debate over immigration to the U.S.
It changed its name to the current one in 2008 in order to reflect demographic shifts in the Latino population in New York and elsewhere.
by three lawyers, Jorge Batista, Victor Marrero
, and Cesar A. Perales
. It was inspired in form and purpose by the high-profile NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
, which Thurgood Marshall
had formed in 1957. PRLDEF had $300,000 of initial funding from foundations, government sources, and private corporations. U.S. House of Representatives member Herman Badillo
was on its first Board of Directors, and at the fund's initial press conference he said, "There is plenty of room for change in our society, and much can be done through the medium of class actions." Perales was the fund's first president. It grew to have a Litigation Division, a Pro Bono Cooperating Counsel Division, and an Education Division. It was typically staffed by young, idealistic attorneys from premier law schools.
ASPIRA
of New York, with the support of ASPIRA of America and the representation of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, filed Aspira v. New York City Board of Education in 1972. The lawsuit was the fund's first, and one that led to the ASPIRA Consent Decree. The decree, signed August 29, 1974, established the right of New York City public school students with limited English proficiency to receive bilingual education, and was central to a bilingual education program spreading throughout the New York City school system. PRLDEF has continued to be a key factor in the installation of bilingual education
in New York schools. It also brought about the publication of some federal and state forms in Spanish as well as English.
By the late 1970s, PRLDEF had become the nation's most important legal advocacy group for Puerto Ricans in the mainland.
boundaries diminished the power of minority voters. The council district lines were redrawn in consequence of the ruling. (A similar action was taken in 1991 to forestall a planned redrawing, and subsequent negotiations with the U.S. Justice Department resulted in changes to the redistricting.)
In 1981, the fund began activity in opposition to reinstatement of the death penalty in New York State, with its board saying that "capital punishment is associated with evident racism in our society." The fund was also active in highlighting cases of police brutality
.
During the 1980s, PRLDEF changed its focus somewhat, moving beyond traditional civil rights cases to address more economically focused issues such as wage disparities. A major target became civil service exam
s, which the fund believed were unfair to Latinos and other minority groups. In 1984, the fund sued the New York City Police Department
, saying that its promotion exams discriminated against Latinos and African-Americans. The case was settled when the department agreed to promote an additional 100 black officers and 60 Latino officers to sergeant rank. The fund also filed separate suits against the New York Fire Department and the New York City Department of Sanitation
.
The fund actively opposed the 1987 Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination
, "because of the threat he poses to the civil rights of the Latino community," and worked on joining anti-Bork coalitions. The same year, the fund teamed with ACORN
on behalf of affordable housing for low-income Puerto Rican families in East New York. It also met with editors of the New York Daily News
to complain about "negative images of Puerto Ricans presented by the News' staff," including from popular columnist Jimmy Breslin
.
Future federal judge and U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor
was an active member of the board of directors of PRLDEF from 1980 to 1992. More commonly, board members were chosen for their wealth or their political connections; members of the board have included U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach
, Senator Jacob Javits, Ambassador William vanden Heuvel
, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams
, and federal judge Jose Cabranes. Co-founder Victor Marrero
became a federal judge and returned to serve on the board as well. The extent to which the board's Litigation Committee had control over which fund lawsuits went forward varied over time and was a subject of intermittent discussion.
The group endured financial strain several times, and in 1984, private contributions suffered due to a dispute between management and staff over control of the fund.
Under president and general counsel Juan Figueroa
, who joined the group in 1993, PRLDEF forged a strategic plan that led to an alliance with the Institute for Puerto Rican Policy in 1998. The Institute functioned as the Fund’s policy research arm. As a result, PRLDEF had an expanded role in the public policy community, a higher national profile, and an integrated program that effectively united grassroots advocacy, public policy and precedent-setting litigation. PRLDEF program cases included language rights, education, voting rights and environmental justice.
, suing the United States Government for delays in the processing of immigration applications. PRLDEF has also been known to collaborate with the Hispanic National Bar Association
.
By 2003, the group was in severe financial crisis. Perales, who had since gone on to become a high-ranking official at the city, state, and federal levels, was brought back to serve as president. In 2005, the former Institute for Puerto Rican Policy split back off, renaming itself the National Institute for Latino Policy
.
After the town of Hazleton, Pennsylvania
passed an ordinance to punish landlords who rented to illegal immigrants and businesses who hired illegal immigrants, the American Civil Liberties Union
and the PRLDEF sued Hazleton, saying the ordinance was unconstitutional. Perales said, "What [the ordinance] is about is an anti-Latino sentiment that has been growing in this country." On July 26, 2007, a federal court agreed and struck down the Hazleton ordinance; Hazleton's mayor promised to appeal the decision. The Hazleton challenge became PRLDEF's most visible work of that period.
In addition to its other efforts, the Education Division of PRLDEF also encourages Latinos to become lawyers by offering LSAT prep courses, internships, and mentoring relationships. Those endeavours have led to as many as 300 Latino and African-Americans students a year and led to a generation of minority lawyers.
In October 2008, the group changed its name to LatinoJustice PRLDEF. This reflected that its clients were coming from Bolivia
, Colombia
, the Dominican Republic
, Ecuador
, Mexico
, Peru
, and the like. Perales said that "there is a coming together of identification in a common struggle," especially in regards to immigration issues. But the change was also motivated by broad demographic shifts; when the organization had first been formed, Puerto Ricans comprised about 63 percent of the overall New York Latino population, and this figure had now fallen to about 34 percent. The move would open up additional fundraising opportunities, but also caused some Puerto Ricans to criticize the group for forsaking its heritage.
In December 2008, LatinoJustice PRLDEF filed an unusual international petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
of the Organization of American States
, charging that the United States was failing to protect Latinos living within its borders and was thus falling short of several human rights manifestos.
The PRLDEF received new national attention in mid-2009 with the Sonia Sotomayor Supreme Court nomination
, with Republicans saying Sotomayor had been involved in a radical organization while Democrats defended it as a mainstream civil rights operation. Perales said, "You have a reputable group that has stood up for the civil rights of Latinos for 37 years. To suddenly be accused of being something bad, and that anyone associated with it should not be allowed to serve on the Supreme Court, to me is shocking." Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg
came to PRLDEF's defense, saying "While we have not always agreed on every issue, the group has made countless important contributions to New York City."
In March 2010, the group urged Governor of Puerto Rico Luis Fortuño
to delay by at least six months the effective date of a new birth certificate
law, which as of July 2010 invalidates all previously issued birth certificates. . PRLDEF was concerned that the new law, whose objective was to stop and prevent identity theft and fraud, would harm Stateside Puerto Ricans trying to apply for a driver license or for a job. (The governor delayed the law by three months.)
In July 2010, the group joined by a law firm authored an amicus curiae brief filed by several Latino organizations in support of a preliminary injunction against the highly controversial Arizona SB 1070 anti-illegal immigration law. The following month, PRLDEF said that was ready to sue the state of Virginia if its governor allowed the Virginia State Police
to ask about the immigration status of individuals they stop or arrest, stating that such a policy would result in racial profiling.
In 2011, Perales stepped down as president of the organization and was replaced by civil rights lawyer Juan Cartagena. Perales was subsequently named Secretary of State of New York
.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based national civil rights organization with the goal of changing discriminatory practices via advocacy and litigation. Privately funded, nonprofit and nonpartisan, it is part of the umbrella Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights , formerly called The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, is an umbrella group of American civil rights interest groups.-Organizational history:...
.
The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund was founded in 1972 by three lawyers, one of whom, Cesar A. Perales
Cesar A. Perales
Cesar Augusto Perales is the Secretary of State of New York currently serving in the Cabinet of Governor Andrew Cuomo. On March 31, 2011, he was nominated by Governor Cuomo to replace outgoing Secretary Ruth Noemí Colón, and took office on May 2, 2011. He was confirmed by the State Senate on June 7...
, became the president of the group for much of its history. PRLDEF played a key role in the installation of bilingual education
Bilingual education
Bilingual education involves teaching academic content in two languages, in a native and secondary language with varying amounts of each language used in accordance with the program model.-Bilingual education program models:...
in New York City schools, and soon became the most important legal advocacy group for Puerto Ricans in the U.S. mainland. The group became known for its part played in redistricting
Redistricting
Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...
battles, its opposition to civil service exams it thought discriminatory, and its attempts to combat anti-Latino sentiment especially as arising from the debate over immigration to the U.S.
Immigration to the United States
Immigration to the United States has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States. The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants,...
It changed its name to the current one in 2008 in order to reflect demographic shifts in the Latino population in New York and elsewhere.
Origins and the 1970s
The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund was founded in 1972 as a non-profit organizationNon-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
by three lawyers, Jorge Batista, Victor Marrero
Victor Marrero
Victor Marrero is a United States federal judge appointed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by President Bill Clinton in 1999...
, and Cesar A. Perales
Cesar A. Perales
Cesar Augusto Perales is the Secretary of State of New York currently serving in the Cabinet of Governor Andrew Cuomo. On March 31, 2011, he was nominated by Governor Cuomo to replace outgoing Secretary Ruth Noemí Colón, and took office on May 2, 2011. He was confirmed by the State Senate on June 7...
. It was inspired in form and purpose by the high-profile NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City....
, which Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...
had formed in 1957. PRLDEF had $300,000 of initial funding from foundations, government sources, and private corporations. U.S. House of Representatives member Herman Badillo
Herman Badillo
Herman Badillo is a Bronx, New York politician who has been a borough president, United States Representative, and candidate for Mayor of New York City. He was the first Puerto Rican to be elected to these posts and be a mayoral candidate in the continental United States.-Early years:Badillo was...
was on its first Board of Directors, and at the fund's initial press conference he said, "There is plenty of room for change in our society, and much can be done through the medium of class actions." Perales was the fund's first president. It grew to have a Litigation Division, a Pro Bono Cooperating Counsel Division, and an Education Division. It was typically staffed by young, idealistic attorneys from premier law schools.
ASPIRA
ASPIRA
ASPIRA of New York is a Hispanic non-profit organization working to foster educational excellence and civic responsibility among young Latinos. ASPIRA youth development clubs, dropout prevention initiatives and after school programs each year serve more than 8,000 young people in the five boroughs...
of New York, with the support of ASPIRA of America and the representation of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, filed Aspira v. New York City Board of Education in 1972. The lawsuit was the fund's first, and one that led to the ASPIRA Consent Decree. The decree, signed August 29, 1974, established the right of New York City public school students with limited English proficiency to receive bilingual education, and was central to a bilingual education program spreading throughout the New York City school system. PRLDEF has continued to be a key factor in the installation of bilingual education
Bilingual education
Bilingual education involves teaching academic content in two languages, in a native and secondary language with varying amounts of each language used in accordance with the program model.-Bilingual education program models:...
in New York schools. It also brought about the publication of some federal and state forms in Spanish as well as English.
By the late 1970s, PRLDEF had become the nation's most important legal advocacy group for Puerto Ricans in the mainland.
1980s and 1990s
In 1981, PRLDEF achieved its most visible early triumph when it achieved federal court intervention to block a city Democratic Party primary election on the grounds that New York City CouncilNew York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
boundaries diminished the power of minority voters. The council district lines were redrawn in consequence of the ruling. (A similar action was taken in 1991 to forestall a planned redrawing, and subsequent negotiations with the U.S. Justice Department resulted in changes to the redistricting.)
In 1981, the fund began activity in opposition to reinstatement of the death penalty in New York State, with its board saying that "capital punishment is associated with evident racism in our society." The fund was also active in highlighting cases of police brutality
Police brutality
Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....
.
During the 1980s, PRLDEF changed its focus somewhat, moving beyond traditional civil rights cases to address more economically focused issues such as wage disparities. A major target became civil service exam
Civil service exam
Civil service examinations are examinations implemented in various countries for admission to the civil service. They are intended as a method to achieve an effective, rational public administration on a merit system....
s, which the fund believed were unfair to Latinos and other minority groups. In 1984, the fund sued the New York City Police Department
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
, saying that its promotion exams discriminated against Latinos and African-Americans. The case was settled when the department agreed to promote an additional 100 black officers and 60 Latino officers to sergeant rank. The fund also filed separate suits against the New York Fire Department and the New York City Department of Sanitation
New York City Department of Sanitation
The New York City Department of Sanitation, or DSNY, is a uniformed force of unionized sanitation workers in New York City. Their responsibilities include garbage collection, recycling collection, street cleaning, and snow removal...
.
The fund actively opposed the 1987 Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination
Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination
The Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination refers to the 1987 nomination by President Ronald Reagan of Judge Robert Bork to serve as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. The U.S. Senate rejected his nomination.-Nomination:...
, "because of the threat he poses to the civil rights of the Latino community," and worked on joining anti-Bork coalitions. The same year, the fund teamed with ACORN
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now was a collection of community-based organizations in the United States that advocated for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable housing, and other social issues...
on behalf of affordable housing for low-income Puerto Rican families in East New York. It also met with editors of the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
to complain about "negative images of Puerto Ricans presented by the News' staff," including from popular columnist Jimmy Breslin
Jimmy Breslin
Jimmy Breslin is an American journalist and author. He currently writes a column for the New York Daily News' Sunday edition. He has written numerous novels, and columns of his have appeared regularly in various newspapers in his hometown of New York City...
.
Future federal judge and U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 2009. Sotomayor is the Court's 111th justice, its first Hispanic justice, and its third female justice....
was an active member of the board of directors of PRLDEF from 1980 to 1992. More commonly, board members were chosen for their wealth or their political connections; members of the board have included U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach
Nicholas Katzenbach
Nicholas deBelleville Katzenbach is an American lawyer who served as United States Attorney General during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration.-Early life:...
, Senator Jacob Javits, Ambassador William vanden Heuvel
William vanden Heuvel
William Jacobus vanden Heuvel is an attorney, businessman and author, as well as a former diplomat.He is the father of Katrina vanden Heuvel, longtime editor of The Nation magazine, and Wendy vanden Heuvel, children from his marriage to author/editor Jean Stein, the well-to-do daughter of Jules C...
, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams
Robert Abrams
Robert Abrams is an American lawyer and politician.-Life and career:He graduated from Columbia College and the New York University School of Law. He is considered a member of the reform wing of the Democratic Party.Abrams was a member of the New York State Assembly representing the Bronx from 1966...
, and federal judge Jose Cabranes. Co-founder Victor Marrero
Victor Marrero
Victor Marrero is a United States federal judge appointed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by President Bill Clinton in 1999...
became a federal judge and returned to serve on the board as well. The extent to which the board's Litigation Committee had control over which fund lawsuits went forward varied over time and was a subject of intermittent discussion.
The group endured financial strain several times, and in 1984, private contributions suffered due to a dispute between management and staff over control of the fund.
Under president and general counsel Juan Figueroa
Juan Figueroa
Juan Figueroa is president of Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut and former president and general counsel of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund...
, who joined the group in 1993, PRLDEF forged a strategic plan that led to an alliance with the Institute for Puerto Rican Policy in 1998. The Institute functioned as the Fund’s policy research arm. As a result, PRLDEF had an expanded role in the public policy community, a higher national profile, and an integrated program that effectively united grassroots advocacy, public policy and precedent-setting litigation. PRLDEF program cases included language rights, education, voting rights and environmental justice.
2000s and a new name
In the 2000s, PRLDEF collaborated with the New York Legal Assistance GroupNew York Legal Assistance Group
The New York Legal Assistance Group is a non-profit law office that provides free civil legal services to low-income New Yorkers. Through direct representation, impact and class action litigation, consultation and community education, NYLAG serves individuals and families residing in the five...
, suing the United States Government for delays in the processing of immigration applications. PRLDEF has also been known to collaborate with the Hispanic National Bar Association
Hispanic National Bar Association
The Hispanic National Bar Association is a non-profit, non-partisan organization representing Hispanics in the legal profession, including attorneys, judges, law professors, legal assistant and paralegals, and law students in the United States and its territories.The current National President and...
.
By 2003, the group was in severe financial crisis. Perales, who had since gone on to become a high-ranking official at the city, state, and federal levels, was brought back to serve as president. In 2005, the former Institute for Puerto Rican Policy split back off, renaming itself the National Institute for Latino Policy
National Institute for Latino Policy
The National Institute for Latino Policy was established in 1982 as the Institute for Puerto Rican Policy in New York City, United States as a non-profit and nonpartisan policy center focusing on critical Latino policy issues....
.
After the town of Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Hazleton is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 25,340 at the 2010 census, an increase of 8.6% from the 2000 census count .-Greater Hazleton:...
passed an ordinance to punish landlords who rented to illegal immigrants and businesses who hired illegal immigrants, the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
and the PRLDEF sued Hazleton, saying the ordinance was unconstitutional. Perales said, "What [the ordinance] is about is an anti-Latino sentiment that has been growing in this country." On July 26, 2007, a federal court agreed and struck down the Hazleton ordinance; Hazleton's mayor promised to appeal the decision. The Hazleton challenge became PRLDEF's most visible work of that period.
In addition to its other efforts, the Education Division of PRLDEF also encourages Latinos to become lawyers by offering LSAT prep courses, internships, and mentoring relationships. Those endeavours have led to as many as 300 Latino and African-Americans students a year and led to a generation of minority lawyers.
In October 2008, the group changed its name to LatinoJustice PRLDEF. This reflected that its clients were coming from Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, and the like. Perales said that "there is a coming together of identification in a common struggle," especially in regards to immigration issues. But the change was also motivated by broad demographic shifts; when the organization had first been formed, Puerto Ricans comprised about 63 percent of the overall New York Latino population, and this figure had now fallen to about 34 percent. The move would open up additional fundraising opportunities, but also caused some Puerto Ricans to criticize the group for forsaking its heritage.
In December 2008, LatinoJustice PRLDEF filed an unusual international petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States .Along with the...
of the Organization of American States
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
, charging that the United States was failing to protect Latinos living within its borders and was thus falling short of several human rights manifestos.
The PRLDEF received new national attention in mid-2009 with the Sonia Sotomayor Supreme Court nomination
Sonia Sotomayor Supreme Court nomination
On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama announced his selection of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, to replace retiring Justice David Souter. Sotomayor's nomination was formally submitted to the United States Senate on June 1, 2009, when the...
, with Republicans saying Sotomayor had been involved in a radical organization while Democrats defended it as a mainstream civil rights operation. Perales said, "You have a reputable group that has stood up for the civil rights of Latinos for 37 years. To suddenly be accused of being something bad, and that anyone associated with it should not be allowed to serve on the Supreme Court, to me is shocking." Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
came to PRLDEF's defense, saying "While we have not always agreed on every issue, the group has made countless important contributions to New York City."
In March 2010, the group urged Governor of Puerto Rico Luis Fortuño
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
to delay by at least six months the effective date of a new birth certificate
Birth certificate
A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a child. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensuing registration of that birth...
law, which as of July 2010 invalidates all previously issued birth certificates. . PRLDEF was concerned that the new law, whose objective was to stop and prevent identity theft and fraud, would harm Stateside Puerto Ricans trying to apply for a driver license or for a job. (The governor delayed the law by three months.)
In July 2010, the group joined by a law firm authored an amicus curiae brief filed by several Latino organizations in support of a preliminary injunction against the highly controversial Arizona SB 1070 anti-illegal immigration law. The following month, PRLDEF said that was ready to sue the state of Virginia if its governor allowed the Virginia State Police
Virginia State Police
Virginia State Police is a state agency, conceived in 1919 and established in 1932, that acts as the state police force for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The agency originated out of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles as an inspector and enforcer of highway laws...
to ask about the immigration status of individuals they stop or arrest, stating that such a policy would result in racial profiling.
In 2011, Perales stepped down as president of the organization and was replaced by civil rights lawyer Juan Cartagena. Perales was subsequently named Secretary of State of New York
Secretary of State of New York
The Secretary of State of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York.The current Secretary of State of New York is Cesar A...
.