Lydia Guzmán

Director of Advocacy and Civic Engagement, Chicanos Por La Causa, and LULAC Chairwoman- Immigration Committee

LULAC Member since 1986. Former District 1 Director Maricopa County, AZ Current National Chairman Immigration Committee serving under Pres. Domingo Garcia. Current Commissioner for National Women’s Commission representing far-western states Lydia has worked Currently is the Director of Advocacy and Civic Engagement for Chicanos Por La Causa and has previously held director positions for the Arizona Secretary of State’s Elections Department and the Arizona Attorney General’s office and the Arizona Clean Elections Institute.She was born and raised in California. In the early 1990s after several discussions with other migrant rights groups over attacks on the Latino Community by then Gov. Pete Wilson and during Prop 187, Lydia was part of a state-wide campaign to assist amnesty applicants who now qualified for citizenship into the citizenship process. Moving to Arizona she saw the anti-immigrant movement again while working in the AZ Secretary of State’s office. She engaged LULAC as a plaintiff to protect voting rights against prop 200 (proof of citizenship to register and ID at the polls) – She helped found the Somos America Coalition in 2006 where over 200,000 people marched in the streets of Phoenix to push back against the Sensenbrenner anti-immigrant bill. After her involvement in several civil rights lawsuits, today Lydia serves on several law enforcement advisory boards to find ways to build relations with the community and also provides feedback and raises concerns over police policies that need revisions to protect civil rights and she participates in national conversation on 21st century policing projects.

Panel Information

Saturday, April 17

1:45 PM EST

Session Three: Immigration and Racial Profile

How do we ensure accountability to address racial bias in our broken immigration system? LULAC Ohio Virtual Summit will bring together State and National leaders to discuss important topics that affect Black and Brown communities.