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American Friends Service Committee - United States-Mexico Border Program. Records
MSS 0644
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Creator:
American Friends Service Committee - United States-Mexico Border Program
Title: American Friends Service Committee - United States-Mexico Border Program. Records,
Date (inclusive): 1974 - 2004
Extent:
25.00 linear feet
(61 archives boxes, 2 map case folders)
Abstract: The American Friends Service Committee - US/Mexico Border Program (USMBP) is a human rights advocacy organization that was
established to support immigrant rights and concerns by documenting human and civil rights abuses by law enforcement agencies
in and around communities on the San Diego County-Mexico border. The records mostly encompass the organizational and administrative
activities directed by Roberto Martinez, director from 1982-2003. The collection contains incoming and outgoing correspondence,
field reports and studies, and meeting minutes, with similar materials in records for the parallel project, the Immigration
Law Enforcement Monitoring Project (ILEMP). The main components of the records are abuse complaint case files and legal case
documents compiled from individuals by the USMBP, the Centro de Asuntos Migratorios (CAM), the Chicano Federation of San Diego
County, and the Coalition for Law and Justice. Additionally, the papers contain conference and seminar materials, subject
files, brochures, published writings, and other materials supporting projects and organizations involved with AFSC and Roberto
Martinez.
Repository:
University of California, San Diego. Geisel Library. Mandeville Special Collections Library.
La Jolla, California 92093-0175
Collection number: MSS 0644
Language of Material:
Collection materials in English
Materials located in boxes 21-33, 50-53, 56 and box 57; folder 9 are restricted until the year 2079 according to federal and
state laws.
Not Available
American Friends Service Committee - United States-Mexico Border Program. Records, MSS 0644. Mandeville Special Collections
Library, UCSD.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Since 1940, the American Friends Service Committee - San Diego (AFSC-SD) has worked closely with migrant workers and promoted
rural and urban development in Mexico. Focusing on improving the living and working conditions of migrant workers and strengthening
their political voice, the AFSC-SD has historically played a principal role in Mexicano activism in the US-Mexcio border region
of California.
Orginally the AFSC-SD began the U.S.-Mexico Border Project (USMBP) in 1977 to address economic imbalances between the US and
Mexico. With the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, the program began to monitor and document human
and civil rights abuses by border law enforcement agencies. The program represented two subcommittees, one in Pasadena and,
other in San Diego. The USMBP remains a unique project which records incidents of state violence that might otherwise remain
underreported and/or uninvestigated.
Marco Antonio Rodriguez became the first director in 1978-1979 under the coordination of the AFSC Pasadena office under Frank
Galvan. Roberto Martinez was hired as director in 1982, and served as such until 2000. Martinez was already working as a
human rights advocate through the Catholic Diocese and as a member of the Chicano Federation of San Diego County, as director
of Coalition for a Humane Immigration Policy, and through the formation of the East County Sheriff/Community Relations Task
Force.
During 1983-1986, Martinez worked with Centro de Asuntos Migratorios (CAM), an independent legal services organization formed
in 1978 that worked closely with AFSC until 1993 when CAM merged with USMBP. Marco Antonio Rodriguez became CAM's interim
director after the resignation of Leonor Lozano in 1983, until 1989 when Richard Garcia, the El Centro office attorney and
supervisor became executive director. CAM's mission was to provide and promote vital legal representation, education, and
advocacy of undocumented individuals and their families.
In 1987, the USMBP undertook a special Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project (ILEMP) designed to focus on the human
rights of those immigrating to the US from Mexico and on the quality of society's response to their security and respect.
In 1997, AFSC-SD conducted a bi-national study of abuses in collaboration with human right organizations in Tijuana; in 2001,
AFSC-SD staff initiated an ecumenical migrant outreach project.
Scope and Content of Collection
The records of the American Friends Service Committee - US/Mexico Border Program document the organization's accomplishments
between 1982-2003 when Roberto Martinez was program director. USMBP was established to monitor local law enforcement practices,
support immigrant labor rights, promote understanding of immigration problems, and to support strategic ligitation that would
have an impact on immigration policies. The papers include administrative files for the Southern California regional office,
in the form of correspondence, meeting minutes, public relations materials and summary reports, as well as for the related
program, the Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project (ILEMP). Additionally, there are abuse complaint case files,
1977-2000, from citizen and non-citizen individuals in and around the San Diego-Mexico border region and documents illustrating
the early volunteer work by Roberto Martinez at the Chicano Federation of San Diego County, the Coalition for Law and Justice,
and the Centro de Asuntos Migratorios (CAM) records from 1981 to the merger with the US-Mexico Border Program in 1994.
The records are arranged in thirteen series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) ADMINISTRATIVE, 3) WRITINGS AND REPORTS, 4) LEGAL CASES,
5) ABUSE AND COMPLAINT CASES, 6) CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS, 7) ILEMP (IMMIGRATION LAW ENFORCEMENT MONITORING PROJECT), 8) WRITINGS
OF OTHERS, 9) SUBJECT FILES, 10) CENTRO DE ASUNTO MIGRATORIOS (CAM), 11) CHICANO FEDERATION OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY, 12) COALITION
FOR LAW AND JUSTICE, and 13) RELATED ORGANIZATIONS.
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE
The CORRESPONDENCE series is organized into two subseries A) Outgoing and B) Incoming both arranged chronologically, dated
1980-2003. The outgoing correspondence is AFSC (both national and regional) generated, generally administrative in nature,
while the incoming correspondence is from various organizations and individuals concerning topics of immigration and law enforcement
abuse.
SERIES 2: ADMINISTRATIVE
Although the US-Mexico Border Program is an independent regional project, the program follows the initiatives of the national
orgranization in Philadelphia. Currently, the USMBP is supervised under the Pacific Southwest region program. The administrative
series contains meeting minutes of both local and national committees, public relations and grant materials, newsletters,
and various internally created documents such as articles of incorporation, organizational structure and history, and handwritten
notes by staff. The series contains five subseries.
A) The Meeting Minutes subseries, arranged alphabetically by committee name, contains meeting minutes for the advisory board,
national community relations, Pacific Southwest Regional office, Southern California area program, and sub-committees.
B) The Public Relations materials for AFSC includes informative brochures, AFSC event sponsored flyers, news articles mentioning
AFSC and quoting Roberto Martinez, and press releases.
C) The Grant Materials subseries contains proposals, reports, and request applications for such organizations as the Ford
Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for grants the USMBP has applied for. They are arranged alphabetically by organization.
D) Arranged alphabetically, the General Administrative files represent organizational materials such as articles of incorporation,
organizational structure, and history documents for the US-Mexico Border Program, certificates of appreciation, handwritten
notes, and building plans for the proposed San Diego Friends Meeting House. Also included is a biographical profile and interview
with Robert Martinez.
E) The Newsletters include AFSC national and regional publications including "News of Women's Liberation Worldwide" and SPOTLIGHT.
SERIES 3: WRITINGS AND REPORTS
The WRITINGS AND REPORTS series constitutes reports and position papers authored by AFSC staff compiled from data and analysis
of abuse complaint files and national immigration studies.
SERIES 4: LEGAL CASES
The legal cases collected in this series comprise litigation documents used by the regional office for legal resource or
which represent cases where AFSC was counsel or provided consultation.
SERIES 5: ABUSE AND COMPLAINT CASE FILES
The files, 1981-2003, record incidents of human rights abuse at the border and within the larger community, along with attempts
to bring abuse and other concerns to the federal and state investigative level. The files are arranged by date, then alphabetically,
but are restricted by federal and state laws due to their confidential nature.
SERIES 6: CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS
Arranged by title, the CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS series contains materials concerning conferences both attended and organized
by AFSC representatives. The majority of documents support Roberto Martinez's role as a speaker or panelist.
SERIES 7: IMMIGRATION LAW ENFORCEMENT MONITORING PROJECT (ILEMP)
The IMMIGRATION LAW ENFORCEMENT MONITORING PROJECT was established to develop an organizational, informational, and educational
network to analyze policy alternatives to immigration law enforcement abuse and its solution. The papers reflect the directorship
of Maria Jimenez, 1987-2001, and document the collaborative work between AFSC-USMBP and ILEMP. Materials consist of correspondence
and summaries of abuse and human rights violations; they're arranged alphabetically with the organizational materials followed
by field reports summaries.
SERIES 8: WRITINGS OF OTHERS
This series includes published and unpublished writings on issues of concern to Roberto Martinez and AFSC. The writings represent
reports, analyses, and recommendations on topics of immigrants' rights, regional sociological studies, and recommendations
on state and federal immigration policies.
SERIES 9: SUBJECT FILES
The SUBJECT FILES series, arranged alphabetically, includes source materials collected on community and congressional issues
and other regional projects.
SERIES 10: CENTRO DE ASUNTOS MIGRATORIOS (CAM)
CENTRO DE ASUNTOS MIGRATORIOS (Center for Migrant Affairs) was founded in 1978 as an ecumenically sponsored immigration services
program providing complete and accurate legal representation, healthcare referrals, and other support services; offices were
in San Diego, El Centro, and Chula Vista. CAM worked closely with AFSC-USMBP promoting education of immigration and border
issues, and supported progressive change in the economic and social conditions along the border. Beginning in 1993, CAM merged
programs with AFSC-USMBP. The series contains eleven subseries A through K.
A) The Correspondence subseries, arranged by date, represents outgoing and incoming letters, either generated by CAM representatives
or of concern to the organization.
B) The Meeting Minutes are mainly representative of board of directors', advisory board, and staff meetings, 1981-1995.
C) The Reports subseries contains summaries of intake clients and cases from the Chula Vista and El Centro offices. The director's
reports review organizational policies and decisions on a monthly basis during 1988-1993 and is arranged alphabetically.
D) The Public Relations subseries contains press releases and informational brochures.
E) CAM was funded by religious and non-profit organizations, including Presbyterian World Service Program, James Irvine Foundation,
and the Rosenberg Foundation. The Grant Materials reflect requests, proposals, and funding reports and are arranged alphabetically
by grant funder.
F) Arranged by title, the Conferences and Seminars subseries contains general correspondence and agenda information.
G) This subseries contains general Administrative Documents including articles of incorporation, bylaws, office memorandums,
procedure manual, and notes related to CAM's organizational structure.
H) The Other Projects CAM supported ranged from the Proyecto San Juan subcontract to the Salvadoran Emergency Legal Assistance
Project with materials reflecting progress reports and correspondence.
I) The Legal Cases are documents supporting immigration ligitation trials for clients of CAM legal representatives. Also
included are weekly and monthly reports of legal activities where legal counsel was provided by CAM lawyers. In cases where
confidential client information exists, the folders are restricted. The subseries is arranged alphabetically by client name
with confidential documents separated at the end.
J) The Intake Sheets are forms used by CAM representatives to determine and record complaints by clients and the priorities
for follow through claims. The documents are arranged chronologically by date and are restricted.
K) Simarily, the Receipt Books are client information log summaries and payment acknowledgement records, arranged chronologically
by date and restricted.
SERIES 11: CHICANO FEDERATION OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY
Roberto Martinez was a community services volunteer for the Chicano Federation of San Diego County during the early 1980s.
The Chicano Federation was established in 1968 to advocate for Latino recognition and promote civil and human rights. Martinez
represented the organization as a committee member for the Law and Justice committee and the East County Sheriff's Task Force
investigating police complaints on behalf of Chicano clients. The papers document Martinez's collaborative work with the
Chicano Federation during the 1980s. The series is arranged into five subseries, A through E.
A) The Correspondence subseries represents outgoing and incoming letters, arranged chronologically between 1979-1986.
B) Arranged alphabetically by title, the Conferences and Seminars materials certifies the organization of several conferences
coordinated by the Chicano Federation, mainly the Latino Summit 2000, which sought to develop community and political strategies
with the Latino community.
C) The files for the general Administrative subseries include organizational reports from committees and meetings, publicity
materials, community issue related source materials, and staff meeting agendas.
D) The Legal Documents in this subseries are cases in which the Chicano Federation was directly involved, including the Eden
Gardens harassment lawsuit in 1974, and the Lopez case of 1974.
E) The Abuse and Complaint case files, arranged alphabetically, document citizen complaints taken by Chicano Federation staff,
mainly involving local law enforcement. They contain confidential information and are restriced.
SERIES 12: COALITION FOR LAW AND JUSTICE
The COALITION FOR LAW AND JUSTICE was formed to respond to and organize the community against violations of human and civil
rights by providing legal services and advocating education against institutionalized racism. The documents are arranged
alphabetically by material type such as correspondence, meeting minutes, and press releases; the abuse complaint case files,
1985-1991, are restricted.
SERIES 13: RELATED ORGANIZATIONS
Roberto Martinez was involved with and chaired several local and national organizations including the American Civil Liberties
Union-San Diego and Imperial County, Human Rights Watch, and the Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights of Los Angeles.
These materials consist of meeting minutes, correspondence, and informational brochures.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
American Friends Service Committee. -- Mexico-U.S. Border Program -- Archives
Chicano Federation of San Diego County
Centro de Asuntos Migratorios (National City, Calif.)
Human rights -- Mexican-American Border Region
Mexican Americans -- Civil rights
Immigrants -- Civil rights -- Mexican-American Border Region
Mexico -- Emigration and immigration
United States -- Emigration and immigration
Mexican-American Border Region