Press Release
For Immediate Release
October 15, 2008
Contact:
Ray Rojas, Executive Director
(915) 356-0071,
rayerojas@las-americas.org
Immigrant center prepares for annual heroes dinner
El Paso, Texas - The 2008 Border Heroes Award Dinner will honor Carlos Marentes and Carmen Rodríguez, 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1 2008 at the El Paso Country Club, 5000 Country Club Place. Diana Washington Valdez, El Paso Times investigative reporter and author of Harvest of Women, will be the keynote speaker.
Marentes is the director of the Farmworkers Center and founder of both the Sin Fronteras Organizing Project and the Border Agricultural Workers Project. Marentes is being honored at this year’s program for his years of advocacy in the area of migrant farmworker rights.
Rodríguez is an attorney and Manager at the Texas RioGrande Legal Aid in El Paso. Rodríguez is being honored at this year’s program for her work in representing both workers and farm workers.
More than 500 people are expected to attend this year’s dinner. The event helps raise money for several of Las Americas’ projects including: the Asylum Project, the Justice for Women and Children Project; the Battered Immigrant Women Project; and the Community Organizing Project.
Past honorees have included Enrique Moreno, Monsignor Arturo Banuelas, Hon. Albert Armendariz, Sr., Lynn Coyle, Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, Hon. Linda Chew, and Albert Armendariz, Jr., Mike Dipp, Jr., Francisco X. Domínguez and Sr. Liliane Alam.
In 1987, Las Americas began as the Las Americas Asylum Project in response to refugees pouring into El Paso. They were fleeing the violence in Central America. Las Americas worked to get many of these immigrants asylum. Since then, its mission has evolved to represent El Paso’s most vulnerable immigrants: women and children. Las Americas is also distinguishable as El Paso’s first organization to represent unaccompanied immigrant children. This year also marks 11 years of representing unaccompanied immigrant children.
Today, Las Americas continues to protect the human rights of El Paso’s indigent immigrants, including unaccompanied children; refugees; and battered women and children. It provides high quality pro-bono legal representation and advocacy. It is a nonprofit organization governed by a 13-member board of directors and 14-member advisory board. Recently, Las Americas won a national award from the Family Violence Prevention Fund.
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To learn more about Las Americas, visit
www.las-americas.org or call (915) 544-5126.
