Immigration Expert Appointed to National Park Service Panel
Professor Rodolfo de la Garza, an expert on immigration and Latino political behavior, has been appointed to the American Latino Scholars Expert Panel of the National Park System Advisory Board.
The role of the panel is to advise the National Park System on a study that will investigate the stories, places, and people of Latino heritage that are worthy of preservation and interpretation. The panel also makes recommendations on properties that could be nominated as historic landmarks, reviews projects related to American Latino history, and advises the board on Latino issues and perspectives.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the study in 2011.
"As communities in New Mexico and Florida attest, Latinos played a role in constructing this nation," says Professor de la Garza. "Thanks to Secretary Salazar, the nation will learn about that continuous contribution through new monuments and carefully documented histories."
“From the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in St. Augustine, Florida to the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail in California, the National Park Service is effectively protecting the sites and capturing the stories of the early Spanish explorers and the Spanish colonial settlements,” said Secretary Salazar. “But there are many more contemporary stories that deserve to be preserved and told so that all Americans can understand, appreciate and honor the contributions of Latinos in this country.”
Professor de la Garza directs the Project on Immigration, Ethnicity, and Race and is vice-president of the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute at the University of Southern California.
He has worked on the design of programs to increase immigrant access to health services in California and evaluated the state-sponsored naturalization campaign in Texas. He has also chaired seminars on Latinos and foreign policy with emphasis on increasing Hispanic involvement in international affairs.
Alex Burnett, January 10, 2012