Our History and Mission

OUR MISSION
LatinoJustice PRLDEF champions an equitable society. Using the power of the law together with education and advocacy, LatinoJustice PRLDEF protects opportunities for all Latinos to succeed in work and school, fulfill their dreams, and sustain their families and communities. LatinoJustice PRLDEF’s work fully embraces the diversity of the Latino community – especially the most vulnerable – new immigrants and the poor. LatinoJustice PRLDEF’s work encompasses three guiding principles – protecting civil rights, cultivating Latino leaders and increasing civic participation – that conveys our work, and showcases our exceptional role within the Latino rights community.

OUR HISTORY
In 1972 three young attorneys decided to establish an organization that could provide Latinos with the legal resources to overcome the obstacles that frustrated their dreams and limited their lives. Jorge Batista, Victor Marrero and Cesar A. Perales founded the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund to give Latinos a voice within the legal system and a role in public life.

For almost 40 years now, the organization has made a real difference in the daily lives of Latinos across the United States. Parents, teachers, voters, immigrants, students all continue to reach out to us for assistance in protecting their civil rights. And we continue to respond.

Recently, we became LatinoJustice PRLDEF, a name that better reflects the broad scope of people and nationalities who we protect and who make up our organization. And though our name is different, our mission to promote justice for all Latinos has remained unchanged since 1972.

Our attorneys have litigated precedent-setting impact cases that have profoundly improved the way Latinos are treated in our society. Some highlights follow.

Voting Rights

• As a result of our court victory, bilingual ballots and interpreters – in English, Spanish and Chinese – were provided to voters in the New York City elections. In turn, this decision affected how the Voting Rights Act was amended.
• We challenged voting plans that preclude minority representation in elections in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and Florida.
• In Milanes v. Chertoff, we fought three- and four-year wait times for naturalization applications to be processed, thus keeping large numbers of Latinos from becoming eligible to vote.

Education Rights

• In our very first lawsuit, Aspira v. New York City Board of Education, we helped ensure that public schools provide special programs to give English language learners equal opportunities to learn.
• Subsequently, we fought the forced segregation of Latino children in Delaware, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Workers Rights

• We made sure that Latinos did not experience discrimination when applying for civil service jobs or when seeking promotions.
• In Doe v. Mamaroneck, we won a major victory for Latino day laborers who were experiencing racial profiling and police harassment.
• In EEOC v. Beauty, we won a generous settlement for Latinos facing bias for speaking Spanish on the job at a major national cosmetics distributor.

Housing Rights

• We sued New York City for discriminating against Latinos and African-Americans who applied for public housing.
• In Valdez v. Brookhaven, we protected potentially hundreds of Latinos from late night evictions.

Migrant and Immigrant Rights:

• We challenged New Jersey and Puerto Rico for deliberately failing to protect the rights of migrant farm laborers.
• In Aguilar v. ICE, we are challenging Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s right to perform warrantless raids on Latino homes.
• In Lozano v. Hazleton, we ensured that Latino immigrants could rent homes and access public services. The decision will undoubtedly be cited by immigrant rights advocates for years to come.

Our landmark cases continue make a difference in the daily lives of Latinos across the country in these and other areas.