By Erica Chayes Wida, Staff Writer
After 12 years, Maria Juega, executive director and co-founder of the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund, has stepped down from the helm. She continues to work for LALFDEF as a consultant handling legal services until another employee is certified. Once it that role has been filled, Ms. Juega will step away from place she helped create and move forward.
Ms. Juega traveled to the United States from Spain in her 20s — her only intention being to work and see the world. After unexpectedly growing roots, she decided to remain, finishing school at The College of New Jersey, becoming an investment advisor, opening her own budget practice, and finally retiring from the profit world and joining the nonprofit one.
This occurred when Ms. Juega and a group of other individuals were horrified at the work of Homeland Security in a post-9/11 United States. She remembers seeing the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services knocking on — even breaking down — doors to round up every man and deport them.
“I just couldn’t believe this was going on in America in the 21st century. We were very disturbed and formed this group with idea of doing some advocacy,” the Princeton resident said. “In time, we realized things were polarized, there was an impossible gridlock in Washington that made any change on the horizon short-term. Before 9/11 things were shaping up nicely for an immigration reform bill but that came to a halt and has been there since.”
Ms. Juega and her team immediately began shifting tactics, addressing services and referrals and remedying the panic and worries of many local families.In 2005 the organization was given a small space at Nassau Presbyterian Church. The team did whatever it could do to refer visitors to larger organizations. After working to receive grants, they finally set up a community center on Chambers Street, a Hispanic enclave in Trenton, in 2013.
“Since that time, we’ve improved our programs significantly with ESL classes, youth mentoring programs, community ID program, legal services, and we continue to provide individual advocacy on issues ranging from wage theft to wage theft, scams, and landlord-tenant issues,” Ms. Juega said. “We’re working on dismantling barriers so families have the resources they need.”
Ms. Juega feels that immigration, or migration in general, is the issue of the time. She believes that society is “kidding itself” if it thinks it can put up barriers, walls or laws to keep others out. She believes it’s an issue of evolution and of decency.
“The frontier is no longer on this planet. There is no terra incognita — no unknowns left. We are all in the same boat. We need to understand we are all in the same boat, we’re connected, and if the boat starts leaking at one end, the boat will sink,” she said.
“This hasn’t quite sunk into our collective consciousness in the third world. We think we can keep people away, drown or die of thirst, and that will keep them coming,” she said. “But migration is at the core of human nature in our quest for the promise land, mankind has been moving — that’s not going to stop.”
Ms. Juega perceives the answer to be that the more prosperous countries must help third-world countries to develop resources so that they will not be forced to migrate, and the only way they can build institutions and economies is with help. Until this is done, she foresees the refugee problems to continue exponentially throughout the world.
Recently, with post-election fears of deportation or fiercer immigration laws spreading through the Hispanic immigrant community, the 67-year-old Ms. Juega admits her timing was inopportune to leave LALDEF, but knows it will be carried in good hands with its existing team and new executive director, Adriana Abizadeh.
“But I’m not going away. I’m here,” Ms. Juega said confidently. “I will remain engaged in the community perhaps as a freelancer and be more free to do and say things that I may have not been able to as an executive director of a nonprofit organization. I won’t abandon the cause of immigrant rights; I will continue the fight. Now I am ready for the next phase.”
