Candidate for
Board Member; Santa Ana Unified School District

I am a 29 year resident of Santa Ana. I was born in Mexico City, and arrived to the U.S. when I was 5 years old. My parents will be married 40 years on December 25th. I have a younger brother and older sister, both Saddleback High School Alums (SAUSD school).

I am married to Alma Hernandez who is a Deputy District Attorney in Riverside County. We have 4 sons; Alex is a Sophmore at Segerstrom (SAUSD school), Esteban is a third grader at Jim Thorpe Fundamental (SAUSD School), Diego is in kinder also at Thorpe, and Isai is two years old. My wife and I had a son pass away in October of 2001.

I attended SAUSD schools, K-12, Madison, Edison, Lathrop, Saddleback and was a part of Century High School's first graduating class.

Upon graduation, I attended U.C. Santa Barbara, before transferring to U.C.L.A. and earning my bachelor's degree in History in 1997. I received my Juris Doctorate from Whittier Law School in May of 2000. During law school I was a Fellow at the Center for Children's Rights, a member of the Trial Advocacy Honors Board, and a recipient of the Wally Davis Memorial Scholarship. During law school, both my wife and I served as substitute teachers for SAUSD.

My areas of practice are primarily Immigration and Nationality Law, Immigration Appeals and Criminal Defense. After working for a number of local firms, I established my own law firm in January of 2007 in Santa Ana. The vast majority of my clients are Santa Ana residents.

I was selected unanimously by the Board of Education from a pool of 16 applicants to fill a vacant seat. Eleven months later I was voted the President of the Board, again, unanimously.

Several of my family members have graduated from SAUSD schools, many currently attend SAUSD schools or work for SAUSD. My maternal grandfather retired as a custodian after working several years for SAUSD. My interest is extremely personal.

I am dedicated to guaranteeing each student in SAUSD, the same opportunity for success that I received.