By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO—U.S. immigration policy is likely to be one of the major concerns of the recently reconvened Latino-Jewish Coalition, which held a dialogue Monday evening, March 6, at Congregation Beth El.

Prof. Bernardo Ferdman, an Argentine-born Jew, and Caridad Sanchez, a Latina who is San Diego district office director for U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) are co-chairing the effort that will bring together on a monthly basis leaders in both communities to discuss issues on which the two communities may unite.

Ferdman, a psychology professor at Alliant International University, said 14 persons, eight representing Latino organizations and six representing Jewish groups, met in café-style conversation, at the Conservative congregation. Before the group settled into its agenda,  Assistant Rabbi Avi Libman offered some thoughts about the importance of such cooperative efforts. 

At this organizing meeting, participants introduced themselves and outlined their thoughts about ways in which the two communities could and should cooperate, Ferdman said.

"Latinos are clearly a very important group in San Diego, in California, and in the country, and are growing not only in size but in power, and Jews historically have been involved not only in civil rights and pluralism, but also have been involved in social issues of all kinds," Ferdman told jewishsightseeing.com 

"It is important to create forums for mutual support, against bigotry, for pluralism," he said. Both groups should "learn from each other in mutually enhancing ways."

Among the participants were Tad Seth Parzen and Paula Jacobs, respectively president and interim director of the San Diego chapter of the American Jewish Committee, which convened the group.  AJC has sponsored get-togethers between the two communities for several years, but last night's meeting represented a re-energizing of the group, according to Ferdman. Other AJC participants were Penny Adler, a former president; Art Letter, a board member, and intern Deborah Resnicov, who also is chair of the Jewish Student Union at the University of San Diego.

Among members of the Latino community in attendance were Guadalupe Corona, who heads the Latino Indigenous Peoples Coalition;  Josie Calderon, president of the Mexican American Business and Professional Association, and Enrique Morones, founder of the Border Angels, a group that creates water and clothing stations in the deserts and mountains adjoining the U.S.-Mexico border  to save the lives of immigrants who risk extremely adverse weather conditions to cross into the United States.

Others were attorney Nick Aguilar; Antonio Pizano, chief executive officer of the MAAC program, which provides social services and housing assistance; former Chula Vista City Councilwoman Mary Salas and Rosalia Salinas, a past director of the San Diego County Office of Education.

Ferdman said while most of last night's meeting focused on introductions, the group did vote to buy enough tickets to fill one table at the March 27 San Diego Convention Center breakfast honoring the memory of  United Farm Workers union organizer Cesar Chavez, and to schedule its next regular meeting Monday, April 24.  The intention is to rotate meeting venues, he said.

Asked what issues had come up during the meeting, he said there had been several, but mentioned only one specifically, that of immigration.

The American Jewish Committee has called upon Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform, with a Feb. 21 letter on the subject from AJC Legislative Director Richard T. Foltin saying such legislation should "allow undocumented immigrants the opportunity to come out of the shadows, pay back taxes and appropriate fines, pass a background check, and ultimately legalize their status."

Furthermore, Foltin said, "a better organized immigration system that offers legal channels for immigrants to enter the United States, including more legal work visas and more visas for immigrant families, will be consistent with our democratic values as well as contribute to the economic well-being of the United States."

The AJC official also said that "comprehensive immigration reform would increase our national security through enhanced border security and effective enforcement, giving us better information about and control over who enters our country, while also protecting immigrants and integrating them into our society through earned legalization and increased worker protections." 

Ferdman was born in Argentina and was raised in New York and Puerto Rico.  He  received his bachelor's degree in psychology from Princeton University, and a master's and doctorate in psychology from Yale University.  He and his wife, Andrea Szulik, moved to San Diego in 1993, and have three children aged 2, 9 and 12. He is a professor at the California School of Business and Organizational studies at Alliant International University.

Before being named as Boxer's district director last April, Sanchez worked in the San Diego office of another Jewish member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Susan Davis (D-San Diego).  A 1999 graduate of the University of San Diego, she chaired the County of San Diego's Cesar Chavez Commemoration Committee.