Born in Guerrero Mexico, Jesus immigrated to the US with his family at the age of 4 for a better life. Since his detention with ICE, Jesus has been committed to empowering those that may face the same fate that he faced.

Jesus joined Pangea in August of 2022. Jesus previously worked at Sacred Heart Community Service as the Rapid Response Network dispatcher coordinator. Jesus began his organizing career at People Acting in Community Together (PACT) in 2015 where he organized communities on issues around immigrant justice and police reform. Some of the wins Jesus helped get was defending the detainer policy in Santa Clara County several times and the appointment of an oversight commission over the Santa Clara county jail to ensure those detained were being treated fairly.

In 2017 Jesus co-founded that Rapid Response Network in Santa Clara County and has been the Dispatchers Coordinator since then. The Rapid Response Network in Santa Clara county is seen as a model network across the country. 

Jesus’ introduction to the greater immigrant justice movement and his desire to stand up for the immigrant community came after he was deported in 2008 and then again detained by ICE years later for returning to the United States.  In 2012, Jesus spent three months in immigration detention solely because he was born in Mexico and had never been afforded a process to live in the United States with lawful documents.

Jesus is motivated to advocate for the rights of migrants because of his own experience as an immigrant, deportee, detainee, and DREAMer. This experience, and the daily experiences of his immigrant neighbors, fuels Jesus’ vision to live in a country where the freedom to move and political respect is afforded to all members of our communities.

Jesus’ main goal as a non-detained organizer in Pangea is to engage clients and involve them in their own liberation by transforming echos into voices.