Emira Palacios

"I came from Mexico as an undocumented immigrant 25 years ago," says Emira Palacios. This hasn't stopped her from being a force of positive change in her community. Emira has been an organizer on immigrant justice issues for 10 years. "I believe that every human being is created in the image of God and has the right to be treated with dignity and respect." Her focus is on transforming lives by allowing individuals to develop and realize their own power, to change their situation and their social reality.

"Our immigrant community is under attack more than ever before..."

Emira's job often seems like an uphill battle--she once was kicked out of Karl Rove's garage after she backed the Presidential advisor into a rhetorical wall on immigration issues. Rove even mentions her in his memoirs (but with a fairly distorted view of events). Emira tells that her job is "helping the immigrant community to analyze the disparities and injustices that exist." It's not hard to see Emira's contribution to social justice, just by engaging Kansas residents in the public discussion of immigration policy and options for reform.