MEXICO RECOGNIZES SAN DIEGO ACLU DIRECTOR
Chávez-Peterson receives award for helping immigrants
The executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties has been recognized by the Mexican government for her work defending immigrants.
Norma Chávez-Peterson, a daughter of immigrants who grew up in South Bay, has been the executive director since 2013. The government of Mexico announced Friday that it gave her the Ohtli award, which means “camino” or “path” in the
Nahuatl language and is the government’s highest recognition.
ChávezPeterson “is an integral member of San Diego’s civil rights community, with nearly two decades of visionary leadership, organizing and advocacy experience in California’s second most populous county,” Carlos González Gutiérrez, consul general of Mexico in San Diego, said in a statement. “She was instrumental in creating the ACLU advocacy campaign to advance priority issues such as criminal justice reform, police accountability and immigrant rights.”
In 2017, Chávez-Peterson helped create the San Diego Rapid Response Network, which provides shelter for asylum seekers, an emergency immigration enforcement hotline, and services such as case management, financial aid, medical screenings and legal help for those seeking asylum.
Last year the ACLU sued for the release of immigration detainees to protect them from getting COVID-19 while in custody. The ACLU has also helped with legal cases defending Mexican nationals who were victims of excessive force, according to the consulate general.
The ACLU is also part of the Mexican Civil Rights Advisory Group in the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which works to defend Mexican nationals’ rights.
“I accept this recognition on behalf of the people who believed in me, invested in me, and struggled to make a path for me throughout my life,” Chávez-Peterson said in a statement. “I am the keeper of the legacy of my proud abuelita and the embodiment of the most cherished dreams of my courageous mother who, like thousands of other migrant parents, made and continue to make, enormous sacrifices for the future of their children.”