Castro wants CIA, FBI files on Latino leaders released.

WASHINGTON — At the urging of U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, U.S. intelligence leaders on Tuesday said they would look into declassifying and releasing materials relating to surveillance of the Latino civil rights movement.

The San Antonio Democrat pressed the heads of the CIA and FBI to “correct the historical record” during a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing.

“I want to ask you whether you’ll commit to working with me to improve the historical record and ensure that U.S. intelligence agencies can correct the mistakes of the past with regard to surveillance of Latino civil rights organizations,” Castro said.

CIA Director William J. Burns replied: “Yes.” FBI Director Christopher Wray said he would “see what we can provide.”

The exchange came after Castro and U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez, a California Democrat, sent a letter to both intelligence leaders pointing to reports that the CIA and FBI may have been involved in monitoring and collecting information on activists and organizations that were part of the Latino civil rights movement. They include labor leader César Chávez and the American G.I. Forum, a civil rights group founded by Mexican American veterans, according to the letter.

Attempts by both agencies to monitor and disrupt groups pushing for civil rights for Black Americans and opposing the Vietnam War have been described extensively in declassified, released documents, they wrote. But there is no similar record on the reported attempts to do the same with the Latino movement.

“The declassification of materials related to the surveillance of the Latino civil rights movement would not only align with our commitment to transparency and civil liberties but would also contribute to a more inclusive understanding of American history,” the representatives wrote in the letter sent Monday. “It is imperative that we continue to confront and address these aspects of our past to ensure that such overreaches do not occur in the future.”