Antonia Hernandez

In 1986, lawmakers decided the problem of illegal immigration had to be dealt with. More than 3 million people were living in the United States after crossing the border illegally or overstaying their visas. A new law signed by President Ronald Reagan gave legal status and a path to citizenship to most of those unauthorized residents - helping many secure a slice of the American dream but also giving fuel to critics who sought to turn "amnesty" into a pejorative. Less than 30 years later, the number of immigrants living in the country illegally is thought to have nearly quadrupled, and the freighted baggage of amnesty looms over new efforts to reform the nation's immigration laws.

On Tuesday, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, will hold its annual awards gala and fundraiser in downtown Los Angeles. The awardees include such indisputable worthies as Linda Ronstadt and former MALDEF leader Antonia Hernandez. The real awardee, though, should be MALDEF itself, whose decades of civil rights litigation have yielded significant gains for Latinos. I haven't always agreed with all of its actions, but I generally find myself cheering it on (as I do its current campaign to create a second Latino-majority district on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors)

Antonia Hernandez had already passed the California State Bar when she was asked in 1975 to show her proficiency in English in order to complete her naturalization as a United States citizen. "I'll never forget it," said the 37-year-old Pasadena lawyer, arching her eyebrows. "This fellow asked me if I had any problem understanding his English, and I said no. Then he asked me to write down a sentence to show proficiency. And here I was, a lawyer. But I wrote it down."

Antonia Hernandez, the president of the national Mexican American Legal and Education Fund, has been named president of one of the largest philanthropic organizations in Southern California, it was announced Thursday. Hernandez will head the California Community Foundation, which was established in 1915 and now holds assets of more than $500 million.

El Cambio, a communal ranch on the outskirts of Torreon in northern Mexico, is a good place to be born, with a canal running through it, a school for the children and bountiful harvests. It is a good place to grow, this huge ranch house full of family and good times. And it is where memory starts for Antonia Hernandez. As her story winds to the present, the beginning suddenly seems prophetic.

Antonia Hernandez, the president of the national Mexican American Legal and Education Fund, has been named president of one of the largest philanthropic organizations in Southern California, it was announced Thursday. Hernandez will head the California Community Foundation, which was established in 1915 and now holds assets of more than $500 million.

What a pleasant surprise to find "Fear and Reality in the Los Angeles Melting Pot" (by Joel Kotkin, Nov. 5). Congratulations--you have managed to capture the flavor and complexity of the demographic changes in the L.A. area. The overall positive portrayal is a refreshing change from other doom-and-gloom reports. The photos were beautiful. ANTONIA HERNANDEZ, PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL, MEXICAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, Los Angeles

A San Antonio judge ordered the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund to resolve its leadership power struggle at a special board meeting, which the judge ruled should be held in Los Angeles Feb. 28. Texas District Judge Rose Spector ruled after a poll of the board resulted in a 14-14 tie over the special meeting's site, either Los Angeles or San Antonio.

Antonia Hernandez, president and general counsel of the Los Angeles-based Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, will receive Mexico's highest honor for non-citizens at a National Palace ceremony in Mexico City. President Carlos Salinas de Gortari will present the Aztec Eagle to Hernandez today. Hernandez, 43, is being honored for her work on behalf of Mexican nationals emigrating to the United States, MALDEF announced Tuesday.

The ousted top executive of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund won a round in her fight to keep her job when a Texas judge issued an order Thursday temporarily voiding her firing by MALDEF's executive committee. State District Judge Carolyn Spears in San Antonio, in issuing the temporary restraining order, put on hold the appointment of former New Mexico Gov. Toney Anaya to replace Antonia Hernandez as MALDEF's president and general counsel.

El Cambio, a communal ranch on the outskirts of Torreon in northern Mexico, is a good place to be born, with a canal running through it, a school for the children and bountiful harvests. It is a good place to grow, this huge ranch house full of family and good times. And it is where memory starts for Antonia Hernandez. As her story winds to the present, the beginning suddenly seems prophetic.

The heat isn't working on the 12th-floor offices of MALDEF--the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. The building is being renovated and the attorneys, mostly young and mostly female, work with their coats on. These public-interest lawyers are handling all manner of cases--from guaranteeing Latinos access to insurance coverage, to challenging employer English-only policies. Their boss, MALDEF President and general counsel Antonia Hernandez, sets a high standard.

KEN KESEY On The Riots "What if all of our star-gazing is just so much snake oil? All of our on-cue up-looking to the High and the Mighty, to the unburnable star-spangled banner and the unneeded space shuffle, to the memory of martyred Kennedy and of Martin Luther King, to the very glory of the King on High Himself! . . . is all just so much smoke screen to keep our eyes off the pain of a Rodney King here below?" "Jesus himself.

A blue-ribbon panel pivotal to the highly charged selection of Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates' successor was announced Thursday, reflecting a mix of law enforcement experience, cultural diversity and political activism. The committee will conduct interviews and produce a final list of six candidates to lead the embattled Police Department through a critical period of change after the Rodney G. King controversy.

Antonia Hernandez, president and general counsel of the Los Angeles-based Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, will receive Mexico's highest honor for non-citizens at a National Palace ceremony in Mexico City. President Carlos Salinas de Gortari will present the Aztec Eagle to Hernandez today. Hernandez, 43, is being honored for her work on behalf of Mexican nationals emigrating to the United States, MALDEF announced Tuesday.

What a pleasant surprise to find "Fear and Reality in the Los Angeles Melting Pot" (by Joel Kotkin, Nov. 5). Congratulations--you have managed to capture the flavor and complexity of the demographic changes in the L.A. area. The overall positive portrayal is a refreshing change from other doom-and-gloom reports. The photos were beautiful. ANTONIA HERNANDEZ, PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL, MEXICAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, Los Angeles

KEN KESEY On The Riots "What if all of our star-gazing is just so much snake oil? All of our on-cue up-looking to the High and the Mighty, to the unburnable star-spangled banner and the unneeded space shuffle, to the memory of martyred Kennedy and of Martin Luther King, to the very glory of the King on High Himself! . . . is all just so much smoke screen to keep our eyes off the pain of a Rodney King here below?" "Jesus himself.

A defiant Antonia Hernandez, fired from her post as the top executive of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, reported for work on Tuesday amid expressions of support from co-workers and friends. She was at her desk at MALDEF's Los Angeles headquarters at 8:15 a.m., fielding telephone calls and handling paper work.

Antonia Hernandez, the embattled head of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the nation's leading Latino civil rights group, won a showdown vote to keep her job Saturday in the internal power struggle that started with her surprise dismissal last month. The group's board of directors voted 18 to 14 to retain Hernandez as its president and general counsel in a sometimes bitter 8 1/2-hour private meeting at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Los Angeles.

A San Antonio judge ordered the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund to resolve its leadership power struggle at a special board meeting, which the judge ruled should be held in Los Angeles Feb. 28. Texas District Judge Rose Spector ruled after a poll of the board resulted in a 14-14 tie over the special meeting's site, either Los Angeles or San Antonio.