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The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund was established on August 1, 1968 in San Antonio, Texas. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) began because Mexican Americans were being discriminated against within the legal system. MALDEF formed to try cases in court and train Mexican American lawyers in the area of civil rights law. MALDEF helps to defend civil rights of Latinos living in the United States and the constitutional rights of all Americans. -
MALDEF's first legal victory was in support of students at Edcouch Elsa High School in Hidalgo County, Texas. The students were expelled after they had boycotted classes as speaking Spanish was prohibited at school. A judge supported MALDEF in the decision that the students' expulsions were not allowing their First Amendment rights of free speech (protests). This decision enables students to speak other languages at school and allows English acquisition programs to be in schools. -
In Uvalde County, Texas, voter registration applications were not available to Latinos in Spanish, so Latinos were not able to read the English only registration application cards. MALDEF sought to expand the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to protect Latino voters. MALDEF insisted that election materials and ballots be available in Spanish and in other languages for additional groups. This event is important because it ensures that Latinos and other minorities have their civil rights protected. -
Plyler v. Roe was a landmark case that overturned a
state statute that had denied funding for education to immigrant children in the U.S. in addition to charging families a tuition fee for lost state funding. MALDEF for all children to receive an education, especially immigrant children. After almost five years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that all children have a constitutional right to a free public education from kindergarten through twelfth grade. -
Low-income students in San Antonio, Texas were receiving a substandard education. There were bat infestations, inexperienced teachers, poor curriculum at the schools that these students were attending. MALDEF filed a lawsuit in regards to public funding of schools in the landmark case of Edgewood Independent School District v. Kirby. MALDEF argued that poorer school districts were being discriminated against. This case was the beginning of implementing more state funding to public schools. -
President Donald Trump's administration proposed an end to DACA (a program created by Barak Obama in 2012) and MALDEF sued the administration to keep the program in place. Texas was the fist state to oppose Trump's decision, and then other states joined in the fight. MALDEF has worked to protect DACA and the young immigrants who have applied for it. The Supreme Court rejected Trump's attempts to end DACA, which allows children to stay in the U.S. and not be deported. -
MALDEF filed a federal class action lawsuit against Proctor & Gamble, who was accused of discriminating against qualified DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). David Rodriguez applied for an internship with P & G and was required to answer questions about his citizenship and immigration status (application). He was denied the internship based on his immigration status. This is important as it rules against unfair hiring practices based on citizenship and immigration status. -
MALDEF opposed Proposition 187, which was designed to deny illegal immigrants access to healthcare and education. MALDEF believed that immigration would not decrease, but there would be an increase in crime and threats to the public (racial profiling). MALDEF challenged Proposition 187, stating that citizens and illegal immigrants could be reported if they were suspected to be undocumented. California is now a sanctuary state that values its immigrant population. -
MALDEF sues the federal government over the denial of coronavirus relief payments to U.S. citizens who are married to illegal immigrants that do not have a social security number. MALDEF claims that this lack of payment is violating citizen's First and Fifth Amendment rights based on who they married. With the passing of Biden's COVID Relief Bill, about 2.1 million illegals could be eligible for $4.38 billion, which would be wired directly into their checking accounts to help them.