Isabel Garcia
Organizations
Manzo Area Council, Coalición de Derechos Humanos, No More Deaths
Location
Tucson, AZ
Biography
Isabel Garcia is a fifth-generation Tucsonan, and from an early age her parents’ activism instilled in her a passion for politics. Initially interested in running for public office, Garcia found that she preferred other means of public service. After graduating from the University of Arizona College of Law, she served as a Pima County legal defender for over 20 years. Garcia was one of the four cornerstone women of the Manzo Area Council, an organization dedicated to assisting refugees and immigrants. She joined Manzo in the late 1970s, after the organization was raided by federal authorities. She went on to found Coalición de Derechos Humanos and she also works with No More Deaths.
Audio Clips
Interviewed by Cristina Salinas on October 26, 2023 in Tucson, Arizona
Isabel Garcia describes old downtown Tucson and her father’s leadership in the occupation of a local park when she was a child.
Garcia became involved with Manzo Area Council after seeing on the news that the organization was raided by federal agencies.
When Garcia won the Human Rights Award in 2006, she was prevented from speaking by the award foundation.
Garcia describes the impact of her activism on her children.
Digital Archive
In 1988, the ACLU recognized Garcia’s immigration rights work as coordinator of the Southern Arizona Coalition on Immigration.
Garcia received the National Human Rights Award from the Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos de México in 2006.
Isabel speaking at the Pima County Board of Supervisors office denouncing then Attorney General Jeff Sessions policy of separating children from their parents at the U.S./Mexico border.
Preparing for a vigil, Garcia holds crosses recognizing two migrants who died while crossing the Arizona/Mexico border.
Arizona Daily Star quotes Garcia, a founder of the Human Rights Coalition of Arizona, denouncing Proposition 187 in 1994.