Esmeralda Flores
Esmeralda Flores is the Deputy Director of the Southern Region and Binational Affairs for CHIRLA – based in San Diego, works on local and federal policy issues with a focus on the border region and develops and manages relationships with local government and civil society leaders in Mexico. Before joining CHIRLA, she was at the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties where she developed binational campaign for the benefit of the Lopez-Venegas v. Johnson class-action settlement. Esmeralda started her career as a Staff Attorney with the Binational Defense and Advocacy Program (PDIB), housed at Casa del Migrante in Tijuana, Mexico. She is a co-founder of Al Otro Lado an organization that serves deportees, migrants, and asylum seekers in Tijuana, Mexico. Esmeralda is a native of Tijuana and has an acute and multi-faceted understanding of border issues. Esmeralda is a graduate from Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, School of Law (UABC).