Esteban Edward Torres (January 27, 1930 – January 25, 2022) was an American politician who served as member of the United States House of Representatives for California's 34th congressional district from 1983 to 1999.
Early life
Torres was born in
Miami, Arizona
Miami (Western Apache: Goshtłʼish Tú) is a town in Gila County, Arizona, United States. Miami is a classic Western copper boom-town. Miami's old downtown has been partly renovated, and the Bullion Plaza Museum features the cultural, minin ...
, to parents from Mexico. He was raised in
East Los Angeles, California
East Los Angeles ( es, Este de Los Ángeles), or East L.A., is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census it had a population of 118,786, a drop of 6.1% from 2010 United States Cen ...
mostly by his mother, Rena Gómez. His father was a
miner
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...
, but was deported to Mexico during the
Mexican Repatriation
The Mexican Repatriation ( es, link=no, Repatriación mexicana) was the repatriation and deportation of Mexicans and Mexican Americans to Mexico from the United States during the Great Depression between 1929 and 1939. Estimates of how many we ...
of the 1930s.
He graduated from
East Los Angeles College
East Los Angeles College (ELAC) is a public community college in Monterey Park, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Los Angeles Community College District. With fourteen communiti ...
and
California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degrees, 122 master's degrees, ...
, and later took graduate courses at the
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...
and
American University
The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...
.
Career
He served in the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
from 1949 to 1953. Active in the labor movement
The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other.
* The trade union movement ...
, he was appointed United States Ambassador
Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve as the country's diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as ambassadors-at-large. Under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. ...
to the (UNESCO), Paris, France, from 1977 to 1979 and served as a special assistant to President Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
from 1979 to 1981.
Torres was unsuccessful in his attempt to win a seat in the House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
in 1974, but was elected in 1982 as a Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
. He served from 1983 until 1999. During his time in office, he prioritized issue related to Hispanics, and in 1986 he played a key role in the development and passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act
The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA or the Simpson–Mazzoli Act) was passed by the 99th United States Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on November 6, 1986.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act altered U.S. ...
.
He did not run for reelection in 1998 and was succeeded by Democrat Grace Napolitano
Graciela Flores "Grace" Napolitano (; born December 4, 1936) is an American Democratic Party politician who has represented California's San Gabriel Valley and other parts of Los Angeles County in the United States House of Representatives sin ...
. He served as a member of the California Transportation Commission
The California Transportation Commission (CTC) is an independent government transportation commission established in 1978. The CTC replaced and assumed the responsibilities of four prior independent agencies, the California Highway Commission, ...
from 1997 to 2007.
Personal life and death
Torres and his wife, Arcy Sanchez, had four children. He died on January 25, 2022, two days shy of his 92nd birthday.[
]
Legacy and Awards
* Esteban E. Torres NCLR-Harvard Mid-Career Fellowship Program - a partnership between NCLR
UnidosUS, formerly National Council of La Raza (NCLR) (La Raza), is the United States's largest Latino nonprofit advocacy organization. It advocates in favor of progressive public policy changes including immigration reform, a path to citizens ...
and the John F. Kennedy School of Government
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
* Esteban Torres High School
Esteban Torres High School is a public high school, it opened in 2010 in East Los Angeles, an unincorporated section of Los Angeles County, California.
History
The school was originally known as East Los Angeles Area High School #2. In 2006 the ...
*In 2001, Torres was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) degree from Whittier College
Whittier College (Whittier Academy (1887–1901)) is a private liberal arts college in Whittier, California. It is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and, as of fall 2022, had approximately 1,300 (undergraduate and graduate) students. It was ...
.
See also
*
References
External links
*
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Esteban
1930 births
2022 deaths
20th-century American politicians
California State University, Los Angeles alumni
American politicians of Mexican descent
Hispanic and Latino American diplomats
Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California
Military personnel from Arizona
Military personnel from California
People from East Los Angeles, California
People from Miami, Arizona
Place of death missing
Politicians from Los Angeles
Permanent Delegates of the United States to UNESCO
United States Army soldiers