Congressman Castro continues calling for release of classified information on Latino civil rights leaders
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A Texas congressman continues pushing lawmakers to release government documents on the Latino Civil Rights Movement.
During that period, activists advocated for higher wages and reforms in the agricultural fields across the country.
In 2024, Congressman Joaquin Castro and other congressmen asked the FBI and the CIA to declassify and release any documents related to the surveillance of civil rights leaders.
Castro said he’s hoping President Biden will sign an executive order supporting the release of those files before he finishes his term.
“It's important for history for us to understand the activities our government conducted against those who were in the Latino Civil Rights Movement,” Castro said. “These were organizations that were organizing peacefully and mobilizing people to vote, yet our government was treating them as a threat."
Some of those political groups were traced down to the Rio Grande Valley.
Museum of South Texas History CEO Francisco Guajardo said it would be beneficial to have access to the records.
“The records are sealed and we the museum want to have access to those records, so what Congressman Castro is doing is really being more American,” Guajardo said.
Castro said if the order doesn't get passed, they will continue to ask President-Elect Donald Trump in his term.