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07/29/2022

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center proudly honors outstanding individuals for their work on behalf of immigrants. Named after the late Congressman Phillip Burton, U.S. Representative from California (1964-1983), the awards recognize those who carry on Congressman Burton’s legacy in support of immigrant and human rights. The awards were created with the help of John L. Burton, former Chairman of the California Democratic Party. Phillip Burton’s brother, John Burton currently serves on the ILRC Advisory Board and was presented with the 2004 Phillip Burton Award for Lifetime Achievement in Immigration & Civil Rights. Through the Phillip Burton Awards, the ILRC honors those whose work in the areas of policy, advocacy, and lawyering has significantly advanced the civil rights of immigrants.

HONOREE LEGACY 

2021 (Virtual Event) 

Representative Sylvia Garcia, US Representative for Texas’ 29th District 

Nancy Pelosi Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

Crista Ramos, lead plaintiff on a federal lawsuit to preserve Temporary Protected Status holders 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

Founding Funders of the New Americans Campaign, a diverse, national, nonpartisan naturalization project comprised of over 200 legal and community organizations in 20 metropolitan areas across the country 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights 

2020 (Virtual Event) 

Immigrant Essential Workers 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

2019 

Harriet Ishimoto, Former Immigration Specialist, Office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi 

Nancy Pelosi Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

Cecillia Wang, Deputy Legal Director, American Civil Liberties Union 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

2018 

Representative Pramila Jayapal, US Representative for Washington’s Seventh District 

Nancy Pelosi Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

Diane Guerrero, Actress, Activist, and Author 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

2017

Martin O’Malley, Former Governor of Maryland and Former Mayor of Baltimore 

Nancy Pelosi Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

Thuy Vu, Award Winning Journalist, Anchor and Program Host of “KQED Newsroom” 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy

2016 

Hon. Senator Kevin de León, President Pro Tempore of the California State Senate 

Nancy Pelosi Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

United We Dream 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

2015 

Hon. David Campos, San Francisco Board of Supervisors 

Nancy Pelosi Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

Sergio C. Garcia, Activist & Attorney-at-Law 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

2014 

Hon. Tom Ammiano, California State Assemblymember 

Nancy Pelosi Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

Gaby Pacheco, DREAMer Activist & Co-Director of the Bridge Project 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

2013 

Hon. Senator Dick Durbin, U.S. Senator from Illinois 

Inaugural Nancy Pelosi Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

2012 

Dan Corsello, van Löben Sels/RembeRock Foundation 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

Amagda Pérez, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

2011 

Cindy Carla Avitia, former Congressional Assistant to Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

Ira Kurzban, Kurzban, Kurzban, Weinger, Tetzeli & Pratt 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering

2010 

Jeanne A. Butterfield, Senior Advisor, National Immigration Forum 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

Rosy H. Cho, The Law Office of Rosy H. Cho 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP & Rene A. Kathawala, Pro Bono Coordinator 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

2009 ILRC 30th Anniversary Celebration 

2008 

DREAM Act Students 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

Eva Grove, The Grove Foundation 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

2007 

Kathi Pugh, Pro Bono Counsel, Morrison & Foerster, LLP & James J. Brosnahan, Senior Partner, Morrison & Foerster, LLP 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

David N. Still, former San Francisco District Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy  

Alberto Velazquez, Executive Director, North Valley Sponsoring Committee 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

2006 

Robert E. Borton, Heller Ehrman LLP 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

Hon. Sheila Jackson Lee, U.S. House of Representatives, Texas’ 18th District 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

Harold Hongju Koh, Dean and Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of 

International Law, Yale Law School 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy

2005 

Susan M. Lydon, former Executive Director of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center 

Phillip Burton Award for Lifetime Achievement in Immigration and Civil Rights 

Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

Rosenberg Foundation & Kirke Wilson, former President of the Rosenberg Foundation 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

2004 

Hon. John L. Burton, President Pro Tempore, California State Senate 

Phillip Burton Award for Lifetime Achievement in Immigration and Civil Rights 

Hon. Cruz Bustamante, Lieutenant Governor, State of California 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

Robert Rubin, Legal Director, Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

William F. Schulz, Executive Director, Amnesty International (USA) 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

2003 Phillip Burton Immigration & Civil Rights Awards on hiatus 

2002 

Samy Baaghil, Director, Minority Assistance Service 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

Sara Campos, Staff Attorney, National Immigration Law Center 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

Richard Hobbs, Director, Santa Clara County Citizenship and Immigrant Programs 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

2001 

Carlos Demarty & Marcos Gutierrez, Radio Unica 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

Nancy Fellom & Paula Solorio, Law Offices of Fellom & Solorio 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

Hon. Zoe Lofgren, U.S. House of Representatives, California’s 16th District 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy

2000 

Sister Maureen Duignan, Director, Refugee Rights Program, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

Dolores Huerta, Secretary-Treasurer, United Farm Workers of America 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

Amy Nice, Manager, Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky 

Special Recognition Award 

Norton Tooby, Attorney at Law 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

1999 

Tomás Gonzalez, Director, El Colegio Popular 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

Lucas Guttentag, Director, Immigrants’ Rights Project of the National Office of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

Hon. Dana Leigh Marks, Immigration Judge in San Francisco 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

1998 

Michael A. Mullery, McVey & Mullery 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

Guadalupe Siordia-Ortiz, El Comité de Padres Unidos 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

Eva Jefferson Paterson, Executive Director, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

1997 

Hon. Phillip P. Leadbetter, former San Francisco Immigration Judge 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

Karen Musalo, Director, International Human Rights and Migration Project, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

Geneva Nuñez, California Human Development Corporation 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy

1996 

Marina Castillo, Caseworker, International Institute of San Francisco 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

Terry J. Helbush, Simmons, Ungar, Helbush, Steinberg & Bright 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

Hon. Mabel Teng, San Francisco Board of Supervisors 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

1995 

Henry Der, Executive Director, Chinese for Affirmative Action 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

Ann Kanter, Attorney at Law 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

Nelly Reyes-Rosenberg, La Raza Centro Legal 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

1994 ILRC 15th Anniversary Celebration 

1993 

Hon. Thelton E. Henderson, U.S. District Judge 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

Robert B. Jobe, Jobe & Melrod 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

Clara Luz Navarro & Maria Olea, Co-Founders, Mujeres Unidas Y Activas 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

1992 

Ignatius Bau, The San Francisco Lawyers’ Committee for Urban Affairs 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

Janice Garcia, Bar Association of San Francisco, VLSP, Legalization Project 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

Hon. Marilyn Patel, U.S. District Judge 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy

1991 

Emily Goldfarb, Executive Director, Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Services 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

Edwin Rodriguez, Director, Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

Don Ungar, Simmons, Ungar, Helbush and Steinberg 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

1990 

Hon. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, U.S. House of Representatives, California’s 5th District 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

David Rorick, Paralegal, San Francisco Lawyers’ Committee for Urban Affairs 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

Bill Tamayo, Asian Law Caucus 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

1989 

Vivian Fenner, Paralegal, International Institute of Redwood City and San Francisco 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Advocacy 

Hon. Cruz Reynoso, former Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy 

Marc Van Der Hout, Founder, National Immigration Project, National Lawyers’ Guild 

Phillip Burton Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Lawyering 

Honorees are identified with affiliations in the year they were honored.