Aranda, Thomas

Office of Public Liaison

THOMAS ARANDA, JR.

Special Assistant to the President for Hispanic Affairs:

Files, 1976-77

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

Material related to White House liaison with Hispanic groups and individuals and their issues during the last six months of the Ford administration.

QUANTITY

5.5 linear feet (ca. 11,000 pages)

DONOR

Gerald R. Ford (accession number 77-64)

ACCESS

Open. Some items are temporarily restricted under terms of the donor's deed of gift, a copy of which is available on request, or under National Archives and Records Administration general restrictions (36 CFR 1256).

COPYRIGHT

Gerald Ford has donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain.

Prepared by Nancy Mirshah, November 1989

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Thomas Aranda, Jr.

April 9, 1934 Born, Nogales, Arizona

1951‑1955 Enlistee, U.S. Army Reserve

1955‑1960 Pilot, United States Air Force

1960‑1977 Reserve officer, Air National Guard and U.S. Air Force Reserve

1964 B.S., University of Arizona

1967 J.D., University of Arizona College of Law

1968‑1976 Senior partner, DePrima, Aranda and de Leon, Phoenix

1970‑1976 Member, Amusement Appeals Board, Citizen Tax Reform Committee, Municipal Aeronautics Advisory Board, License Appeals Board, Phoenix

1972 Co‑founder, Arizona Business Resource Center; member, Mayor's Citizen Reform Committee, Phoenix

1975‑1976 Member, National Advisory Council on Extension and Continuing Education

1975 Member, Office of Economic Development Program Committee, Phoenix

1976‑1977 Special Assistant to the President for Hispanic Affairs, The White House

1977 Senior partner, DePrima, Aranda and de Leon

1977‑1978 Special assistant, Inter‑American Defense Board; member, Council on Inter‑American Defense

1978 Legal counsel, Arizona Republican Party

1980 Member, President Reagan's transition team

1981 Ambassador to Uruguay

INTRODUCTION

Thomas Aranda was appointed Special Assistant to the President for Hispanic Affairs on July 29, 1976, three months after Fernando De Baca resigned the position. Working in the Office of Public Liaison (OPL) under the direction of William J. Baroody, Jr., Aranda provided liaison to Hispanics during the 1976 campaign and the last six months of the Ford administration. In the remaining weeks after the election, he sought to promote opportunity for Hispanics in the military and individual projects in his native state.

Aranda's mission was prescribed by OPL's mission to provide citizens and interest groups access to government. The bulk of thee material throughout all series indicates a routine and selective referral service to government agencies for Hispanics with requests for aid, employment or complaints. His "Accomplishments" folders consist of successfully channeled requests with agency responses. Telephone logs and notes suggest possible activity related to the Hispanic Republican vote but this is not well documented in the collection.

Correspondence between Aranda and Hispanic leaders in the Hispanic Organizations series is formal and routine. Material related to meetings between them is sparse. Aranda arranged for several meetings between Hispanic leaders and businessmen and the President before the election, but only one is documented in the collection. In addition, Aranda organized the President's signing ceremony for National Hispanic Heritage Week.

Important material is present in the Hispanic Issues series and in scattered documents expressing disagreement between interest groups and government on legislation related to equalizing Latin American with European immigration quotas, and proof of citizenship requirements for employment. Also present is material Aranda received from OPL's Reynaldo Maduro and Cuban‑Americans on a heated controversy among Miami Republicans over the director of the Cuban Refugee Project, and on a pre‑election presidential meeting with Cuban‑Americans. Aranda and Maduro occasionally worked together although it is not well‑ documented in the collection. Aranda was particularly involved with Mexican‑ Americans, Maduro with those of Cuban or Puerto Rican heritage.

Aranda's files were originally accessioned as a joint collection with De Baca's 1974-75 files, but they were easily separated during processing. Aranda incorporated occasional items from his predecessor's files into his own files. Aranda's files also include the 1975 Domestic Council Committee for Illegal Aliens files of OPL's Special Assistant for Human Resources Theodore Marrs. Aranda presumably acquired the files from Marrs, who resigned in June 1976. While there is evidence Aranda acknowledged his role on the committee, there is no documentation of his participation in the collection.

Related Materials (November 1989):

Related material is found in the collections of his predecessor Fernando E. C. De Baca, Deputy Special Assistant for Hispanic Affairs Reynaldo Maduro, White House Operations Staff Assistant Foster Chanock, in the Domestic Council staff files of James Cannon, Richard Parsons, and Lynn May. Additional materials may appear in the unprocessed files of William J. Baroody, to whom Aranda reported.

Additional related material exists in White House Central Files categories:

Federal Government: FG 6‑11‑1/Aranda

FG 6‑11‑1/De Baca

FG 6‑15 Domestic Council

FG 17 Justice Department (OA 9281)

FG 21‑17 Office of Minority Business Enterprise

FG 145 Cabinet Committee on Opportunities for

Spanish Speaking Persons

Human Rights: HU 2 Equality

HU 2‑2 Employment

HU 2‑4 Voting

Immigration: IM Immigration and Naturalization

Series Descriptions

1‑3 Hispanic Organizations, 1976-77. (1.0 linear feet)

Correspondence, memoranda, presidential messages, notes, agendas, proposals, background papers, printed material, press releases, and other materials exchanged between Hispanic organizations and Aranda reflecting the issues, goals, activities, complaints, and requests of Hispanics.

Arranged alphabetically by organization name or acronym.

3‑4 Major Hispanic Issues, 1975-76. (0.7 linear feet)

Correspondence, memoranda, statements, testimonies, reports, research studies, notes, news clippings and publications received by Aranda from Hispanics and government officials on contemporary issues. Dominant in the series are Special Assistant for Human Resources Theodore Marrs' 1975 files from the Domestic Council Committee for Illegal Aliens.

Arranged alphabetically by issue and thereunder by subject.

5 Meetings, 1976. (0.2 linear feet)

Correspondence, memoranda, summaries, notes, draft briefing papers and presidential remarks, and routine materials related to several meetings attended by the President and/or Aranda, Hispanic leaders and state and local officials. The materials relate to advance work, topics and attendance.

Arranged chronologically by date.

5‑7 Federal Programs, 1976-77. (0.5 linear feet)

Correspondence, memoranda, and an assorted, occasional briefing paper, report, statement, application, recommendation, schedule or travel request. The materials relate to presidential appointment of Hispanics, the development of agency Spanish‑speaking programs, federal employment discrimination against Hispanics, and Aranda's support of local Hispanic programs seeking White House influence to obtain federal funding.

Arranged alphabetically by agency or program name or acronym.

Container List

Box 1 Hispanic Organizations

American G.I. Forum

Asociation Los Viejos Utiles

Colegio Cesar Chavez

Committee of 18 Spanish Speaking Nationalities

Corazon Residential Center

COSSMHO ‑ National Coalition of Spanish Speaking Mental Health Organizations (1)‑(3)

El Congreso

HACE ‑ Hispanic Americans Cultural Effort

Hostos Community College

IMAGE (1)-(2)

La Luz Magazine

LAMA ‑ Latin American Manufacturer's Association

Box 2 Hispanic Organizations

LULAC ‑ League of United Latin American Citizens

MAEOPP ‑ Mid‑America Association of Education Opportunity Program Personnel

MALDEF ‑ Mexican‑American Legal Defense and Educational Fund

MAPA ‑ Mexican American Political Association

MART ‑ Mexican‑American Republicans of Texas

National Council of La Raza

OAS ‑ Organization of American States

OMICA ‑ Organized Migrants in Community Action

PALCO ‑ Pan American Liaison Committee of Women's Organizations, Inc.

Project Adelante Upward Bound Program

Republican National Hispanic Assembly

SER/Jobs for Progress, Inc. (1)-(3)

Southwest Voter Registration Education Project

Box 3 Hispanic Organizations

TELACU ‑ The East Los Angeles Community Union

Texas Hemophilia Association, Inc.

UNIDOS Enterprises, Inc.

United California Mexican‑American Association

United Farm Workers

Major Hispanic Issues

Bilingual Education

Cuba Policy (1)-(5)

Illegal Aliens (1)-(2)

Box 4 Major Hispanic Issues

Illegal Aliens

‑ Dr. Marrs' Files ‑ Background Information (1)-(2)

‑ Dr. Marrs' Files ‑ Correspondence (1)‑(2)

‑ Dr. Marrs' Files ‑ Memoranda (1)-(2)

‑ Dr. Marrs' Files ‑ Miscellaneous

‑ Dr. Marrs' Files ‑ Press

‑ Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1976 (H.R. 14535)

Illegal Aliens Study

‑ "Estudio de Determinantes y Consecuencias del Cambio Demografico"

‑ "Impact of Government Policies on Rural Out‑Migration"

Box 5 Meetings

1976/07/24 ‑ Providence Hispanic Celebration

1976/07/29 ‑ Republican National Hispanic Assembly (1)‑(2)

1976/09/03 ‑ SER/Jobs for Progress Fifth Anniversary Celebration

1976/09/16‑17 ‑ Organization of U.S. Border Cities Conference

1976/09/22 ‑ White House Conference on Economic Business Development

1976/10/08 ‑ President Ford's Meeting with Hispanic Leaders

1976/10/31 ‑ United California Mexican‑American Association

Federal Programs

CETA ‑ Colorado Migrant Council

Community Services Administration ‑ Community Development Council

Department of Commerce

Department of Defense

Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1)-(3)

Department of Justice ‑ Drug Enforcement Administration (1)‑(2)

Box 6 Federal Programs

Federal Aviation Agency

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Energy Commission

Immigration and Naturalization Service

Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (1)-(2)

USOE ‑ Office of Bilingual Education ‑ All Indian Pueblo Council

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Civil Service Commission

General Subject File

Accomplishments File ‑ Referrals, July ‑ September, 1976

Accomplishments File ‑ Referrals, October, 1976 (1)-(2)

Accomplishments File ‑ Referrals, November ‑ December, 1976

Box 7 General Subject File

Aguirre, Ed ‑ Swearing‑In Ceremony (1)-(2)

Ames, Fred

Arizona Department of Education ‑ OCR Paperwork

Arizona State Bar

Armstrong, Anne ‑ Miscellaneous Reports

Children's Medical Relief International, Inc.

City of Pontiac, Michigan ‑ Latin Affairs Office, Joe A. Benavidez

Corporation for Public Broadcasting

CSA Grant to Arizona Job College

de Mesones, Pedro and Associates

Education

FAPRS ‑ Federal Assistance Programs Retrieval System

Feature Story ‑ The Ford Administration and Hispanics

Federal Vacancy Announcements

Forms and Samples

Box 8 General Subject File

Forum of National Hispanic Organizations

FYI

General Correspondence, March‑August, 1976 (1)-(2)

General Correspondence, September, 1976

General Correspondence, October, 1976

General Correspondence, November‑December, 1976

Gonzales, Frederick ‑ Hispanics and the Ford Campaign

Hispanic Appointees, Supergrades, Leaders and Spanish‑speaking Persons ‑ Lists

Hispanic Organizations

Hispanic Programs

Hispanics and Hispanic Media ‑ Lists

Immigration Applicants

Inter‑American Defense Board, Columbus Day Meeting

Box 9 General Subject File

Inter‑Office Memos

International Women's Year

Invitations, May‑August, 1976 (1)-(2)

Invitations, September, 1976

Invitations, October‑December, 1976 (1)-(2)

Job‑Related Correspondence

Legislation

Library of Congress

Lopez, Hank

Maduro, Rey

Media Contacts

Mercado Project of the Guadalupe Organization, Inc. (1)

Box 10 General Subject File

Mercado Project of the Guadalupe Organization, Inc. (2)

Military ‑ Correspondence

Mission Tesoro

National Advisory Council on Extension and Continuing Education

National Hispanic Heritage Week (1)-(2)

Office of Hispanic Affairs

OPL Reports

Panama Canal

Paper on the Brown Administration and California's Spanish‑speaking Population

Personal ‑ Congratulations, News clippings

Presidential Message

Public Appearance Questionnaire

Puerto Rico General File

Recommendations

Report on Hispanic Affairs

Box 11 General Subject File

Requests for Presidential Message

Requests for Support

Rivera, Irma ‑ Traffic Systems, Inc.

Rourk, Beatrice ‑ Inter‑American Commission of Women

Rule, Gallagher (sculptor)

Sandoval, Miguel

Schedule Proposals

Southwest Border Economic Development Region

Spanish‑Speaking Programs Conference ‑ Summary Report

Telephone Messages (1)-(3)

Box 12 General Subject File

Telephone Messages (4)-(8)

Thank You File

University Business Resource Center ‑ Luis Aranda

Gerald R. Ford Library

1000 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2114