Castillo, Leonel (Leonel J.)

Leonel J. Castillo was born in 1939 in Victoria, Texas and raised in Galveston. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree cum laude in English in 1961 from St. Mary's University and his Master of Social Work in Community Organization in 1967 from the University of Pittsburgh. At St. Mary's, he headed the Young Democrats, the Young Students for Civil Liberty and the Student Government Association. From 1961-1965, he served in the Peace Corps. He was secretary for the Political Association of Spanish-speaking Organizations (PASSO), treasurer of the Democratic Party of Texas, and a member of the Southern Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He was the first paid director for SER-Jobs for Progress, Inc. and was director of the Catholic Council on Community Relations. He was a cofounder of Houston International University, or University Without Walls, and served as its president. He was the first Hispanic to be elected to city office as city controller of Houston in 1971, and he ran for mayor in 1979. In 1977, he was appointed Commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), now called U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, under President Jimmy Carter.

From the description of Oral history interview with Leonel Castillo, 1996 [videorecording]. (University of Texas at Arlington). WorldCat record id: 318120138