Top immigrant advocacy group names new leadership

The Immigration Hub on Tuesday announced a new leadership team after outgoing Executive Director Sergio Gonzales was tapped by Vice President Harris as a senior campaign adviser.

Current Deputy Director Kerri Talbot will take over as executive director and Beatriz Lopez, chief political and communications officer, will serve as deputy director, according to the organization.

Talbot, a veteran immigration advocate and lawyer, will be promoted from her current role as deputy director of the Immigration Hub.

She has previously worked as a partner at the Veng Group, a public affairs firm where she lobbied on behalf of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Immigration Hub.

Talbot also served as chief counsel for Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), where she played a role in writing the 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill that cleared the Senate.

“We strongly believe that when we do right by our nation’s immigrants, we do right by our nation,” Talbot said. 

“As I step into this role — previously held by my incredible predecessors Sergio Gonzales and Tyler Moran — I am committed to advocating for new avenues to ensure that Dreamers and long-settled immigrant families in the U.S. can remain with their loved ones and continue to live, work, study and serve in the country they’ve long called home.”

In a statement, Harris said Gonzales “was a leader in my U.S. Senate office” who has since “helped us to create opportunities for small businesses, and to ensure that all communities share in the economic recovery.”

During the Trump administration, Talbot was active among a group of advocates who publicly confronted the executive’s hawkish immigration policies.

Lopez, who previously headed the group’s communications operation, is a political and labor advocacy veteran.

“For far too long, immigrants in America have stood in the crossfires of antiquated political debates and xenophobic attacks,” she said.

“With high stakes in 2024, I am excited to work with an incredible team of experts to ensure our present and future leaders are committed to fixing our immigration system by centering the very people who have long contributed to our nation — Dreamers, farm workers, educators, health care workers, domestic workers, and the many families who make our economy and communities stronger every day.”

With Talbot and Lopez taking the top jobs, the Immigration Hub’s C-suite will be staffed entirely by women. 

Monica Barrera, who also worked in Menendez’s office, is the group’s chief managing officer and Lia Parada, a former director of government relations at the Center for American Progress, was recently named chief advocacy officer.