Porter hires Hispanic consultant

Suzanne Struglinski

Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2003 | 9:48 a.m.

Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., has hired a new outreach coordinator to help him connect to the Hispanic population in Nevada's new 3rd Congressional District.

Wes Lopez, 29, is the latest addition to the congressman's cabinet, and will help him to better serve Nevada, Porter said in an interview at the Las Vegas Sun on Tuesday.

"As a member of Congress I'm doing everything I can to serve the community, and Wes brings the background and ability to help us serve the Latino and Hispanic community better," Porter said. "Politicians, as a rule, have not done a great job of this, but I'm learning every day and Wes makes it that much easier."

The Nevada State demographer estimates that the Hispanic population in the Las Vegas Valley is more than 368,000.

Hired on June 27, Lopez will split his time between constituent casework and community outreach. Lopez, who was born in Nicaragua and speaks fluent Spanish, said he wants to gain a better understanding of the various ethnic groups, minorities and people in general in the new district.

Lopez will handle immigration issues, veterans affairs and small business needs by helping residents work with the associated federal agencies on those topics.

Immigration issues are something that Porter said his office deals with on a daily basis.

"The federal perspective is that the Immigration and Naturalization Service was broken," Porter said. "I believe that many of the illegal immigrants in the United States want to be documented, and I think now that INS is under homeland security we are on the verge of fixing the system."

Lopez moved to the United States from Nicaragua in 1987, and came to Nevada in 1993. He graduated from the University of California at Irvine in 1997 with a double major in international studies and Spanish literature.

Lopez said he has been interested in politics and has specialized in community involvement since he was in high school, when he participated in numerous leadership conferences and student organizations.

Before going to Porter's district office, Lopez was the public relations director for the Central American Coalition of Nevada, director of the Nevada Organization of Latin American Countries and president of the Nicaraguan Foundation of Las Vegas.