Jacqueline Villanueva discusses Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project at Cesar Chavez lecture

Jacqueline Villanueva, bilingual senior attorney supervisor of the Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project (FLAP), came to Elmhurst University on March 30 to speak about FLAP’s initiatives, labor rights, labor violations, social justice, the non-profit industry, and more for this semester’s Cesar Chavez lecture. 

FLAP is a nonprofit organization that aims to improve labor conditions for low-income workers and their families.

Villanueva emphasized the importance of continuing Chavez’s advocacy work.

“Even though Cesar Chavez may have started that movement, there’s still part of that movement that needs to be completed,” Villanueva explained. “Unfortunately a lot of our people are still being taken advantage of.”

In addition, Villanueva noted that the organization strives to “be the voice for those who can’t speak up or don’t know they can.” 

Some of FLAP’s initiatives include, but are not limited to, the following: educating workers about their rights, approaching any question (even if it’s not labor-related), partnering with immigration non-profit organizations, partnering with as many free organizations as possible, and providing financial assistance. 

She noted that some of FLAP’s navigators are clients of FLAP; since they received help from FLAP, they feel inspired to give back. She felt this was an important concept for audience members to keep in mind.

“How can we pay it forward? What can we do for the community or community around us?” Villanueva asked the audience. 

Villanueva also discussed the Deferred Action Labor Enforcement’s (DALE) role in providing a path to citizenship for some workers. She said she encourages clients interested in DALE to speak with an immigration attorney.

Second-year student Dafne Morales said she took away the significance of DALE from the lecture. She said she has an uncle who has been working as a landscaper since he came to the U.S. in 2003 and mentioned that DALE could help him get closer to gaining citizenship. 

Nayrin Banuelos, president of the Latino Student Association and staff writer for The Leader, was a volunteer for FLAP and invited Villanueva to EU for the lecture. In an interview with The Leader, she commented on the powerful impact bilingual communicators can have in the world. 

“I think she [Villaneuva] said there’s not a lot of bilingual attorneys, and I think that being bilingual is such a gift, and being able to use that gift to help other people is so important,” Banuelos said.

She continued, “So I would probably just encourage LSA members to think about how they can use that gift to help other people and even in shaping a career.”

Villanueva wants to inspire youth to continue the work that needs to be done in the labor rights movement. 

“Volunteering, getting involved in other ways, becoming attorneys, working in advocacy, just making sure someone is still being the voice for those people that have no voice or are afraid to speak up,” Villanueva said in an interview with The Leader.