Sometimes, mothers from a community can have the most powerful impact. One such group, Latinos en Accion in El Cajon, is made up of three very different women who came together with the same goal in mind. They want to make their community more aware of what is going on in the City Council and reject the resolution that allows local police to work in conjunction with ICE.
Mairene Branham, Eva Pacheco, and Violet Lombrera combine their different strengths to bring about awareness and reverse the resolution that passed at the end of February after failing twice. Because Councilman Phil Ortiz changed his vote on the third attempt, it passed 3-2, confirming the city’s intent to work with federal immigration authorities.
The resolution was met with considerable protest, amid worries of racial profiling and cruelty to undocumented immigrants. So the women began a petition to recall Ortiz. The three hope that by raising their voices, others will follow suit.
Pacheco and her husband founded the bilingual charter school Excellence and Justice in Education in El Cajon, and that is where I met the women for this interview to find out more. I asked them all the following questions.
When did Latinos en Acción form as a group and who are the founders?
“Latinos en Acción officially formed in February 2025, but had been meeting informally for two years prior,” said Branham, noting that she currently serves as the president, with Pacheco as the vice president.”
Pacheco gave a lengthier answer, “Latinos en Acción was formed because of a need to give the community a voice. The idea began two years ago when organizing a gathering for a Mexican congressmen, Gerardo Fernandez Noroña.
“My husband, Jesus Pacheco, who follows Fernandez on social media, heard that he wanted to come to USA, so we invited him to come to El Cajon. He accepted the invitation, and we organized a successful gathering with about 200-plus people in attendance. After the event was over, the group met to evaluate the event and that was when it was decided to form Latinos en Acción to continue meeting and get organized.”
What was the motivation to start this group? How can someone get involved?
“Our motivation for this group was to create a voice for the immigrant community and their families,” said Branham. “We wanted their voices to resound through the walls of the city council and through the hearts of those that represent us.”
Pacheco added, “With the current political climate at the federal and local level, we want the people to have a voice and participate to see changes that better our community.”
Lombrero’s motivation to be in the group was to help advocate against unjustness. She mentioned that the group’s focus changed in January when the El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells put forward the proposal to have the El Cajon Police Department work with ICE.
The women all said that If anyone wants to get involved, they should reach out through the website at latinosaccion.org. If they are interested in the recall, more information can be found at recallphilortiz.org.
Are you only in the El Cajon area? Besides the Ortiz recall, what other goals do you have as a group?
“Right now, our focus is on El Cajon, and it may very well remain that way,” said Barnham. “San Diego is a large area with many advocacy groups supporting immigrants, but we didn’t see that same level of support here in El Cajon. That’s why our efforts are centered on our own city.
“Looking ahead, we know we have a long four years, and our goal is to continue protecting undocumented families from harmful stigma and unjust city resolutions. We plan to do this by uplifting our community through events, outreach, and accessible information.”
Tell me a little about yourselves. What type of work do you do? What motivates you?
“I’m an immigrant from Guanajuato, Mexico, and I’ve called El Cajon home for a combined 20 years,” Branham said. “For the past decade, I’ve contributed to my community in San Diego as a business owner in the food and nutrition space. I have an entrepreneurial spirit, and I also take pride in being a mother, soccer coach, and homeschool parent.
“I’m passionate about health through movement, I enjoy challenging myself with vigorous weightlifting and taking dance classes for fun.”
“At the core of my motivation is spirituality. For me, it’s a grounding force that reminds me we all play a role in the balance of human systems, the yin and yang of life. That belief drives me to continue working toward justice, equity, and harmony in our community.”
Pacheco is also an immigrant, recalling that she barely spoke English when she began to volunteer at her children’s school in 1991. But she had been an teacher for 13 years in León, Guanajuato, and understood education. While volunteering at Madison Elementary School, she was dismayed by the abrupt end of that school’s bilingual education program.
“My husband and I immediately began to organize parents, encouraging them to come together for our students to access quality bilingual programs,” she recalled. “We informed them of their parental rights and how they could be their own children’s advocates. By formally organizing and working together, we were able to re-establish the program, hiring bilingual teachers and forming the district’s first bilingual advisory committee.”
This parent-led re-establishment of a bilingual program at Madison led to the formation of Excellence and Justice in Education, an organization aiming to inform and empower families, and eventually a successful charter school.
Lombrera is a second-generation Mexican American who was born in Brawley. Her grandparents and her mom were migrant workers, and she lived in different migrant camps around northern California. She was a teen mother who graduated from high school pregnant with her second child. Nevertheless, she persevered in her education, graduated from Grossmont College and became a Head Start parent.
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