Pedro De Velasco is a husband and a father of three girls. He is an advocate for migrants’ rights and a migrant himself, with over 14 years of experience working with migrant communities on both sides of the US-Mexico border.

Pedro holds a law degree from the Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila and a certificate in U.S. criminal and immigration law from the University of Arizona. He currently serves as the Director of Education and Advocacy with the Kino Border Initiative, a Catholic binational organization in Ambos Nogales whose mission is to promote humane, just, and workable migration.

Prior to coming to the U.S., Pedro was the State Coordinator of the Paisano Program in Coahuila, México, a joint-effort responsible for supporting and informing Mexicans and Mexican Americans about their rights and obligations upon returning or visiting México.

He arrived in Arizona in 2013, to work at the Consulate of México in Tucson, where he was Consul of Protection and Legal Affairs. His role was to protect and ensure the rights and well-being of Mexican nationals abroad, which allowed him to know first-hand their needs and challenges. He then became a community organizer with Chicanos Por La Causa, promoting immigrant integration and integral community development in Southern Arizona.

Pedro's work in benefit of our community, regardless of national origin or background, led him to join the Kino Border Initiative in 2021, where he is responsible for building and strengthening collaborative networks that help reverse the anti-immigrant rhetoric, and influence the transformation of immigration policies, towards a humane and just system.