POMONA COLLEGE GRAD AT THE HEART OF IMMIGRATION POLICYMAKING 

Pomona College Class of 2013 graduate Joshua Rodriguez grew up in East Los Angeles, the son of immigrants from El Salvador struggling to make their way in a new land. Mom worked days at a school cafeteria. Dad worked nights as a school custodian.

Now, only a year out of Pomona College, Rodriguez is working in a sought-after White House internship, getting a behind-the-scenes look at the shaping of the nation’s immigration policies.

“It is pretty difficult to wrap your head around interning at the White House, especially during the emotional chaos that are your first couple of weeks,” says Rodriguez, whose duties include keeping a pulse on what people are saying about immigration nationally. “However, every time I walk into work, I slowly realize that this is an opportunity of a lifetime, one that not many will experience.”

Immigration policy team

Rodriguez’s assignment with the immigration policy team for President Obama’s Domestic Policy Council is the latest in a series of amazing experiences — from a Google internship to a yearlong Fulbright grant in Mexico. Many of those opportunities came during his time at Pomona, one of the nation’s leading liberal arts institutions.

Professor Gilda Ochoa recalls how Rodriguez, as a senior with an already-full course load, approached her about adding her Chicanas/ Latinas in Contemporary Society class. He would delve deeply into topics ranging from immigration to education to labor, visiting during office hours to continue the discussions.

“Joshua’s contributions to the course were crucial,” says Ochoa, professor of sociology and Chicana/Latina Studies.

While at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, Rodriguez was recruited by College Match L.A., a local organization “committed to helping talented students from low-income families in Los Angeles beat the odds.” Through the group, Rodriguez received college application help and went on trips to visit colleges in California and the East Coast.

A very big deal

College Match Executive Director Harley Frankel says he is confident Rodriguez will excel in the three-month internship.

“It’s a very big deal, what he’s doing,” says Frankel, who pointed Rodriguez to Pomona College as a place of opportunity.

Before graduating, Rodriguez was awarded a prestigious yearlong Fulbright grant to Mexico, where he participated in the Binational Business Internship, meant to strengthen economic ties between the two nations. It was during that time that he applied for the White House internship, for which he says Pomona helped prepare him.

Interested in how business and government tie together, Rodriguez said he would eventually would like to go back to graduate school and get a joint master’s degree in business administration and public policy.