John D. Trasviña John D. Trasviña Biographic Sketch


Institute for Corean-American Studies



John D. Trasviña
Biographic Sketch

John D. Trasviña was nominated by President Clinton and confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate in 1997 to be Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices. The Office of Special Counsel was established in 1987 to protect U.S. citizens and other work authorized individuals from employment discrimination based on immigration status. The Office litigates claims and educates employees, employers and the general public on their rights and responsibilities under the law in order to prevent such discrimination. As Special Counsel, Mr. Trasviņa is now the highest ranking Hispanic attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice.

For three and three-quarter years, he served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Department of Justice. From 1987 to 1993, he was counsel to Senator Paul Simon on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, the last 3 years as General Counsel and Staff Director to the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution. In the Senate and in his previous post in the Administration, he handled numerous policy areas, including Civil Rights, Immigration and Judicial Nominations.

A native of San Francisco, Mr. Trasviña was Deputy City Attorney there from 1983 to 1985 and Legislative Counsel to the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund in Washington D.C. from 1985 to 1987.

A graduate of Harvard University and Stanford Law School, Mr. Trasviña is a long time member of Hispanic and Asian American community organizations including the D.C. Hispanic Bar Association where he is past president and the Hispanic National Bar Association where he is past national vice president and regional president; the Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership where he serves as a member of the board of directors; and the D.C. Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs where he was vice chair.

In 1995, Hispanic Business Magazine recognized him as one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in the United States. In 2000, he was honored with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund's Award for Excellence in the Legal Profession and the Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership's Distinguished Service Award.




ICAS Web Site Links for John D. Trasviña:

Summer 2001 Symposium





This page last updated 8/3/2001 jdb



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