New school board member shares immigrants’ dreams

BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer

Luis De Leon

FREEHOLD — Newly appointed Board of Education member Luis De Leon not only understands the difficulties that immigrants who come to the United States have to face, he relates to the situation because he lived through it himself.

De Leon emigrated to the United States from Cuba with his family in 1970. They came for freedom, for a new life and to be Americans.

De Leon, 42, who took his oath of office on Dec. 15, lives with his wife, Arlene, and their children, Marcos, 8, Claudia, 6, and Ava, 2. He enjoys life in America and remembers how hard it was to live in Cuba under the rule of Fidel Castro.

He remembers how his father’s business was confiscated, as was everything else the family owned. He remembers the struggle his father had to go through once he declared he was leaving Cuba to live in America. For anyone who declared they were leaving the country, there was no freedom anymore. De Leon said the family had to live with a shortage of basic staples like food and clothing, and were only allowed to work for the government. He said he understands the risk his father took by committing to move to the United States.

"Once he declared he was leaving, he lived the life of an indentured servant and was ostracized as well," De Leon said. "You must live this way for years in order to be allowed to leave the country and when the time came, you had to be ready to leave in five minutes.

"Part of my interest in this community is that I also came to an area (Hudson County) that was going through the same thing in terms of an influx of immigrants. The town’s services were all strained and overloaded," he said.

De Leon said the impact of immigrants on a community does not have to be negative.

"A lot of positive things came as a result of the influx in the early ’70s," he said.

The new board member said he remembers that Hudson County, where his family settled in the 1970s, resembles the community of Freehold now.

"There was a large influx of Hispanics that had emigrated from Cuba in a very short time," De Leon said.

De Leon attended Rutgers University and earned a degree in finance. He works in the field of telecommunications as a voice analyst for Quest Laboratories, Lyndhurst.

He said he believes his personal history and life experiences will give him an additional connection with members of the Hispanic school community. After all, he remembers how difficult it was when, at 8 years old, he came to America and had to learn English.

He recalled taking English as a Second Language courses and said although it was difficult in the beginning, after a few months he was better able to integrate into his neighborhood. He said he learned a lot of language skills just by playing with other children in the neighborhood.

"Kids don’t see color," he said. "They meet together and form a bond. It does not make any difference to them."

De Leon said it is important to encourage these qualities as children grow.

The new board member said he believes the K-8 school district’s diversity is its greatest strength. He is working to help integrate Hispanic children into the community by coaching in the Community Youth Soccer League, a branch of the Freehold Soccer League that brings children of all ethnic back­grounds to play together.

"The primary purpose of the league was to give children who had no access to transportation an opportunity to play soccer and meet other children," De Leon said.

De Leon believes he can be a role model to many new Hispanic members of the community and can offer some sort of representation for these children. He said he is interested in a top education for all children in the district. He said he will study all of the issues the board deals with and determine where he can make the best contribution.