Ignacio M. Garcia is the Lemuel H. Redd Jr. professor of Western American History at Brigham Young University (BYU). He has written five books related to Mexican-American politics and history.
Garcia was born in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico and came to the United States in the mid-fifties. He served as a combat medic in the 477th medical detachment in the U.S. Army and did a tour in Viet Nam, 1971–1972, where he headed the emergency room of the Can Tho Army Airbase dispensary. He received his bachelors degree from Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University–Kingsville) in 1976. He received masters and Ph.D.s from the University of Arizona. While he was a student at the University of Arizona Garcia was serving as bishop of the Spanish-speaking LDS ward in Tucson. He also served as bishop in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1995.
While working on his masters and Ph.D. Garcia taught classes at both the University of Arizona and Pima Community College. From 1993-1995 Garcia was a professor at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. Since 1995 he has been a professor at BYU. While at BYU Garcia has served on the executive board of the Rey L. Pratt Center for Latin American Studies and the Admissions Committee. He has also served in the Utah Humanities Council, the Tucson Energy Commission and the Utah Judicial Commission for the Fourth District Court.
Prior to entering academia Garcia worked as a news correspondent and editor. He was the regional editor for Nuestro magazine from 1979-1983. Prior to this he was a sports writer for the Laredo News and a reporter for the San Antonio Express's Westside weekly.
Garcia has written several books including Viva Kennedy: Mexican Americans in Search of Camelot[1] and Chicanismo. His United We Win: The Rise and Fall of La Raza Unida Party has been widely reviewed.[2] This was the first comprehensive history of the party written.[3]
He has also written "Viva Kennedy, Mexican Americans in Search of Camelot", "Hector P. Garcia:In Relentless Pursuit of Justice", and his most current book is "White But Not Equal" which tells the story of the Supreme Court case Hernandez vs Texas which deals with jury discrimination against Mexican Americans. He is currently working on a sports history.
Garcia is willing to make strong statements on immigration, favoring reform that allows for people to freely flow from Mexico to the USA while wanting to end brain-drain from Mexico.[4] He has also been a strong advocate for making the LDS Church more pro-immigrant.