An East Chicago-born U.S. District Judge who became a campaign target of Donald Trump last year advised students to embrace challenges, value their diversity and work to serve others.
The Hon. Gonzalo Curiel told Bishop Noll Institute’s graduating class on Friday that his early exposure to diverse friends and rigorous education helped prepare him for numerous challenges he later faced as a judge.
He is a 1971 Bishop Noll graduate who has maintained close ties to the school for several years.
“The Calumet Region represents the best of America,” Curiel told the school’s roughly 125 graduates. “It’s a melting pot made up of people from all over the world.
“It was in a community where I had Greek friends, I had Polish friends, I had Puerto Rican friends, I had African-American friends. We were all the same. None of us were better than each other.
“And that’s the aim of the American dream, to bring all of us together. To give equal opportunity so that we can stand together. We can raise our familes and become better.”
Curiel was introduced by Gregory Vega, now a U.S. Attorney in Southern California, who noted they were born in the same hospital and grew up near each other, but only met as 14-year-old freshmen at Bishop Noll.
“Under the glare of such public scrutiny, Judge Curiel conducted himself with class, strength and courage,” Vega said. “Those values “were instilled in him here at Bishop Noll Institute.”
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In April, Curiel was assigned the case of Juan Manuel Montes, 23, whose attorneys say could be the first known person deported by the Trump administration who had qualified for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The government has issued nearly 800,000 DACA permits since President Barack Obama introduced the program in 2012 and nearly 700,000 renewals, according to the Associated Press.
Montes sued in April for access to records on his deportation.
The lawsuit came less than a month after Curiel approved a $25 million settlement in a case alleging the now-defunct Trump University misled customers.
Trump repeatedly criticized Curiel during the campaign for his rulings in the Trump University case, insinuating that his Mexican heritage exposed a bias in the case because of Trump’s tough line on illegal immigration.
“You are primed and ready to make a difference in this world of ours,” Curiel told students on Friday. “Carry on and focus at the job at hand.”
“There will be people that taunt you or disrespect you for how you look or where you are from, or where your parents are from,” he said. “Pray for them. Don’t let them get in your head.”
In November, Curiel quietly visited BNI to attend Thanksgiving mass and speak with students where he gave a similar message.
“I’m grateful for the chance to have attended this school, most notably to have grown up in this community, this community which is so rich and diverse,” according to the transcript later posted online and confirmed by the diocese.
“There are not a lot of places in the world where you can look around and see such diversity as we have here, and I count that as a blessing,” he said. “I’ve learned so much and it’s helped me to be able to respect everyone I come across and realize that at the end of the day, we are all just human beings and that ultimately, our goals are to serve each other.”
Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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