Honoring the Life of Eduardo “Eddie” Canales

Posted August 15, 2024

It is with a heavy heart that we inform you of the passing of our colleague, friend, and board member, Eduardo “Eddie” Canales who passed away peacefully in his sleep on July 31, 2024.

Eduardo Canales was the founder and Director of the South Texas Human Rights Center in Falfurrias, TX. Born of migrant farm worker parents, Eddie spent his early years in a rural, migrant border town outside of Texas, while his father worked in steel mills in Gary, Indiana, and East Chicago.

In his early years, Eddie attended the University of Houston and became involved with MAYO and La Raza Unida Party, which marked the beginning of a long history of political activism and organizing. He has served the labor, social, and economic justice movements in many capacities and with several organizations, including the Congreso de Aztlán –the National Committee of La Raza Unida–, the Texas Farmworkers, the Longshoremen, SEIU, and Centro Aztlán in Houston, where he served as the Director for ten years. Eduardo was a community and union organizer in Colorado, New México, Eastern Washington, Montana, Idaho, Texas, and Wyoming. He agitated, organized, negotiated, and provided direct services around issues ranging from economic and labor justice to anti-police brutality. Eddie was among the founders of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) in the mid-1980s, and served on its Board of Directors for many years, including as Chairperson.

Eddie, along with Maria Jiménez, a human rights pioneer in the region, co-founded the South Texas Human Rights Center (STHRC), the only human-rights organization in Texas working to prevent migrant deaths through education, advocacy, and organizing and by addressing the root causes of migration. Under Eddie’s leadership, the center established relationships with local ranchers and placed over 150 water stations to prevent migrant deaths at the South Texas/Mexico border with plans to open more this year. The center is currently working with researchers, and international forensic scientists to systematize forensic data collection of unidentified migrant remains and map unknown migrant graves in at least eighteen Texas border counties and to bring closure to the families of loved ones lost in migration.

We extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to his daughter Erika, his son Eddie, Jr., his nephew Tony, who stepped up to manage Eddie’s care, and the rest of his family during this difficult time. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they mourn their loss.

Memorial services were held on August 10th in Corpus Christi Texas. Please donate to Eddie’s GoFundMe campaign to help cover these unexpected expenses.

The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) works to defend and expand the rights of all immigrants and refugees, regardless of immigration status.