A Jesuit priest licensed as an attorney at law in Mexico with master’s degrees in social philosophy and international law along with his SOE doctorate, Father Arriaga has spent more than two decades defending and promoting human rights through his leadership in organizations in Guadalajara, Mexico, and the U.S., including the Center of Reflection and Action of Labor, Cultural and Educational Standards in Guadalajara; the Ignatius Loyola Migrant and Refugee Association in Chiapas; the Legal Rights Center for the Indigenous in Chiapas; the Center for Justice and International Law in Washington, DC; and the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center in Mexico City.

In addition to his human rights activism, Father Arriaga has a strong record of scholarship. He has taught and studied human rights at the University of Santa Clara School of Law, was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford Law School’s Human Rights Center and served as a lecturer and member of the International Human Rights Clinic at Loyola Law School. He also served as a professor at ITESO, the university he now leads.