On her 25th anniversary with the top Spanish-language network, the    
Miami-based Salinas, who co-anchors with Jorge Ramos, turned her skills    
inward, offering a look at the person behind the reporter with I Am My Father's Daughter.           

In the memoir, Salinas explores her own family's hidden stories. She    describes the discovery that her father, an illegal immigrant, was once a    
Catholic priest in Mexico and lost his legal status in the United States    
because he refused to fight during World War II.    
      
   She also traces her rise as the youngest daughter in a poor immigrant    
family in Los Angeles to one of the nation's top Spanish-language anchors.    
      
   Q. What motivated you to come out with your story now?    
      
   A. I had the idea of writing the book many, many years ago.    
      
   After the attacks of Sept. 11, an anti-immigrant wave began to take over    
the country. And during the beginning of the war (in Iraq), there was also    
this patriotism, this nationalism. I thought, "I really don't think it's time    
to write this book right now because I want to celebrate my father's life and    
the contributions he made to my life. I don't want this to be a book about an    
undocumented, immigrant draft-dodger."    
      
   Q. What role do you think the Spanish-language media has played in the    
United States?    
      
   A. In the beginning of my career in 1981, we had little political    
representation, especially in L.A. At the local level, we had no one in City    
Hall. When a seat did open up, and I went out to ask people in Lincoln Heights    
about their vote ... 15 out of 16 didn't even know there was an election. I    
knew that we in Spanish-language media had to play a big role in helping    
educate them and helping them see the responsibility they had.    
      
   Q. Because your father was an illegal immigrant, how do you reconcile your    
personal feelings when covering the issue?    
      
   A. I've been covering immigration for 25 years. ... I've been the daughter    
of immigrants, one legal and one undocumented, for many, many years. I've    
never really changed my point of view. I don't think there should be an open    
border policy. But I cannot imagine how anyone thinks logically that you can    
round up 12 million people and send them to their countries of origin.    
      
   Q. Do you feel you understand your father better after writing the book?    
      
   A. I think that if I would have known my father's secret, that would have    
broken the ice, and he would have opened up about so many other things. I    
think he would have been very proud to know that I cover the world.    
      
   MEET THE AUTHOR    
   Maria Elena Salinas will discuss I Am My Father's Daughter at 8 tonight at    
Coral Gables Congregational Church, 3010 De Soto Blvd. Part of the    
Spanish-language event will be in English; call 305-442-4408.