Biography
Margo Cowan was the director of the Manzo Area Council, a Tucson social-service agency that helped undocumented immigrants. The Black Panther reported that after an April 1976 raid she was indicted on all 25 felony counts of aiding, abetting and transporting "aliens" — a federal test case challenging the right of community agencies to counsel undocumented workers — and faced a maximum of 77 years in prison and a $95,000 fine. Co-defendants indicted with her included Catalina Montaño, Marguerita Jáuregui Ramírez and a nun, Sister Ann Gabriel Marcaig. Cowan went on to a long career as an immigrant-rights and public-defense attorney in Arizona.