Horatio is a first-generation immigrant born and raised just outside Detroit, Michigan. He moved to New Mexico in 2002 and earned his bachelor’s degree in history, with a minor in political science, from Western New Mexico University in 2006. During his undergraduate years, he served as Attorney General for the Associated Students of WNMU, and as Vice President for both the Society in Education and Politics and the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán. In 2008, Horatio relocated to Albuquerque, where he earned his Juris Doctor from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2013, graduating with honors and receiving both the Dean’s Award and the International Law Students Award. He also studied abroad at the University of Guanajuato School of Law and served as mentorship chair for the Mexican American Law Students Association. Horatio later completed his Master of Public Administration at UNM, earning Pi Alpha Alpha National Honor Society recognition and being named Student of the Year by the Public Administration Graduate Students Association.

Deeply rooted in his immigrant experience, Horatio has dedicated his legal career exclusively to immigration law. From 2014 through February 2025, he ran his own law firm, focusing on family-based and humanitarian relief. He has served as Chair of the Immigration Law Section and as Liaison between the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the local USCIS field office. He currently teaches as an adjunct professor at UNM School of Law, where he works with the Border Justice Initiative to promote education and service in immigration law. He’s also taught at Western New Mexico University and regularly speaks at local and state conferences. Horatio is passionate about soccer, history, music, art, and food—but above all, he loves spending time with his beautiful wife and three amazing sons. And if you ask him, there’s only one true GOAT in fútbol: Lionel Messi!