New Latino SSA aims to encourage diversity in the FBI

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) – During Hispanic Heritage Month, CBS 58 and Telemundo Wisconsin are recognizing what it means to be proud of your heritage: including paving the way for others.

Miguel Miranda has become the newest supervisory special agent for the FBI in Wisconsin, a title no other Latino has held in almost 20 years.

“I came into this job unsure if I could do it, but now I'm sure I'm exactly what the FBI was looking for. My language…my background, my understanding, the way I can connect to folks. I think the Latino community has that and I think we need that,” said Miranda.

Miguel Miranda was born in Idaho, to parents of Mexican descent. Just a few weeks ago, he gained the new title of supervisory special agent for the FBI Milwaukee Field Office. “Being a Latino in this position means a lot because I'm now in a position to be able to influence a little bit of what the FBI is going to look like for the future, especially…it also allows me to have exposure to the community and trying to help them understand that positions with the FBI are things that are possible,” he said.

Miranda started as a sheriff's deputy in Salt Lake County, Utah. After seven years, Miranda looked for a new adventure. It was on a family vacation that he says the idea arose to join the FBI. Since then, he's worked in Puerto Rico, Honduras, Panama, Chile, and now Wisconsin.

In such an important role, Miranda says he wants to continue to make a difference. “My hope to accomplish, is again, very focused on my team first; hoping that they grow, exposing them to different ideas and different opinions. Hopefully, by the time I leave, I hope to have contributed something that makes the FBI a better place, a more diverse place to be."

Despite being one of the few Latinos in the FBI, Miranda says he lets his Hispanic heritage shine.

“I'm very proud of being Mexican. I enjoy everything from the food, the culture, the music. It's just a part of me. Just like my eyes, my hair, it’s just how I identify. I sometimes wear it out here and let everyone know I'm Mexican, but I'm also American as much as everyone else. I don’t think you have to lose that identity to be part of that society. So, I love it, I wouldn't change it for the world, being able to say I'm Mexican and everything I bring to the table with it.”