Maria Elena Salinas, the Emmy Award-winning face of Hispanic news since 1987, is co-anchor of Noticiero Univision -- the most watched Spanish-language television news broadcast in the United States.

Sometimes called the Latina Katie Couric, Salinas has been covering world news from war-ravaged streets in the Middle East to the White House for 25 years, in addition to being a nationally syndicated columnist and senior news correspondent to National Public Radio's news program Latino USA.

"There are millions of daughters and sons of immigrants like me, who come from humble backgrounds," the 51-year-old Salinas said Sunday.

In Chicago to sign her new book, I Am My Father's Daughter: Living A Life Without Secrets, Salinas arrived directly from New Orleans, reporting for her Univision special "The Storm After Katrina."

Recuperating from her "shock" at seeing New Orleans -- "I expected to see more progress; I got the feeling of an abandoned city" -- Salinas settled in to talk openly about the universal theme of family secrets.

The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Salinas was born and raised in Los Angeles, living the dual life of most first-generation U.S. citizen children of immigrant parents. In the mid-1980s she discovered her recently deceased father, Jose Luis Cordero Salinas, had been a Catholic priest before marrying her mother.

Her father's experience building a new life north of the border was the perfect starting point for a discussion about what it means to be bi-cultural in America today.

As Salinas examined a box of her father's belongings, a picture emerged that has become familiar to many: that of an immigrant who came to the United States to provide better opportunities for the children he would have, only to be caught up in a decades-long battle with immigration officials over his legal status.

Salinas sees parallels in her family's situation and that of Elvira Arellano, the 31-year-old, illegal immigrant who has taken sanctuary in a Chicago church with her American-born son to avoid deportation.

"This is a struggle that has been going on for decades," said Salinas. "My father wrote letters to the government, asking them permission to live in this country with his three daughters who are U.S. citizens."

She hopes Without Secrets can encourage a better understanding of the Hispanic role in the U.S. community.

"Some people think the American dream means that somebody comes here and takes advantage of what this country has to offer. I don't think so. I think we help create the American dream and we help make it come true for everyone," she said.