Armiñana moved to New Orleans in 1969, and worked for three years as director of operations and training for the Inter-American Center at Loyola University New Orleans. From 1972 to 1978 he worked as administrative analyst and organizational development and training consultant for the City of New Orleans. He also worked as a part-time news anchor and reporter at WWL-TV from 1973 to 1981, and continued as a television news consultant through 1988 for the only daily Spanish-language news program on Louisiana television. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from the University of New Orleans in 1983.