Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights

Angelica Salas is an immigrant from Durango, Mexico.  She came to the United States as a child to reunite with her parents, who came to the U.S. to provide a better life for their family.  Angelica comes to her understanding of immigrants and immigration first hand, she and her entire family lived in the country undocumented, experienced deportation and then were able to legalize their status.  Angelica became a U.S. citizen in 2008.  Angelica joined CHIRLA in 1995 and became its Executive Director in 1999.  In her role, she has transformed CHIRLA into a mass membership immigrant led organization that empowers immigrants and their families to win local, state and national policies that advance their human, civil and labor rights.  She has grown CHIRLA into one of this nation’s largest and most effective immigrant rights organizations that organizes, advocates, educates and provides legal services to all immigrants. 

CHIRLA’s project aims to eliminate migration legal status as a factor that limits the civil and constitutional rights, legal protections and inclusion of immigrants in the U.S. CHIRLA’s project seeks to engage mixed-status immigrant families, low-wage workers and immigrant students through community education and outreach, organizing, legal services, civic engagement, policy and advocacy, coalition building, and leadership development for youth. For over 33 years, CHIRLA’s programs have supported community leaders to learn how to use their voice and experiences to educate their community and elected officials about policies that most impact their lives. Through its work, CHIRLA has elevated humanity by ensuring communities across the United States understand the value that immigrants bring economically, socially and culturally. In this way CHIRLA realizes its mission of achieving a just society fully inclusive of immigrants.

Record numbers of migrants and refugees have increased across the world in recent years. According to a 2019 United Nations Forced Displacement report, 79.5 million people were displaced at the end of 2019, which also represents the highest number of displaced migrants ever reported. These migration trends are a result of migrants and refugees escaping economic instability, poverty, political conflict, and environmental disasters among other factors. Today, there are 10.5 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., 2.6 million of them live in California, and the most recent data shows that 23% of U.S. born children have at least one foreign-born parent.

As millions of migrants settle in new communities across the world, nonprofit organizations that advocate for their successful integration become critical. Without integration programs, migrants risk segregation and receiving communities lose on the economic and cultural contributions of migrants. This problem results in first and second generation migrants facing severe obstacles to accessing socio-economic upward mobility. CHIRLA works to integrate immigrants into their new community through innovative programs designed to empower immigrants to advocate on their own behalf to achieve legal protections, obtain access to public services and higher education opportunities.

CHIRLA’s project consists of providing a safe platform for immigrants and refugees to learn leadership skills that can help them organize their communities and educate elected officials about their unique challenges as well as the value they bring to their communities. For over 33 years, CHIRLA has been successful at achieving this goal at the local and national level by educating local policy makers to understand the real-life stories from immigrants and how policy changes lead to higher rates of immigrant integration and economic output from these communities. CHIRLA’s work also results in supporting immigrants and refugees to become community leaders via local community work, volunteerism, in the private sector and in the public sector as elected officials representing their immigrant community. Through the leadership of CHIRLA’s immigrant members, large-scale, multi-year private and public investments have been won including: private and public funding to provide legal services, youth programs and civic engagement campaigns. These investments have helped to elevate the socio-economic opportunities of immigrants across California, regardless of immigration status. CHIRLA’s innovative programs also serve as a blueprint for other migrant communities around the world that may be struggling to find a way to successfully integrate into their new communities.

CHIRLA’s project engages mixed-status immigrant families, low-wage workers and students throughout California. Mixed-status immigrants may be undocumented, Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs), naturalized U.S. citizens, and Deffered Action for Chilhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. There are an estimated 10.5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., of which 2.6 million live in California. Additionally, there are 700,000 DACA recipients in the U.S., 188,420 of them reside in California. CHIRLA’s programs impact the lives of immigrants and refugees by transforming any fear and uncertainty about their future in their new community into action and engagement in their local communities to advocate for policies that elevate their lives. For example, since 1999 CHIRLA runs the Wise Up! high school program to engage mixed-status immigrant students to develop their leadership skills and achieve a higher education. For some students, going through the Wise Up! program is like stepping out of the shadows and into become “undocumented and unafraid”. Many students also come to learn about their undocumented status through Wise Up!, when participating in workshops designed to help them explore their “story of self”.

CHIRLA’s project works to elevate the opportunities for immigrants/refugees, who are a traditionally left behind population around the world. Like in the U.S., the immigration systems across the world are broken - systems that are not able to provide a humane process for immigrant/refugee integration. In addition, by developing the leadership skills of immigrants/refugees CHIRLA’s work also supports them to elevate their own issues, build awareness and drive actions to successfully integrate into their new community. The Elevate Prize will support Angelica Salas to continue engaging communities on the moral right of adopting immigrant/refugee rights.

Angelica Salas: I have been working in the field of immigrant rights for over two decades.  I began working at CHIRLA in 1995 because as an immigrant myself, it’s personally important to support the advancement and protection of civil and constitutional rights of immigrants. Most importantly, I wanted to ensure that the sacrifices and contributions to this country made by immigrants were acknowledged through formal means like workplace rights and access to legal status. When I began working at CHIRLA, California was at its most recent peak of racism and xenophobia in modern history.  State voters had passed Proposition 187, a ballot measure denying undocumented immigrants access to basic services, including barring access to public education to undocumented children. Additionally, Proposition 187 required public officials to report undocumented immigrants to law enforcement authorities. It was a hideous period for California, but immigrants and their allies organized and fought against the hateful sentiment and regressive policies, which sought to criminalize immigrants. Fast forward 33 years later, California is now considered a model state for immigrant integration. The many elected officials who supported anti-immigrant measures have been replaced by immigrants and the sons and daughters of immigrants, as our main elected representatives. 

I am passionate about the mission of CHIRLA because my own personal story and experience connects with the experience of the immigrant community CHIRLA serves.  In the children that are currently crossing the border unaccompanied I remember my own journey to be reunited with my parents as a four year old.  I think of the vulnerability of these children and the fear that they are going through as they cross the border.  When I have to talk to a family member of someone who has lost a loved one to deportation, I remember how it felt when I returned home from school to find out my mother had been picked up by immigration authorities in a worksite raid and deported.  When I fight for immigrant worker rights, I think of my mother and father and their struggles as they tried to make a living for us as garment and construction worker respectively.  Everyday that I work at CHIRLA I connect with people that are willing to stand up for their rights and the betterment of their family and take action on their own behalf and on behalf of their communities.  

In order to create a set of policies and practices that uphold the value of immigrant communities and respect for their dignity, it is important that real time and energy be dedicated towards that pursuit. Most of my time these days has been dedicated towards defense work against policies that seek to diminish immigrant protections and advancement.  Given everything that is happening in our country, it is critical that real investment be put into a cohesive written vision and recommendations constructed with the input of stakeholders, immigrants, refugees and elected representatives. Thru CHIRLA, I  have worked in immigrant rights for over 25 years, and during that time I have sought to implement policies that move our city and our state forward. I have the experience of working with many organizations, elected officials, philanthropic, religious and labor institutions. I have seen immigration policies improve at the local and state level. I have also worked and advocated arduously to change our immigration laws so that immigrants are formally recognized through immigration reform. CHIRLA has become a national leader in the development of programming and in its advocacy work directly advanced by immigrants themselves. I know the complexity of the issue, the pitfalls and the deep connection of this issue to the very definition of who we are as Americans. I have immigration legislative and organizing experience that I want to use to develop a written plan for the future that California and the nation deserves.

In 2004, CHIRLA was not able to renew a contract with the City of Los Angeles to continue to run the centers that it had founded.  The reason for the renewal was that the City did not see that CHIRLA was going to overcome its financial difficulties. CHIRLA had used significant reserves to open up these day laborer centers and the City of Los Angeles did not reimburse significant costs associated with the opening.  I was a new mom having just given birth to my first child and I had to return to work to deal with this dire situation.  Working with my management team we designed a process to pass day laborer centers to other organizations and I had to lay off 12 persons.  It was one of the most difficult periods of my life.  I restructured the finances so were not so dependent on government funding and was able to safeguard the programs.  Our day laborer work continued and we went on to form the National Day Laborer Organizing Network that has helped open up day laborer centers throughout the country.  

In 2010, CHIRLA was part of the national campaign for immigration reform.  The Administration of Barack Obama was working with Congress to try to pass immigration reform. We were extremely hopeful that finally immigration reform was going to happen for the close to 11 million undocumented individuals. I was invited to Washington D.C. for a meeting in the White House to discuss these unacceptable situations.  I had already had to respond to worksite raids happening in Southern California and the reaction to families separated by deportation.  I alongside my colleagues went to the meeting and met with President Barack Obama.  It was at this meeting which was set to discuss strategy on immigration reform in Congress that I spoke up and let him know of the suffering that the local immigration enforcement was having on our communities.  While he at first rejected the notion that the harm was happening to innocent people, this tense meeting and conversation resulted in his staff reaching out and working on Prosecutorial Discretion policy in 2011 that sought to protect undocumented workers  from deportation and this policy then led to the creation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. 

Traditional advocacy organizations lead their work through expert policy advocates who present issues of the immigrant community. CHIRLA’s project creates a new dimension of performance by putting immigrants in the front and center of immigrant issues that most impact their lives. In this way, CHIRLA has designed an innovative program that leads and informs our work by creating a pipeline of leadership from our membership within CHIRLA and external to CHIRLA. It was Angelica’s vision and leadership that led CHIRLA on the path of creating an internal model of leadership where the majority of CHIRLA’s staff and board were once part of the organization’s membership base. Many youth enter CHIRLA though our student programs, are assisted in attaining higher education and then return to serve their community, including CHIRLA. For example, CHIRLA’s legal services program is led by immigrants who themselves were undocumented; immigrant youth applying for DACA become legal fellows, after which they become fully accredited to be able to assist others with their legal needs.

CHIRLA endeavors to play a part in creating a world in which there exists:

1. Elimination of migration status as a factor that limits rights or protections, and recognition that migration is a constant of human history that enriches nations with diversity and creates an inclusive global community.

2. Peace and equal economic, social and political opportunity for people in all countries, and a refuge in this country and in our communities for those who are fleeing persecutions.

3. Empowerment of all people to act as agents of social change capable of challenging systems of oppression through increased self-determination, progressive political consciousness, and the creation of a true participatory democracy.

CHIRLA’s entire program portfolio is extensive and currently engages over 450,000 individuals on an annual basis. In the next year it will service 480,000 and in five years at least one million individuals.

In Mexico, CHIRLA has been providing direct legal services since 2018 assisting migrants in Central America who were part of the “migrant caravans” seeking asylum in the United States. CHIRLA currently serves approximately, 800-1,000 Central American, Haitian, African, Cuban, Venezuelan and other asylum seekers. In one year it projects serving 2,500 and over the next five years 20,516 individuals.

In 2020, my goals are to transform our current political environment through the active civic engagement of immigrant voters and their families.  CHIRLA will be engaging thousands of volunteers to turnout 310,000 voters to the polls to vote for an agenda that protects and respects immigrant communities.  Additionally in the time of COVID-19, my goal is to win access to the safety net, healthcare and economic relief for undocumented immigrants who are suffering from the disease and also the economic devastation that the pandemic was brought to bear.  

In the next five years under different political circumstances, the goal is to win just and humane immigration reform, immediately reunite families and release children from detention centers and restructure our immigration legal system in favor of families and people of color from around the world.

The biggest barrier to accomplishing my goals is the political environment and conditions created by anti-immigrant policies.  The immigration policies have been significantly thwarted towards more punishment and restriction.  There has to be a lot of energy dedicated to unraveling all the policies that have been currently in place. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is currently bankrupt and it is this agency that would be in charge of implementing any immigration reform law or the legalization of immigrant youth currently protected under DACA.  CHIRLA is currently part of significant litigation to try to bring these policies back in line to our civil and constitutional rights.  Political will is also needed to bring this change to come about. I have seen more and more elected representatives that see economic recovery tied to the well being of immigrants. The Immigration Movement is one of the most underfunded movements.  According to the Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, less than 1% of all philanthropic giving goes to immigrant groups and causes.  Additional resources are needed to accomplish this much necessary social change. 

CHIRLA is seeking to change the political environment by teaming up with progressive groups to advance one of the largest political turnout of communities of color and immigrants.  CHIRLA has created the Immigrant Political Power Project and immigrant families met with almost every candidate running for the Presidency for the United States to discuss the hopes and visions of our community. CHIRLA’s sister organization CHIRLA Action Fund is also working to elect local, state and federal representatives that see immigrants as their constituents with whom they will work to improve their lives. 

CHIRLA will continue to participate in litigation efforts to force this and future administrations to abide by U.S.civil and constitutional and International human rights. CHIRLA is currently fundraising to ensure that its attorneys can partner with other organizations and to help us connect our members to other litigation efforts. In 2018, CHIRLA relaunched it membership dues campaign to ensure that the immigrant community also invests in its own movement.  CHIRLA’s goal is to reach 40,000 annual dues paying members by 2021.  It is also working to connect with local, state and national foundations to increase understanding of the needs and visions of immigrant families to increase giving to CHIRLA and other immigrant rights and serving organizations.  CHIRLA was instrumental in advocating and winning $75 million from the state of California for direct assistance for undocumented immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic. CHIRLA was also tapped to helped distribute these funds to the immigrant community.

Local: LA Action Table, Cities for Citizenship, May Day Coalition. Korean Immigrant Workers Association, Multi-Ethnic Immigrant Worker Organizing Network, Los Angeles Citizenship Task Force, Los Angeles Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Task Force, The Los Angeles Progressive Coalition, PUSH LA Coalition (Promoting Unity, Safety & Health), Bold Vision LA, Undocumented Coalition for Higher Education, LA Immigrant Integration Council.

State: The California Table for Immigration Reform, California Domestic Workers Coalition, Census Policy Advocacy Network, Having Our Say Coalition, Mobilize the Immigrant Vote, Million Voter Project, CA Dream Alliance, One California Coalition, Safety Net for All, Equal Voices Southern California.

National: Fair Immigration Reform Movement, Home is Here coalition, Reform Immigration for America, Movement of Immigrants in America, Alliance for Citizenship, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Black Immigrant Network, National Partnership for New Americans, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Employment, Education, and Outreach, We Are All America campaign, African Public Health Coalition, Leadership Conference on Civic and Human Rights, National Temporary Protected Status Alliance. 

International: Centro de DDHH Fray Matías de Cordova (Fray Matías), Casa Tochan, FM4 (Hospitalidad y Solidaridad en Tapachula), Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes, México (SJM), Red de Documentación de las Organizaciones Defensoras de Migrantes, Jesuit Refugee Services - JRS (SJR - Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados, Mexico), Programa Casa Refugiados, Una Mano Amiga en la Lucha Contra la Sida UMA, Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez, Instituto para las Mujeres en la Migración, Centro de Atención Integral - Médicos Sin Fronteras.