The Immigrant Rights movement has diligently advocated for the silenced and unheard voices of marginalized immigrant communities all across the United States. Immigrant communities in America have long struggled to defend their rights due to a looming fear of deportation. A rise of fearless undocumented and documented women have stood to defend the immigrant status through protest, organization, and legislation.
Angelica Salas
Angelica Salas, the Executive Director of CHIRLA, the Coalition of Humane Immigration Rights, immigrated to the United States at the age of four. Angelica’s passion for Immigrant rights formed at a young age as she lived through the harsh realities of being an undocumented citizen in the United States. One of Angelica’s sole goals to achieve through her activism is to provide a different kind of chance at life for young undocumented immigrants. Angelica Salas is an active voice in the Immigration Rights community continuously furthering rights through her profound work in grassroots activism, legislation, and community organizing.
Photo by Koreran Resource Center licensed under CC BY-ND https://flic.kr/p/hCHA4
"I really am proud of how this organization has grown, but most importantly that a lot of its leaders, who are directors, etc, come directly from our immigrant base who started off as members and volunteers and now are leading programs at the organization. I’m proud of what the organization has been able to do nationally, in partnership with other organizations, the formation of national coalitions that have advanced immigrant rights forward in this country." - Angelica Salas
Angelica Salas bases her activism around helping undocumented immigrants become more involved in their local communities. It is through communal organization Salas hopes to guide undocumented persons to a position where they occupy the ability to advocate for their own rights. In years past, Immigrants feared public activism due to deportation. The new inclusion of immigrant participation strengthened the movement as a whole and put more pressure on the topic of immigrant rights at a national level
Photo caption: "Defend DACA" by Molly Adams is licensed under CC BY https://flic.kr/p/YikR6t
In part of Angelica Salas’s focus on the future of young undocumented immigrants she spends much of her focus on such acts like the Differed Action for Child Arrivals (DACA) and the Dream Act. In efforts to assist those connected to the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals program Salas helped construct aid to all those renewing their applications. This aid provided by CHIRLA waived all cost which included the $40 consultation, attorney representation, and the $495 fee from government.
I saw that difference, what getting a green card and eventually becoming a citizen did for my life. So the ability to have deferred action passed for young people—but also in California since 2001 they’ve been able to go to school at lower cost, the California Dream Act—that matters so much for me. It’s something that I really wanted to have an impact on because I knew what an education meant to me. I know what it meant for me and what it does. It’s not about that individual, but it’s about your family. So if you have an education, your children have a better opportunity" -Angelica Salas
Photo Caption: "DACA Rally SF" by Pax Gethen & Funcrunch is licensed under CC BY-SA https://commons.wikimedia.org/w iki/File:DACA_rally_SF_20170905-8471.jpg
In 2010 five young undocumented immigrants risked everything to pressure the late Senator John McCain for the DREAM Act. Thousands of undocumented kids graduate from American high schools each year only to face strict work limitations due to their status. In latter decades immigrants have refrained from taking public stances due to fears of deportation. However, this changed in recent years due to leading Immigrant Rights organizations like CHIRLA, encouraging immigrants to actively participate in their movement for their rights.
Photo Caption: "Dreamers AZ Sit-in" by Dreamer Movement licensed under Public Domain
Angelica Salas met with President Barack Obama several times during his eight-year term to discuss immigration policy. At the time, President Obama had deported more immigrants out of the country than any other U.S. President making their meeting absolutely essential. Angelica Salas did not enter these conversations to simply discuss policy but to be a voice for the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who had everything on the line. In an interview with Angelica Salas she recalls
"At first I was like, “I’m talking to the President of the United States. I can’t believe this.” And then, I just remember my heart beating when he said, “Well, you know—” when we were questioning him about deportations. He’s like, “I’m just deporting criminals.” And so, to me it was like, “Oh, hell no.” I felt like that. “Hell, no, that’s not [it].” No, he needed to understand that it was mothers, fathers, and young students who he was deporting. That’s really the reality, and sometimes our job is to make sure that our leaders are told the truth and not what they want to believe." -Angelica Salas
Photo Caption: "Leon_Ichasa___Angelica_Salas" by The Opportunity Agenda liscended under CC BY-NC-SA https://flic.kr/p/9ieU5j
If you go to a town—if you go to Salinas, if you go to Monterey, you go here in California, San Francisco, Bakersfield, I mean, there’s going to be leaders. They’re saying, “I’m going to speak up; I’m not just going to say this is what’s wrong. I’m going to do something about it. I’m going to be organized. I’m going to engage other people. I’m going to invite them to part of the solution.” And that’s pretty amazing. So anyway, I think that’s what makes this movement strong. If we keep doing that, it’s going to make us stronger. My hope is that we will change policy here in the United States and then eventually also change the conditions in our home countries so we’re not forced to leave." -Angelica Salas
Angelica Salas has spent most of her career advocating for the rights of the highly marginalized immigrant society prevalent in the United States. Her passion stems from her own personal experiences of growing up as an undocumented immigrant in America and facing the numerous challenges that most immigrants encounter. After learning from these experiences Salas developed the belief that national change starts within each individual deciding to take action, immigrant or not. Salas proposes that action exists in multiple forms, from small local organizing to marching in the streets among thousands. It is through actions like these that Salas hopes to achieve a brighter future for the millions of hopeful immigrants just waiting for a different chance at life.
Works Cited
Adams, Molly. Defend DACA. Photograph. Los Angeles, n.d. https://flic.kr/p/YikR6t
Bissett, Avery. “Angelica Salas: The Immigration Advocate Defending American Families.” LA Weekly, May 22, 2019. https://www.laweekly.com/angelica-salas-the-immigration- advocate-defending-american-families/.
Dreamer Movement. Dreamers AZ Sit-In. Photograph. Tucson, n.d.
Dwyer, Devin. “Immigrant Students Face Deportation After Protest at McCain Arizona Office.” ABC News. ABC News Network. Accessed March 2020. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/undocumented-student-immigrants-face-deportation-mccain-office-protest/story?id=10689042.
Gethen, Pax Ahimsa. DACA Rally SF . Photograph. San Fransisco, n.d.https://commons.wikimedia.org/w iki/File:DACA_rally_SF_20170905-8471.jpg
Korean Resource Center. Photograph. Santa Monica, n.d.https://flic.kr/p/hCHA4
Romero, Esmeralda. “LA School Report.” DACA Dreamers rush to renew permits; a majority of Americans support their fight; ICE raids continue, September 29, 2047. http://laschoolreport.com/daca-dreamers-rush-to-renew-permits-a-majority-of-americans-support-their-fight-ice-raids-continue/.
Salas, Angelica. Transcript of an oral history conducted on December 8, 2014, by Jael Muller, in Center for Oral and Public History California State University, Fullerton, 2013 – 2020, Women, Politics, and Activism Since Suffrage Oral History Project, Pollak Library, California State University, Fullerton, 2014, pp. 24 – 38.
Salas, Angelica. Transcript of an oral history conducted on November 14, 2014, by Jael Muller, in Center for Oral and Public History California State University, Fullerton, 2013 – 2020, Women, Politics, and Activism Since Suffrage Oral History Project, Pollak Library, California State University, Fullerton, 2014, pp. 1 – 23.
The Opportunity Agenda. Leon_Ichasa___Angelica_Salas. Photograph. Hollywood, n.d.
“UTLA Helps DACA Renewals through Grant.” UTLA, January 25, 2018. https://www.utla.net/news/utla-helps-daca-renewals-through-grant
Wallsten, Peter. “President Obama Bristles When He Is the Target of Activist Tactics He Once Used.” The Washington Post. WP Company, June 10, 2012. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/president-obama-bristles-when-he-is-the-target-of-activist-tactics-he-once-used/2012/06/09/gJQA0i7JRV_story.html
Credits:
Created with an image by Nitish Meena - "Immigrants make America Great"