PACOIMA >> With her 5-month-old granddaughter in tow, Adriana Rivera made the trip from Lancaster to Pacoima last week to talk to an immigration specialist about becoming a U.S. citizen.
The green card holder of nearly five years wants to become naturalized to help her undocumented parents in Panorama City gain citizenship but also dreams of voting in the 2016 general election.
“They say unity creates strength,” Rivera, 40, said in Spanish during a citizenship workshop at the Pacoima office of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. “The more there is, the more momentum there is for those who are undocumented or are still in process.”
In its pursuit of lasting immigration reform, CHIRLA launched a new campaign last week to help residents like Rivera become U.S. citizens as well as help eligible immigrants register to vote ahead of the 2016 general election. The organization is sponsoring free consultations and clinics, citizenship test classes, document evaluation and helping residents with submission of forms and requests for fee waivers. They will also reach out to undocumented youth at Quinceanera boutiques who may be eligible for an existing program that would shield them from deportation for up to three years.
The non-profit’s effort was launched after years of failed attempts at comprehensive immigration reform in the nation and several months after a federal court injunction placed on hold the implementation of two executive action programs — announced by President Obama last fall — that would allow millions of undocumented immigrants to apply for temporary relief from deportation.
More than 2 million legal permanent residents who are eligible to naturalize live in the state and many have an interest in becoming citizens and voting to ensure their families — who are often of mixed status — are not torn apart by deportation, said Angelica Salas, CHIRLA’s executive director.
“We feel that in this really crucial moment in which there’s been a block on solutions for immigration reform and a block on (a deferred action program called) DAPA, this is a moment to re-energize and revitalize our power potential here in California,” Salas said.
DAPA would benefit certain undocumented parents of U.S.-born children and green card holders while the second program, also on hold by court injunction, would benefit an expanded number of undocumented youth and young adults who came to the U.S. as children. Texas and other states sued to stop these programs in December and a federal district court in Texas barred their implementation in February while the case proceeds in court.
“Sleeping giant”
Republican politicians in California cannot afford to ignore the needs of its Latino community — dubbed the “sleeping giant” — which is expected to awaken again for the 2016 presidential election, said California Republican strategist Hector Barajas. They need to hire bilingual staff and work with community organizations especially in areas where there are changing demographics, he said.
And if they don’t support a path to legalization for the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants, “they have to come up with an alternative,” Barajas said. “If not, especially in California, they are going to get voted out.”
But Rep. Steve Knight, R-Antelope Valley, believes much tighter border security should be the focus especially at a time when people “want to come in and hurt us.” Then, a discussion about legal immigration, including those wanting to change their status, and illegal immigration can take place, he said.
The strategy of increasing the number of U.S.-citizen Latinos and voters has been used for decades and is particularly significant in light of rapidly shifting demographics in the country today, said Tom Hogen-Esch, a Cal State Northridge professor of politics. It’s projected that there will be no clear racial or ethnic majority in the U.S. within 30 years due to Latino and Asian population increases, which is expected to have major political implications.
“The Democratic Party is going to become more dependent on Latino voters, maybe even more so than they are right now,” he said.
