DemandingEquity and Justice
CHIRLA organizes immigrants and their families to fight harmful policies and demand equity and justice from our government.
Our organizers build power through forming new relationships, recruiting members, developing leaders, and planning campaigns to make a change.
All the rights enjoyed by citizens and immigrants in this country result from the organized work and the struggle of people of color; civil rights, women's rights, and labor rights are not a gift from those in power. The people affected have understood their claims, fought for those rights, and won them. Together, we unite to bring about a just society, fully inclusive of immigrants.
CHIRLA organizes communities in California through groups centered on location and shared interests, carrying out campaigns with defined goals. Our groups are:
WiseUp!
Our youth leadership development program mentoring high school students in 15 Los Angeles schools. WiseUp! student clubs develop leaders, members, and allies, helping them prepare for college, become activists, and find a place to belong.
CaliforniaDream Network (CDN)
Our program to mobilize college students in 30 California colleges and universities around immigration reform. CDN, with 5,000 veteran trained leaders, has led our advocacy around the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Unstoppable Dreams
Unstoppable Dreams fights for the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which has granted young undocumented immigrant students conditional legal status and work permits, allowing them to improve their families’ economic situation and giving them new opportunities. People with DACA have become our colleagues and neighbors across the nation, and they are essential workers. Current goal: pass the Dream and Promise Act (HR6), which gives people with conditional status a path to citizenship, in the Senate.
ImmigrantFamilies
From its beginning, CHIRLA organized and mobilized families to push for better immigration policies. This meant working with family members of different ages, sexual identities, ideologies, and immigration status. We help them see their unique abilities and then use them to benefit their community.
Contamos Contigo Census Campaign
The 2020 Census counts every person living in the U.S. Contamos Contigo focuses on reaching out to hard to count communities to make sure everyone is counted in the 2020 Census, to ensure our communities get the resources they need. If we aren’t counted, we don’t get the schools, family clinics, and hospitals our community so desperately needs.
Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants (DRAI)
This effort grew out of the combined advocacy of organizations across California to ensure the Governor took undocumented immigrants into account in crafting a way to help Californians affected by COVID-19. The program designates $75 million for one-time emergency assistance for undocumented immigrants who do not benefit from any other aid.
Low-wageWorkers
CHIRLA is a longtime leader in organizing low-wage workers, including day laborers, street vendors, and domestic workers who do not reap the benefits of labor laws. We help them connect with and enlist lawmakers in their struggle.
NDWA Bill of Rights National Campaign
The National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights protects domestic workers and personal aides working in domestic settings in California. It improves working conditions for domestic workers and the care they give their charges.
Salarios Justos/Hogares Limpios
Aims to transform the domestic workers’ industry by informing workers of their rights under labor laws to achieve decent working conditions together with partners and employers.
Low Wage Worker Organizing
In partnership with state ad federal agencies, consulates and faith institutions, CHIRLA runs the EMPLEO (Employment, Education & Outreach) assistance line to provide Spanish-speaking workers the means to report wage theft, harassment and unsafe working conditions. Workers are encouraged to get involved in CHIRLA’s organizing committees to remain active long after they have won their wage and hour claims. The toll-free EMPLEO hotline is 877-552-9832 (877-55-AYUDA)
Los AngelesRapid Response Network
The Los Angeles Raids Rapid Response Network is a collaborative effort between the community, faith, immigrant, labor, legal and LGBTQI organizations to protect, defend and serve the immigrant community of Los Angeles County from deportation. The RRRN was first established in 2006 as a response to mass raids in Los Angeles factories and textile centers. Today, the RRRN focuses on advocacy, direct action to shut down detention centers, and connecting immigrants facing detention and deportation to legal representation.
In Memory of Antonio (Tony) Bernabé
1960-2021
For more than two decades, Antonio “Tony” Bernabé fought for the rights of workers and immigrants like himself. When he arrived in Los Angeles in 1990, he began as a laborer. Almost immediately, he began to organize people. He reached out to hundreds of people: fellow laborers, domestic workers, legislators, families, allies in the movement. In 1997, Tony joined CHIRLA as an organizer and worked his way to organizing director.
As an immigrant, day laborer, and family man, Tony experienced the fight for immigrant rights in his bones. His life’s dream was to see inclusive and fair immigration reform become a reality in this country. On January 20, 2021, Tony took his last breaths as President Biden adopted measures to protect immigrants, including signing executive orders and introducing a new legalization bill.
To honor Tony's legacy, we ask you to donate to the Bernabé Family Fund
100 percent of donations go directly to the Bernabé family.