By CHIRLA Action Fund
More than 30 volunteers from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) Action Fund gathered at Poncitlan Square in Palmdale Saturday [May 10] to celebrate Mother’s Day weekend by reaching out to voters and informing them of the upcoming primary election on June 3.
As part of the “Respeto” Campaign, which translated in English means “Respect”, the CHIRLA Action Fund kicked off a voter engagement effort that will reach thousands of low propensity immigrant voters in the Antelope Valley.
“I’m a mother with a beautiful immigrant family here in Palmdale and we are active here in the community working to pass immigration reform,” said Josefina de la Cruz, “We have only seen promises from our elected officials. We want immigration reform, we want results.”
Lee Rogers, candidate for Congress in California’s 25th Congressional District, received an official endorsement from the CHIRLA Action Fund at Saturday’s event.
“We deserve candidates that respect our immigrant community and give us the attention that we deserve,” said Angelica Salas, Board Chair of the CHIRLA Action Fund, “It is with great pride and pleasure that we endorse candidate Lee Rogers for Congress.”
Candidate Lee Rogers addressed the audience and encouraged the Latino community in the Antelope Valley to have their voices heard in the upcoming election.
“The House could be standing up for immigrant communities, instead they have voted to repeal your health care 50 times,” said Lee Rogers, “We know that mothers are being taken away from their children, we know that businesses will be better when we accept immigrants into our community.”
At the conclusion of the endorsement, volunteer canvassers got their maps and walking lists and headed out into the neighborhoods in Palmdale to encourage the community to get out and vote in the upcoming election.
Within hours they knocked on 550 doors. They plan to continue knocking on doors every weekend until the June 3 primary election.
To find more on how to get involved in this effort, visit http://chirlafund.org/. To find out more about the June 3 election, visit http://www.smartvoter.org/ca/la/.
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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The AV Times.
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Danny says
Close to boarder!!
It’s time to care of our own!
William says
Unless I missed it, I didn’t see the word ‘register’ as in ‘register to vote’ in the article. I’m sure there are many Latino residents who are eligible to vote but aren’t registered.
Given there large numbers of Latinos here in the Antelope Valley, they will have a big voice if they register and vote for candidates that will support immigration reform and ballot items that they also support.
It does little good to expect any changes if you don’t vote. Your vote has more power than all the money spent by the rich to benefit themselves only if you use it.
Xavier Flores says
To Educate Everyone. Thanks so much for the history lesson. I wonder if you might find excerpts from history books that relate the war of aggression that was instigated by Polk in order to possess all the land acquired after the war? I think people need to know the war’s purpose and how it was implemented.
The purpose for this exercise is not to rationalize a movement to reconquer the land, as someone implied. It is simply to place the present issue of immigration from Mexico in a historical context. Taking an issue of of its historical context can lead to misunderstanding of the issue. Our intent is to foment understanding and snuff out the fear that results from ignorance.
Green Eyed Lady says
Absolutely! I have been here over 30 years from Canada and I am a citizen. I did it the right way and followed the rules. With immigrants just living here and getting all the benefits illegally really angers me. It just makes my citizenship certificate worth nothing more than junk mail. I don’t care what country they come from, they must get a green card and then citizenship to vote.
Rocco says
What about respecting our immigration laws before you demand rights to things that are available to legal citizens and immigrants. If you are here legally I have no problem with you wanting rights but to come here and wave the Mexican flag while demanding things from our government when you are here illegally is just not right and also very irritating to those who came to our country the proper way
John Q. Public says
Thank you for saving me from having to say the exact same thing.
AVtimeReader says
Stop abuse the welfare system and help your children well educate will give you a voice and get votes from tax-payers. Not being an “Entitlement mentality parents” so long.
John says
The civil rights group, CHIRLA, believe that Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma still belong to Mexico.
Mexico lost the war. The leaders of both countries had laid the boundaries after the war. It is what it is. Get over it.
Respeto Campaign? It should be called “Reconquista Campaign”
Lee Rogers will not get my vote.
John says
Civil rights group? Meant to say immigrant rights group.
EducateEveryone says
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo:
Terms
Although Mexico ceded Alta California and Santa Fe de Nuevo México, the text of the treaty[4] did not list territories to be ceded, and avoided the disputed issues that were causes of war: the validity of the 1836 secession of the Republic of Texas, Texas’s unenforced boundary claims as far as the Rio Grande, and the 1845 annexation of Texas to the United States.
Instead, Article V of the treaty simply described the new U.S.–Mexico border. From east to west, the border consisted of the Rio Grande northwest from its mouth to the point Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico (roughly 32 degrees north), as shown in the Disturnell map, then due west from this point to the 110th meridian west, then north along the 110th Meridian to the Gila River and down the river to its mouth. Unlike the New Mexico segment of the boundary, which depended partly on unknown geography, “in order to preclude all difficulty in tracing upon the ground the limit separating Upper from Lower California,” a straight line was drawn from the mouth of the Gila to one marine league south of the southernmost point of the port of San Diego, slightly north of the previous Mexican provincial boundary at Playas de Rosarito.
Comparing the boundary in the Adams–Onís Treaty to the Guadalupe Hidalgo boundary, Mexico conceded about 55% of its pre-war, pre-Texas territorial claims[5] and now has an area of 1,972,550 km² (761,606 sq mi).
In the United States, the 1.36 million km² (525,000 square miles) of the area between the Adams-Onis and Guadalupe Hidalgo boundaries outside the 1,007,935 km2 (389,166 sq mi) claimed by the Republic of Texas is known as the Mexican Cession. That is to say, the Mexican Cession is construed not to include any territory east of the Rio Grande, while the territorial claims of the Republic of Texas included no territory west of the Rio Grande. The Mexican Cession included essentially the entirety of the former Mexican territory of Alta California, but only the western portion of Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico, and includes all of present-day California, Nevada and Utah, most of Arizona, and western portions of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming.
Articles VIII and IX ensured safety of existing property rights of Mexican citizens living in the transferred territories. Despite assurances to the contrary, the property rights of Mexican citizens were often not honored by the U.S. in accordance with modifications to and interpretations of the Treaty.[6][7][8] The U.S. also agreed to assume $3.25 million (equivalent to $88.6 million today) in debts that Mexico owed to United States citizens.
The residents could choose whether they wanted American or Mexican citizenship; all but 1000 or so chose American citizenship, which included full voting rights.[9] Article XII engaged the United States to pay, “In consideration of the extension acquired”, 15 million dollars (equivalent to $410 million today),[10] in annual installments of 3 million dollars.
Article XI of the treaty was important to Mexico. It provided that the United States would prevent and punish raids by Indians into Mexico, prohibited Americans from acquiring property, including livestock, taken by the Indians in those raids, and stated that the U.S. would return captives of the Indians to Mexico. Mexicans believed that the United States had encouraged and assisted the Comanche and Apache raids that had devastated northern Mexico in the years before the war. This article promised relief to them [11]
Article XI, however, proved unenforceable. Destructive Indian raids continued despite a heavy U.S. presence near the Mexican border. Mexico filed 366 claims with the U.S. government for damages done by Comanche and Apache raids between 1848 and 1853.[12] In 1853, in the Treaty of Mesilla concluding the Gadsden Purchase, Article XI was annulled.[13]
Results[edit]
The land that the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo brought into the United States became, between 1850 and 1912, all or part of ten states: California (1850), Nevada (1864), Utah (1896), and Arizona (1912), as well as the whole of, depending upon interpretation, the entire state of Texas (1845) that then included part of Kansas (1861), Colorado (1876), Wyoming (1890), Oklahoma (1907), and New Mexico (1912). The remainder (the southern parts) of New Mexico and Arizona were peacefully purchased under Gadsden Purchase, which was carried out in 1853. In this purchase the United States paid an additional $10 million (equivalent to $280 million today), for land intended to accommodate a transcontinental railroad. However, the American Civil War delayed construction of such a route, and it was not until 1881 that the Southern Pacific Railroad finally was completed, fulfilling the purpose of the acquisition.[14]
Xavier Flores says
Congratulations to AV CHIRLA and the Los Angeles CHIRLA Action Fund for their civic involvement. Nine percent of us went out to vote during the last election in Lancaster, the other 91% could take a lesson from this group.
Perhaps some of us do feel entitled. Those of you who do not understand the reason for this should take a look at the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848. The same as with most other treaties, this Nation has failed to comply with its provisions. However, this does not make its provisions any less tangible.
EducateEveryone says
Knocking on doors will not do any good as long as you don’t educate your children and strongly forge the idea that a college education for them is what will give you a voice. Educate, educate, educate…..this is the only way you will stop others from thinking you have an “Entitlement mentality”. You children can make the difference, plain and simple. Learn about the education standards, your rights as parents and citizens and most importantly, volunteer at your children’s school and I promise you, you will be invisible “no more”. (:
Good grief says
Entitlement mentality to the extreme! I would respectfully request you respect OUR LAWS, OUR BORDERS and OUR SOVEREIGNTY. Thanks for letting me know who NOT to vote for.