A crowd of roughly 150 people circled the sculptural architecture in front of the Roybal Federal Building located in Los Angeles California in support of a newly introduced immigration reform bill.
H.R. 1511, colloquially known as the Rolling Registry Bill, is an amendment to an existing law preventing undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States after 1972 from applying for permanent residency through the immigration registry.
“We have worked hard, ever since we got here. I came here when I was 20 years old and now I am 54. I have given my lungs, everything here. That is why this immigration reform is necessary,” said Silvia, a volunteer with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, in Spanish.
Like many other immigrants living in the United States, Silvia has dedicated years of her life to working in this country and has been unsuccessful in obtaining resident or citizen status.
If the Rolling Registry Bill passes, the amendment would allow someone like Sylvia, who immigrated after 1972 and lived in the U.S. for more than seven years, to access that same registry pathway to legal residency.
Starting at 10 a.m. the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, who organized the hour-long rally, prepped members with various items of clothing to represent the organization and their cause to create a pathway for citizenship for immigrants in America.
The event was part of a nationwide organizational effort, with matching rallies in Washington D.C.
Protesters arrived from all over California to attend the rally. A few of these neighborhoods included the San Fernando Valley, East and South Los Angeles and Downtown LA.
“We want to actualize the law of registry. A lot of people have many years living here and they don’t have an (immigration) status,” said Angelina Enriquez, a CHIRLA volunteer in Spanish.
Diana Ramos, the deputy director for organizing for CHIRLA, opened up about how this issue has directly affected her.
Ramos’ parents were undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. and recently died without ever getting the opportunity to become citizens of the country where they spent the majority of their lives.
She went on to discuss how CHIRLA has been fighting for justice for undocumented immigrants all across the United States.
2023 marks 35 years of CHIRLA activity, as it was founded in 1986 during the Sanctuary Movement, which pushed to provide space for refugees fleeing human rights abuses in Central America.
According to Ramos, justice is making sure they have the right to “freedom of movement and stability” among other basic rights not afforded to undocumented immigrants in the United States.