The online voter registration campaign, Mi Familia Vota (MFV), is targeting young Latinos is being released as part of Immigrant Heritage Month, a celebration of our nation’s diversity during June. Over the past couple of decades, the numbers of “New American” voters -- naturalized citizens or native-born children of immigrants -- as well as voters from the broader Latino and Asian communities, have risen dramatically. Actress Diane Guerrero, who is also is a member of the “Jane the Virgin” cast, began advocating for justice and dignity in immigration policies, as well as Latino civic engagement, after writing a powerful op-ed in the Los Angeles Times last November about her family’s encounter with the broken immigration system.
Noting that she could not wait to turn 18 so that she could register to vote, Guerrero says in the video, “There are millions of people who aren’t registered to vote even though they are eligible, and if Latinos don’t vote, politicians will ignore us. They won’t pass fair immigration laws to keep our families together, and they won’t even guarantee fair, equal pay for women. I am ready to prove to the politicians that we cannot be ignored. I am ready to vote in 2016 for myself and for my family. Let’s show that we are ready.”
MFV Executive Director Ben Monterroso praised Guerrero’s commitment to the immigration rights movement and to helping raise Latino civic participation. “Ms. Guerrero’s very courageous decision to publicly share her personal story inspired millions of American families who have suffered family separations due to the broken immigration system. Now, she brings her powerful voice to our community -- those who are eligible to apply for citizenship or who are citizens but haven’t registered to vote -- to remind them that our issues will be ignored by politicians unless we vote. Ms. Guerrero is doing very important work, and all of us in the immigrants’ rights movement are very proud of her,” Monterroso said.
MFV conducts year-round citizenship workshops, voter registration drives and voter mobilization drives in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada and Texas. There are about 8.8 million lawful permanent residents (LPRs) nationwide who could become naturalized citizens and future voters. Among citizens who now have the right to vote, there are nearly 600,000 children of parents who could apply for Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). Conservative, anti-immigrant states won a temporary court order blocking the start of DAPA, but the Obama administration is confident the politically driven lawsuit will fail on the merits of the case.
“We really need long-term immigration reforms, and those will come when politicians hear our voices, loudly and clearly, on Election Day,” Monterroso said. “Voting is part of our American heritage, and we are proud to be the fastest growing segment of the electorate.”
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
