Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. As of July 2016, Mexican Americans made up 11.2% of the United States' population, as 36.3 million U.S. residents identified as being of full or partial Mexican ancestry. As of July 2016, Mexican Americans comprised 63.2% of all Latinos in Americans in the United States. Many Mexican Americans reside in the American Southwest; over 60% of all Mexican Americans reside in the states of California and Texas. As of 2016, Mexicans make up 53% of total percent population of Latin foreign-born. Mexicans are also the largest foreign-born population, accounting for 25% of the total foreign-born population, as of 2017.
California Proposition 187 was a 1994 ballot initiative to establish a state-run citizenship screening system and prohibit illegal immigrants from using non-emergency health care, public education, and other services in the State of California. Voters passed the proposed law at a referendum on November 8, 1994. The law was challenged in a legal suit the day after its passage, and found unconstitutional by a federal district court on November 11th. In 1999, Governor Gray Davis halted state appeals of this ruling.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act was passed by the 99th United States Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on November 6, 1986.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is an anti-immigration organization in the United States. The group publishes position papers, organizes events, and runs campaigns in order to influence US immigration policies. The Southern Poverty Law Center classifies FAIR as a hate group with close ties to white supremacist groups.
The Border Protection, Anti-terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 was a bill in the 109th United States Congress. It was passed by the United States House of Representatives on December 16, 2005 by a vote of 239 to 182, but did not pass the Senate. It was also known as the "Sensenbrenner Bill," for its sponsor in the House of Representatives, Wisconsin Republican Jim Sensenbrenner. The bill was the catalyst for the 2006 U.S. immigration reform protests and was the first piece of legislation passed by a house of Congress in the United States illegal immigration debate. Development and the effect of the bill was featured in The Senate Speaks, Story 11 in How Democracy Works Now: Twelve Stories a documentary series from filmmaking team Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini.
In 2006-2007, millions of people participated in protests over a proposed change to U.S. immigration policy. These large scale mobilizations are widely seen as a historic turn point in Latino politics, especially Latino immigrant civic participation and political influence, as noted in a range of scholarly publications in this field. The protests began in response to proposed legislation known as H.R. 4437, which would raise penalties for illegal immigration and classify undocumented immigrants and anyone who helped them enter or remain in the US as felons. As part of the wider immigration debate, most of the protests not only sought a rejection of this bill, but also a comprehensive reform of the country's immigration laws that included a path to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants.
Illegal immigration to the United States is the process of migrating into the United States in violation of federal immigration laws. This can include foreign nationals who have entered the United States illegally, as well as those who entered legally but remained after the expiration of their entry visa or parole documents. Illegal immigration has been a matter of strong debate in the United States since the 1980s, and has been a major focus of President Donald Trump, as illustrated by his campaign to build a wall along the Mexico border.
Carlos Montes is a nationally respected leader in the Chicano, immigrant rights, and anti-war movements. He was a co-founder of the Brown Berets, a Chicano working class youth organization in the United States in the late 1960s and 1970s. The Brown Berets were inspired by and often compared to the Black Panther Party. Montes was one of the leaders of the Chicano Blowouts, a series of walkouts of East Los Angeles high schools to protest against racism and inequality in Los Angeles-area high schools. He is portrayed by Fidel Gomez in the 2006 HBO movie Walkout.
Nativo Lopez-Vigil was a Mexican American political leader and immigrant rights activist in Southern California. Lopez was a national president of the Mexican American Political Association and the national director of the Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana , a community service and advocacy organization for Mexican and Latin American immigrants throughout the United States.
The National Alliance for Immigrants' Rights is an organization advocating legal status for all illegal immigrant workers in the United States pending Congressional enactment of a comprehensive immigration reform. It was founded in a conference held in Chicago on August 11–13, 2006, attended by about 700 people, most of whom had been involved in the Great American Boycott earlier in 2006.
California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR) was a Huntington Beach, California-based political advocacy group devoted to immigration reduction, with an emphasis on combating illegal immigration to the United States. According to the organization's website, its objectives were to "promote and expand citizen and legal resident awareness by a practical, effective communication network" and to "mobilize citizens and legal residents to support elected representatives and legislation" who favor immigration reduction.
The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium is a national service, advocacy and education organization for two non-profit multi-issue grassroots local community centers: the Korean American Resource & Cultural Center in Chicago and the Korean Resource Center in Los Angeles. NAKASEC is based in Los Angeles and a D.C. office opened in late 2008.
We Are America Alliance (WAAA) is a national alliance of immigrant rights organizations and allies in the United States. It advocates for comprehensive immigration reform and immigrants' civic participation. The alliance was formed out of a collaboration around the 2006 immigration reform protests, which mobilized more than two million people nationwide during spring, as well as a civic participation campaign during the 2006 elections.
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles also known, as CHIRLA is a Los Angeles county-based organization focusing on immigrant rights. While the organization did evolve from a local level, it is now recognized at a national level. The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles organizes and serves individuals, institutions and coalitions to build power, transform public opinion, and change policies to achieve full human, civil and labor rights. The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles also has aided in passing new laws and policies to benefit the immigrant community regardless of documented status.
Guatemalan Americans are Americans of full or partial Guatemalan descent. The Guatemalan American population at the 2010 Census was 1,044,209. Guatemalans are the sixth largest Latino group in the United States and the second largest Central American population after Salvadorans. Half of the Guatemalan population is situated in two parts of the country, the Northeast and Southern California.
The National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) is an American organization dedicated to improving the lives of day laborers. It was founded in Northridge, California in July 2001 and is based in Los Angeles, California. NDLON functions in a form of direct democracy where day laborers who are in member organizations vote directly for the policies at NDLON's biannual assemblies. NDLON’s vision is to live in a diverse world where day laborers have full rights in an enticement with peace, harmony, justice and mutual respect. National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) was founded at the first national gathering of day laborer organizations. It started with 12 community-based-organizations and has grown to 36 member organizations.
The Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) is a community-based organization that seeks to foster the comprehensive development of the Latino community in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region. CARECEN was founded in 1981 to protect the rights of refugees arriving from conflict in Central America and to help ease their transition by providing legal services. CARECEN provides direct services in immigration, housing and citizenship while also promoting empowerment, civil rights advocacy and civic training for Latinos. Another CARECEN is also located in Los Angeles and which was established two years after the D.C. location.
Salvadorans are the third largest Hispanic group in the United States and the second largest foreign born group in Los Angeles. The main wave of immigrants came during the Salvadoran Civil War in the 1980s, in order to escape the violence and political and economic instability in the country. Since then, Salvadorans have continued to migrate to Los Angeles as well as other cities around the United States. The community is well established in Los Angeles and stands as an integral part of its cultural and economic life.
On August 2, 1995, 72 Thai nationals were found working in conditions of slavery in a makeshift garment factory consisting of a row of residential duplexes in El Monte, California, just east of Los Angeles. This case is considered the first recognized case of modern-day slavery in the United States since the abolishment of slavery. It would serve as a wake-up call for the world to the global phenomenon of human trafficking and modern-day slavery and would begin the anti-trafficking movement in the United States with the Thai Community Development Center as its pioneer. The case would also lead to the passage of California laws to reform the garment industry and end sweatshop abuses through independent monitoring and a code of conduct and then eventually to the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) passed by the United States Congress (later known as the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.
The issue of crimes committed by Illegal immigrants to the United States is a topic that is often asserted and debated in politics and the media when discussing Immigration policy in the United States. According to many studies, undocumented immigrants in the United States are less likely to commit crime than native-born citizens and have no impact on violent crime rates.
