Los Angeles, CA – Over 20 people rallied in the Boyle Heights neighborhood, at Mariachi Plaza on December 8. The rallying cry was for Congress to save Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DACA which was a 2012 executive order by then-President Barack Obama, is at risk of being overturned.

Centro CSO united forces to save it and to also demand the legalization of all of the undocumented. Present at the event were Torres High School students and residents of Boyle Heights. Some of them are DACAmented. Tomasa Martínez who is a mother to three undocumented children was also in attendance.

CSO is part of the national Legalization for All Network (L4A.)

Antonia Montes, a LA Unified School District teacher at Eastmont Avenue School, said during the rally, “As we gather here today, we stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers who lack legal status in this xenophobic and racist country. For those of us with ancestral ties to this land, we are not the undocumented! We are not the so-called aliens! We are not the ones who crossed an ocean without papers.”

Victor Gonzalez who is DACAmented and attended the rally said, “The Biden administration needs to legalize DACA recipients because ten years of DACA limbo is dehumanizing. Our families live in the USA, and we have worked hard to be perfect, since perfection is mandatory in order to qualify for DACA. 12 million undocumented people who work, breathe and contribute so much to this country need a clear pathway to legalization now!”

Other speakers included Aaron Reveles of the Peace and Freedom Party, as well as Jenny Bekenstein and Sol Márquez, who are co-chairs of the CSO Immigration committee. Both are also members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).

Bekenstein said of the current situation, “It is especially unfair because harmful U.S. foreign policy and militarization is a huge part of the reason why people are forced to leave their home countries and immigrate here.”

LA has a population of more than 360,000 Salvadorans, over 260,000 Guatemalans, and over 3.5 million Mexicans, thus making immigration issues vital. Centro CSO finds it crucial to prioritize the struggle for legalization for the undocumented. Chicanos are a growing population and all three contribute to the ever-changing and evolving character of what is to be Chicano.

If you would like to part of the CSO Immigration Committee, attend the upcoming Zoom meeting. The meeting is open to the public and will be on December 22, 6 p.m. Please contact them at (323) 484-8630, [email protected], or @CentroCSO on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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