To advance our mission, one of CHIRLA’s areas of work is Community Organizing. We believe that by engaging immigrant families in our areas of work, building leadership development, and exercising their power, we can make concrete change. CHIRLA’s Organizing project and its members have been leaders of the immigration debate here in California and continue to grow the voice and power of CHIRLA. CHIRLA organizes:

Household Workers: One of CHIRLA’s biggest accomplishments has been to be able organize one of the most marginalized immigrant populations in the country. Our Household Workers Committee in 2006 worked with former Assemblywoman Cindy Montañez and a statewide Household Worker Coalition to introduce a piece of legislation to give labor rights recognition for Household Workers in California. This legislation made it all the way to the Governor’s desk but has yet to be supported by the Governor. Day Laborers: Our Day Laborer organizing began in 1988. CHIRLA has been one of the few organizations that began organizing Day Laborers in the country. This committee focuses on integrating these workers and their families in the community by organizing the day laborer community through education, leadership development, and mediation. Undocumented Students: This committee called Wise Up was formally created in 2001 during a campaign to win access to higher education through a law called AB540. This committee and its campus organizations lead efforts to win access to higher education and immigration reform for all immigrant students with an emphasis on Leadership Development, Education, and Organizing. CA DREAM Network All of our committees continue to work together to strategize and mobilize immigrant families through Los Angeles in our campaign for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.