Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant Communities - ILRC

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Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant CommunitiesJanuary 2003advocacy. Several others moved into a traditional ambassador role, becoming more involved innational advocacy.Ambassadors as mentors bring a unique national-local perspective to their bridge-building andrelationship-building efforts. They are willing to invest time in coaching newcomers to use theirnatural skills as leaders in a new setting called the United States.§ 9.5 Case Example Four: Voluntarios de la Comunidad (Volunteers of the Community)Voluntarios de la Comunidad is an organization composed of volunteers from San Jose, Calif.The group began organizing rallies, marches and petition campaigns in the early 1990s as a wayto contribute and support the Justice for Janitors Campaign. Its participation in the campaign ledthe leaders of the group to realize the tremendous potential the immigrant community has whenit comes together and organizes around an issue. To be more effective, Voluntarios de laComunidad has established relationships with local media that are used by the group to informthe community and invite community members to become active in the group.The group’s success is due to the dedication of its volunteers. Voluntarios de la Comunidad doesnot receive funding from any source except the contributions of the volunteer participants.Significantly, the group’s success and presence in the community is growing to a point that tocontinue its work it needs to change its structure to a more formal organization to be able tosolicit funding from foundations or other sources. To accomplish this, the group has approachedorganizations such as ILRC for guidance on how to take the next steps towards building a solidand formal organization.The track record Voluntarios de la Comunidad has developed over the last years as an effectivevehicle for the immigrant community to express its voice, allowed the organization to be one ofthe main Northern California advocates for the issuance of drivers’ licenses for undocumentedimmigrants in the state. Solely relying on volunteers, the group became known in representingthe interests of the immigrant community in the San Francisco Bay Area. The media experiencedeveloped over the years by the leaders of Voluntarios de la Comunidad allowed them toeffectively use the media to carry their message to the community: Licencias para todos/Licensesfor all.Although the governor of California vetoed legislation that would provide drivers’ licenses toimmigrants who were in the process of legalizing their immigration status, Voluntarios de laComunidad continues its work on this issue. They plan to use the vast network they havedeveloped to launch a state wide postcard petition campaign inspired by the One Million Voicescampaign, which seeks to legalize the immigration status of hundreds of thousands of immigrantworkers.9-9
Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant CommunitiesJanuary 2003§ 9.6 Case Example Five: The Campaign for Immigrant Students to Attend CollegeIn the fall of 2001 ILRC began working with high school student groups in the San FranciscoBay Area and Sonoma County to carry out a campaign on issues associated with theimplementation of a recently enacted California law, AB 540.The purpose of working with student groups was twofold. First, the campaign aimed to developleadership skills among immigrant students by educating them about how a recently enactedstate law affected immigrant students in California. Second, it would afford student participantsthe opportunity to inform fellow students about the benefits offered by AB540, and to addressissues and concerns associated with the implementation of the law.Due to changes in federal immigration law in 1996, and prior to the enactment of AB540,California law required undocumented students residing in California who enrolled in publiccolleges and universities to pay out-of-state tuition fees. Under this policy, undocumentedimmigrant students could not be considered residents for in-state tuition purposes. On the otherhand, U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents could satisfy requirements for establishingstate residence and thus qualify for the less expensive in-state tuition rate. This requirementmade access to higher education for a majority of undocumented immigrant studentsprohibitively expensive. Even students with excellent academic records could not afford toattend a public college or university in the state. The enactment of AB540 removed some of thefinancial barriers for undocumented students to continue their education after high schoolgraduation.In October 2001 the governor of California signed AB540 into law. The law went in to effect onJanuary 1, 2002. AB540 allows for a waiver of the non-resident tuition requirement at Californiapublic colleges and universities for students who have studied at a California high school for atleast three years, are high school graduates and, if they are undocumented, sign an affidavit withthe university or college where they intend to register attesting that they will file to legalize theirimmigration status as soon as they are eligible. As the law was signed in 2001, its applicationwas mandatory in the California State University and California Community College systems assoon as it went into effect in 2002. However, application of the law to the University ofCalifornia (UC) was contingent on adoption of the law to the UC system by the university’sgoverning board of regents.ILRC, through the relationships it had established over the years with community-basedorganizations, was able to identify groups of students from the San Francisco Bay Area andSonoma County who were interested in forming an advocacy and informational campaign onAB540. To accomplish this, the students had to first be informed about the provisions of the law,its application and its limitations. They also had to be trained on how to carry out a campaign.This was accomplished through a series of trainings at their schools through migrant educationprograms or at community organizations that were already working with the students on otherissues. Once the students were informed and trained, they were ready to execute an informationaland advocacy campaign.9-10
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