Ugly Betty star America Ferrera says her new effort to push Latinos to vote isn't just personal— it's critical to roll back the tide of strict immigration laws being passed across the nation.
The 28-year-old actress recounted to MSNBC's Al Sharpton on Thursday how she felt labeled as an "other" while growing up in Los Angeles during the '90s push for Proposition 187, a racially-charged ballot initiative (later deemed unconstitutional) that banned illegal immigrants from benefiting from public schools, health care, and social services.
She recounted her mother telling her at the age of 8 or 9 that "people might ask you questions" and urging the young girl to understand that "You are an American. You have every right to be heard. Don't be intimidated. Don't be afraid."
"That has stuck with me," Ferrera told Politics Nation host.
"Nearly 20 years later, people are living with this now, and in even more aggressive ways," she said, pointing to laws in controversial new immigration laws in Arizona and Alabama that allow police officers to demand the papers of anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally.
"It's shameful that any American would stand for this type of intimidation."
Ferrera, whose parents were born in Honduras, launched a new voter outreach program called America4America on Thursday. She said the campaign wasn't about a particular political party or any one candidate.
"This year and this election is a really critical time for the Latino community," she said. "And it's a critical time in our history as all Americans, not just Latinos. This issue of making voting hard, making registering to vote difficult, is against what all Americans believe in."
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Remember to vote AGAINST the politicians that support ILLEGAL residents, over LEGAL residents.
Enforce our existing laws against illegal immigration
All of these immigration discussions have the same origin. Republican politicians know that their years in office are numbered. Hispanics will have great political power in the near future and these politicians want to deport undocumented people before they give birth to more american citizens of hispanic descent who in the future will be voting against the political parties who tried to deport their parents. There are millions of american citizens born to undocumented people as well american citizens who have grandparents or great-grandparents who are not documented. They will definitely be voting against politicians trying to deport grandma. This is the reason that undocumented people were told to report to the census, because they wanted to know how many hispanics were in the country. the political powers that be did not want to lose their grip and have now seen how united hispanics can become when they are supporting a cause and how they will no longer allow themselves to be treated like second class citizens. They are descendants of the original Americans. People say Mexicans should go back to their own country. They are, they are returning to the mother land; to California, Tejas and the half of the United States that was stolen from Mexico. Get over it.