On April 10, the national day of action for immigration reform, labor leader Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, was outspoken in her critique of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and said:
We voted for her... She has a responsibility to represent us. This is not about her personal opinion, she is a United States senator representing California, we are California, so represent us in good comprehensive immigration reform. Shame on her for not being an outspoken champion for immigration reform in this country. We will continue to talk to her, her staff listens to us, but the time will come when she has to take a position publically, nationally, to defend the best possible immigration reform for the United States of America.
As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee overseeing immigration, Senator Feinstein plays a major role in affecting policy that would impact the current 11 million people living in the shadows as well as overhaul a clearly broken and outdated immigration system.
The National Day of Action in Southern California took place in front of Feinstein's Santa Monica office with hundreds of protestors from various diverse groups demanding she commit to working on a bill that would keep families together and stop deportations. Most urgently, immigration reform advocates are calling for a comprehensive solution to fix our broken immigration system -- one that raises the quality of jobs for all workers, keeps families together and creates a realistic roadmap for aspiring citizens.
In response to the pressure, Feinstein release the following statement:
I strongly support comprehensive immigration reform. I have voted for in the past. I support the Dream Act, and I support an agriculture workers immigration reform bill with an earned path to citizenship. I have not seen the details of the bill produced by the bipartisan group of eight senators, but the chairman of the Judiciary Committee has there will be a hearing on it next week, and I look forward to reading the details of the bill. Bottom line: I am a strong supporter of comprehensive immigration reform.
Groups joining Wednesday's march and rally in Santa Monica included the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), Asian Pacific Islanders for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment (API FIRE), CLUE-LA, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), Dream Team Los Angeles, the Korean Resource Center (KRC), the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA), the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, SEIU ULTCW, SEIU USWW, SEIU Local 99 and SEIU Local 721.
