As immigrant communities continue to be under threat from raids by federal authorities, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles (CHIRLA) brought 150 advocates to Sacramento to demand that state legislators strengthen legislative firewalls to protect them.
CHIRLA held a press conference Wednesday morning, April 8, for what they called “Immigrants Thriving Advocacy Day,” where they presented to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle their package of legislative pro-immigrant priorities. They called for California to ensure that spaces, including schools and hospitals, are safe for everyone, regardless of immigration status.
Joining the conference alongside the immigration advocates were CHIRLA Executive Director Angelica Salas, Policy Director Jeannette Zanipatin, State Sens. Maria Elena Durazo, Sabrina Cervantes and Sasha Renée Pérez and Assemblymembers Sade Elhawary and Ash Kalra.
Salas addressed the crowd of supporters, saying, “You came to remind our leaders that California’s strength has always come from its people, from farm workers and caregivers, from students, small business owners [and] families. We give so much to the state every single day. This moment is about making sure California continues to honor those contributions, to protect our communities and to build a future where all of us, no matter where we come from, can thrive.”
State leaders then came to the podium, each urging community support for different pieces of legislation. For Durazo, it was Senate Bills (SB) 1243 and 1422; the former would provide a temporary stay on evictions for tenants and families whose income has been impacted by the immigration raids. The latter calls for “full restoration of Medi-Cal for undocumented workers” for a person at least 19 years of age.
Durazo claimed that 95% of immigrant renters are experiencing rent burdens due to the raids, adding that no one should have to endure the trauma of being kept in a detention center while also worrying about losing their home. When it comes to SB 1422, she called immigrant workers the backbone of California’s economy and that they deserve the care that their labor funds.
“They keep California’s industry functioning and they pay billions in taxes, but they pay into the system, and now they’re being told the system will not cover them when they are sick,” Durazo said. “That is not fiscal responsibility. It’s extracting labor and refusing the dignity of basic care when people lose preventative care access. … Restoring medical access is not a choice between responsibility and compassion. It is a recognition that coverage is both humane and economically rational.”
Cervantes, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, began by calling out President Donald Trump, saying he can’t be allowed to “dismantle our democracy piece by piece.” She brought up concerns that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents could be deployed to patrol polling locations during the midterm elections to intimidate voters.
To provide some sense of security in the election process, Cervantes called for support of SB 73, which would prohibit election officials from permitting a federal agency or its employees from inspecting a voting machine unless authorized by a federal court order. This bill, she said, would provide an additional defense from federal interference.
“It will make it a crime for individual officers, including federal officers, to be deployed there at all,” Cervantes said. “I am proud to work with you to continue to safeguard our elections and ensure that California keeps the right to choose its government at the ballot box, no matter how hard Donald Trump tries to take that away from us. We are ready to fight, and we are ready to win.”
Pérez also had two bills of her own, but perhaps the most notable one was SB 995, otherwise known as the Masuma Khan Justice Act – named after an Altadena wildfire survivor who, in October 2025, was detained and kept at the California City Detention Facility. The woman, Pérez said, was denied her right to an attorney and access to medication.
The detention center was the subject of a federal class-action lawsuit filed by seven immigrants who alleged inhumane conditions.
The bill would empower state authorities to conduct inspections of private detention facilities to ensure they meet state health and safety standards. Operators of these facilities would face fines up to $25,000 a day for each violation and could risk having their state-issued license revoked or suspended.
“We know that these for-profit Wall Street prisons are abusing and committing human rights violations on a regular basis,” Pérez said. “We have seen our immigrant communities die in these detention centers and these for-profit companies … need to be held accountable. … This should not be how our people are treated.”