Speaker Robert Rivas, Assemblywoman Celeste Rodriguez Meet With L.A. Community Leaders on Immigration

Los Angeles— Speaker Robert Rivas and Assemblywoman Celeste Rodriguez co-hosted a community discussion on Friday, bringing together local and state leaders to listen and learn how best to protect California’s immigrant communities and their contributions to the state economy.

California Latino Legislative Caucus vice-chair Assemblymember Juan Carrillo and L.A. Assemblymember Mark González joined the Speaker and Assemblymember Rodriguez for the discussion. Participants from the Los Angeles area included more than two dozen labor and business groups, immigrant advocacy nonprofits and other organizations that serve Los Angeles’ diverse communities.

Friday’s conversation took place days after Assembly Democrats voted to approve $25 million in funding for legal assistance for Californians and immigrant communities, supporting pro bono legal services for especially vulnerable Californians, including immigrant veterans, people with disabilities, unhoused youth, those facing eviction, seniors, and victims of domestic violence, wage theft and human trafficking. 

What Speaker Robert Rivas Says

“We are up against a chaotic deportation agenda by the White House and Republicans in D.C. that will harm California’s economy, so we must work together to fight back. This President’s radical policy of fear threatens our immigrant workers, who pay billions in taxes each year and are the backbone of so many industries, and also jeopardizes our immigrant children, students and families. Here in Los Angeles, I stand with the groups and leaders on the frontlines, and we will defend our immigrant communities and their incredible contributions to California.”

What Assemblywoman Celeste Rodriguez Says

“We stand committed to safeguarding California's immigrant families from the Trump administration's executive orders that are aggressively targeting our community. I am proud to have worked with Speaker Rivas and my colleagues to deliver $50 million in legal defense funding and aid to help immigrants get the support they need. We must continue to diligently seek solutions to make it safe for immigrant families to work, go to school, and seek assistance. California will only be successful in this fight if we partner with community based organizations like the ones here today. I am committed to bringing their solutions forward. Thank you to the Boys and Girls Club in Pacoima for hosting our immigration roundtable discussion and the incredible community that showed up.”

What Assemblymember Mark González Says

“While the federal administration is committed to dismantling and harming communities, we in California stand united to protect our immigrant communities from any harm. Even through this darkness, California is, and will remain, a beacon of hope, dedicated to protecting its most vulnerable populations.”

Economic Impact of California Immigrant Workers

• California immigrants pay nearly $130 billion annually in state and federal taxes (USC CA Immigrant Data Portal 2021)
• 88% of farmworkers in CA are immigrants—that’s 880,000 people. Approximately half are undocumented. (JBS International for the US Department of Labor)
• Immigrants hold one-third of all tourism and hospitality jobs in California. (LA Times Analysis of 2022 US Census Data)
• We must rebuild LA and increase affordable housing. Neither will happen without immigrants, who make up 41% of the construction workforce. (National Association of Homebuilders 2023)
• 50% of certified nursing assistants in CA nursing homes are immigrants. (Health Affairs 2021), and about 40% of child day-care workers. (LA Times Analysis of 2022 US Census Data)
• California immigrants contribute $715 billion in gross domestic product. (CA Immigrant Policy Center 2016)
• In 2022, undocumented immigrants contributed $8.5B in state and local taxes — an amount that would rise to $10.3B if these taxpayers were granted work authorization. (Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) 2022)