Sunday marked a huge day for nearly 5,000 illegal immigrants in Los Angeles.
Thousands of people stood in line for the event at the Los Angeles Convention Center to join an informational session for undocumented immigrants on how to qualify for protection from deportation under President Obama’s executive action.
Obama’s announcement last month gave nearly 3.5 million immigrants who have been living in the U.S. for five years hope they would be shielded from deportation and remain in the country via three-year deportation deferrals and work permits.
The immigrants must also have no serious criminal records and a child who is an American citizen or legal permanent resident.
Organizations such as the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles helped organize the event, according to the New York Times.
“We’re telling all our families to get ready to apply if they qualify, because the more families apply, the harder it is for Republicans to take it away,” Angelica Salas, the executive director of the Coalition, said.
“All those children are going to be voters,” she said, “and those voters are going to remember who stood with their dad and their mom.”
Thousands of the people attending the event were Mexican — a fair representation of the nearly two-thirds of immigrants eligible for Obama’s actions, according to Pew Research Center.
Groups at the event are planning to sign up at least 500,000 illegal immigrants for the president’s program, according to Joshua Hoyt, the executive director of the National Partnership for New Americans.
