Ending immigrant exploitation in Maywood: In 2003, One LA - IAF member congregation St. Rose of Lima began a series of house meetings in Maywood where congregants shared stories describing the effects of the city's weekly checkpoints, which stopped every car that passed along the city's main thoroughfare. Police asked every driver to show a driver's license, and towed the car of any driver who did not have a license.

While the checkpoints were ostensibly intended to target drunk drivers, St. Rose of Lima leaders discovered that more than 90 percent of impounds were for lack of a license - and that the vast majority of those drivers were undocumented immigrants ineligible to get a license.

The Maywood tow yard held towed cars for a mandatory 30 days at a cost of $30 a day, making the final fee for retrieving a car around $1,200, including the ticket and release fees. Most immigrant families in the Southeast region could not pay this cost and simply lost their cars if they were impounded.

In the summer of 2003, St. Rose of Lima hosted a regional action where more than a thousand community members came together to demand that the mayor of Maywood abolish the checkpoints. The mayor agreed to a moratorium on checkpoints and released cars from the tow yard the following day. There has not been another checkpoint in Maywood since.

The towing continued, however, as police staked out businesses where they expected immigrants to be working and stopped people for minor infractions such as a cracked tail light or rosary hanging from the mirror. After city officials refused to meet with One LA - IAF leaders to address the harrassment, more than a hundred congregants each took responsibility for identifying 10 registered voters and talking with them about the issue.

The November 2005 city council election saw turnout double that of previous elections and the voters elected a new council. In the first months of the next term, the new council ended 30-day holds, dismantled the traffic division of the police department, and declared the city a sanctuary for immigrants from around the county.

For press on One LA - IAF's work in Maywood, click here.

Working for statewide protections for immigrants: The work in Maywood inspired the Pomona Cluster of One LA - IAF to address the checkpoints that plagued their city as well. They worked with the Pomona Police Department to begin a pilot program holding the cars of drivers with no license for only one day, replacing previous 30-day holds.

Pomona's rates of collisions and traffic violations, as tracked by the city, continued to decrease after the pilot was implemented as policy. These results led the Pomona cluster and other One LA - IAF institutions and leaders to work to pass SB 626, proposed by Nell Soto in the 2006 legislative year, which would have changed state law to limit impoundment for driving without a license to a single day. The bill did not pass in the state assembly, but One LA - IAF leaders are considering a renewed attempt to address the issue.

For press on the work to limit impoundment time in Pomona, click here.

The Zocalo Project: Easing access to consulate resources throughout LA County: The Zocalo Project, named for the Spanish term for "city square," focuses on immigrants of Mexican origin, the largest and fastest growing immigrant group in Los Angeles and the least able to legalize their status. The Zocalo Project holds "Mobile Matricula" events in which the Mexican consulate brings their Matricula Consular ID processing to the community in daylong events at local churches and schools affiliated with One LA - IAF.

Since its inception in 2005, the Zocalo Project has conducted 22 events enabling more than 7,600 immigrants to receive Matricula Consular IDs that allow them to open bank accounts, apply for mortgages, and finance their children's education. The events have been such a success that the consulate is now working with One LA - IAF to extend them to weeklong events reaching many more people.

For press on the Zocalo Project, click here.