Angélica Salas is a nationally-recognized immigrant rights leader. Originally from Durango, Mexico, she immigrated to the US as a child to reunite with her parents, who came to provide a better life for their family. They lived in the country undocumented and experienced deportation, but eventually legalized their status, and in 2008, Angélica became a US citizen. Angélica joined the Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights Los Angeles (CHIRLA) in 1995 and became CHIRLA’s Executive Director in 1999. In her role, she has transformed CHIRLA into a mass membership, immigrant-led organization that empowers immigrants and their families to win local, state, and national policies to advance human, civil, and labor rights. She has grown CHIRLA into one of the nation’s largest and most effective immigrant rights organizations and has spearheaded ambitious statewide and national campaigns to expand immigrant rights. Among her achievements include winning in-state financial aid and grant programs for California’s undocumented students, establishing day-laborer centers, winning driver’s licenses for undocumented drivers, decoupling local police departments from immigration enforcement, expanding access to immigrant legal services, and winning the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).