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Council marks May Day with calls for worker, immigrant and transgender support; TransLatin Coalition requests $3 million
Summary
Councilmembers and community groups used the May Day presentation to highlight labor and immigrant rights, call for sanctuary protections, and press the council for a $3 million request to fund a TransLatin Coalition initiative for trans immigrants.
Councilmembers and community leaders used a May Day presentation at the Los Angeles City Council on May 1, 2025, to emphasize labor solidarity, immigrant rights, and services for transgender and gender‑expansive communities.
Councilmember Hugo Soto‑Martinez and Councilmember Eunice Hernandez led the presentation, noting the historical role of May Day in labor organizing and immigration advocacy and urging continued local action to protect workers and immigrants. Hernandez described recent coalition activity and large demonstrations in Los Angeles' history and tied the present moment to ongoing national policy pressures.
Community leaders amplified the policy concerns during the presentation. Bambi Salcedo, identified in remarks as president and CEO of the TransLatin Coalition, described the organization's decades of work serving trans Latinx people and asked councilmembers to support a proposed TGI We initiative with a $3,000,000 funding request to expand services and an organizational headquarters. Salcedo said the coalition now has about 74 staff and outlined recent violent incidents and threats to trans community safety, urging city investment in services and housing.
Evelyn Cedeño Naik, directing attorney with the Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project, and Sofia Mendoza, president of the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), addressed intersections among immigration defense, health, and labor. Mendoza noted NUHW members at Kaiser Permanente were on an open‑ended strike (reported on the dais as day 194) and framed the strike as connected to broader fights for justice and worker protections. Speakers called for continued solidarity across labor, immigrant, and LGBTQIA+ movements.
Ending: No formal council vote on funding for the TransLatin Coalition was recorded during the presentation; the $3 million request was presented as an ask to the council and advocates asked members to consider it during upcoming budget deliberations.
