America Ferrera Seeks To Get Out The Latino Vote
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Actress America Ferrera, best known for her role in the hit show "Ugly Betty", is hard at work on the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton. She wants more young people, particularly Latinos to vote.
"I think that this year has been really, really dare I say traumatizing for a lot of people who identify first and foremost as American, who have felt marginalized and have been spoken about as the other," said Ferrera.
The actress was in town to speak at Intuit's QuickBooks Connect conference Tuesday in San Jose.
The TV star spoke at the Democratic National Convention alongside actress Lena Dunham this summer.
She recently teamed up with fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff to create "Make America Ferrera Again" shirts. A portion of the proceeds go to Rock the Vote.
"To me 'Make America Ferrera Again' means make politics personal, don't be afraid to be engaged, to have your voice heard," she added.
She made her voice heard when she wrote an open letter to Republican Nominee Donald Trump calling out his offensive comments, telling him "immigrants are what have made this nation."
The actress, turned producer and production company owner, was born in Southern California to Honduran immigrants.
"I grew up with the idea that being an American meant that the ideals that you held and your values that mattered to you, and I grew up in a community where a lot of children were first generation, whether they were first generation Filipino or Chinese," she said.
She believes that the diversity she grew up celebrating is what makes us American.
She told the crowd of mostly entrepreneurs at the conference that the lack of diversity only hurts business.
"Latinos are entrepreneurs, they're business owners, children are part of the military -- issues that impact all Americans, impact the Latino community," Ferrera said. "In order for us to impact these issues, it is paramount that we show up."