After marches that drew hundreds of thousands of Californians to the streets of Los Angeles, the We Are America Coalition launched its second phase of "civic action" to bring about immigration reform.

At an outdoor press conference at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, religious leaders, social justice advocates and individual immigrants called for change in the "broken" system of U.S. immigration laws.

"We marched; we sang. We called for immigrants to be recognized --- not criminalized," said Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala. "Today, the We Are America Coalition takes the next steps towards just and humane immigration reform. Steps that will channel the unprecedented momentum of our previous marches into a targeted mass campaign for civil action."

The bishop said the grass-roots effort will include phone calls and post cards to key senate and congressional leaders, a national lobby day on May 17 when the post cards will be hand-delivered to lawmakers in Washington, D.C., as well as an ongoing voter registration and citizenship drive to bring about "real solutions to our broken" immigration system.

"The fact of the matter is the system does not work," he said. "Even worse, it is tearing apart the very fabric of our society --- families. Families like the ones of these mothers here today.

"These women are working hard to make a future for themselves and their loved ones. But our antiquated immigration system is separating their families, keeping them apart from their children, husbands, parents, and siblings for years --- even decades."

Women like Tanya Stawski, a German Jewish immigrant who came to America eight years ago to study and decided to make the United States her home. She reported at the press conference that while she was lucky enough to win a green card through the federal government's lottery, her parents and brother had to stay behind in Germany.

Today, the single mom said she regrets the fact that her seven-year-old son had lost "tremendous quality time" with his grandparents because of unjust, and arbitrary, U.S. immigration laws.

"Every time when it gets closer and closer to the interviews for my family, there are more obstacles and new legislation, which makes it extremely impossible," she said. "My son has only one childhood, and he wants to be with them.

"So I'm praying that we get new legislation which will help all of us," she added. "Because there are thousands of families as well as mine who want to be together and not to be torn apart."

Ana Villalobos, an immigrant from El Salvador on temporary protective status, testified in Spanish that she had been separated from her three daughters for years. During that time, she missed out on their birthdays and graduations.

And when her own father died, she couldn't even go to his funeral, fearing that she wouldn't be allowed back into the United States.

"All I want to do is provide a better life for my children," Villalobos said.

In her closing remarks, Maria Elena Durazo of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor stressed that "We marched yesterday; tomorrow we vote." She said the voices of the nation's immigrants would continue to be heard by very specific actions.

"It's still an urgent issue," Durazo declared. "It's still a compelling issue. And we've got a number of ways of being able to express our concerns to the members of Congress and the White House."