EAST LOS ANGELES —Samantha Barrientos treats every knock as an alert for her East Los Angeles community. 

The young Latina, who is volunteering with nonprofit CHIRLA, comes from an immigrant family, and she is canvassing in her neighborhood to remind fellow Latinos to go out and vote.

“I come from a mixed status family, my sister is a DACA recipient so I make sure that I am out here fighting for her. Because I want her to stay with me. As well as for my parents who obviously came to this country for better opportunities for both of us,” she explained.

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Research indicates that those who’ve been in the U.S. for longer periods of time, are more likely to vote. But Samantha wants to change that, and get recently naturalized citizens to also participate in the process.

“I think it’s because of the misinformation sometimes. Or just because of the fact that they don’t come from a voting background. So a lot of times when people do become naturalized citizens, they tend to not register to vote, because they don’t come from families who do urge them like ‘oh go out and vote, get your voice out there,’” she said.

Samantha herself is still not old enough to vote, but she believes in the power of community engagement. She hopes voters will help bring a change to family separation at the border. But in order for that to happen, she first has to teach her neighborhood about the new voting system.

“It’s a very tight-knit community. Everybody gives out a hand to everybody they see in need. We don’t turn our backs on each other, and most importantly, we always stand up for each other," Samantha said. "I think everybody needs to remember that at the end of the day, everybody goes home to their families, and we want to stay with them.”

In her eyes, canvassing is a way of serving her community.