Traditionally, when industries like Hollywood portray well-distinguished and impressively successful characters on the big screen or in media, women— particularly Latinas— are often left out of the loop. Instead, they’re cast to the wayside and put into boxes where they portray small roles as women of less than humble means and education backgrounds.

Fortunately, in recent years, women of color have pushed their way to the forefront of the entertainment and fashion industries where they not only rule music and box office charts but also use their platforms to advocate for political and social changes. This is, despite the many obstacles that were set in their paths and despite the fact that they were often faced with systems that could have prevented them from reaching success.

In a recent piece by Marie Claire, the magazine spoke to actresses, advocates, and activists who came from immigrant backgrounds and are currently fighting for the rights of newcomers.

Camila Cabello

The Cuban-American singer rose to fame as one member of the girl group Fifth Harmony a few years ago, but last year claimed the spotlight for her own with the release of her hit song “Havana.” In the months following her big solo debut, singer and songwriter spoke up about immigration issues including her own story which involved crossing the border with her mother into the U.S. at the age of five. At the 2018 Grammy Awards, she delivered a powerful message about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects qualifying undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children and is currently at risk.

Speaking to the audience at the time she said, “Just like the Dreamers, my parents brought me to this country with nothing in their pockets but hope. They showed me what it means to work twice as hard and never give up. And honestly, no part of my journey is any different from theirs,” she said. “I’m a proud Cuban-Mexican immigrant, born in eastern Havana, standing in front of you on the Grammy stage in New York City, and all I know is, just like dreams, these kids can’t be forgotten and are worth fighting for.”

America Ferrera

Known most for her roles in the ABC hit show “Ugly Betty” and films like “Real Women Have Curves” and “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” Ferrera has now become a fierce advocate for immigration and women’s rights. In recent years she has been extremely active in informing Latinos in the United States on the importance of getting involved with the vote and in 2017 she was the opening speaker for the Women’s March on Washington. This past year, at the height of the #Metoo campaign, she revealed that she had been sexually harassed at the age of nine.

During her recent interview, Ferrera explained why she believes it’s important to change representation of immigrants and their stories in film saying “I have been supremely lucky to get the opportunities to play some wonderful, authentic, and deep characters, but if I look around at the vast image being painted about the American experience, I see that there are so many of us missing from the picture. Our experiences, our humor, our dramas, our hopes, our dreams, and our families are almost nonexistent in the stories that surround us. I hear from all kinds of people that they gain confidence and self-esteem when they see themselves in the culture—portrayals that say, in resounding ways, ‘You are here, you are seen, your experience matters.’ I believe that culture shapes identity and defines possibility, that it teaches who we are, what to believe, and how to dream. We should all be able to look at the world around us and see a reflection of our true lived experiences. Until then, the American story will never be complete.”

Maria Cornejo

The designer behind Zero + Maria Cornejo has dressed female powerhouses the likes of Michelle Obama, Cindy Sherman, and Christy Turlington. It’s a far cry from her early days in which she found herself fleeing the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile as a twelve-year-old with her family. Speaking about her move from Chile in September of 1973, Cornejo described in the interview the moment she saw bombs fall on Santiago as part of a military coup to bring down socialist president Salvador Allende. “I remember going to school and hearing the bombs everywhere,” Cornejo explained. Soon after her father fled to Peru, she and her mother followed.

Diane Guerrero

While the “Orange is the Black” actress and author of In the Country We Love, was born in the United States, her parents were from Colombia and entered the U.S. without documentation. Throughout her career, she has used her platform to speak up about immigration issues and share her story of being left behind in the U.S. when her parents and brother were deported while she was in school.

Speaking about the Trump administration’s rush of strict and inflexible immigration policies she said that “anyone who experiences a traumatic separation from a loved one knows that it takes time to adjust to the emptiness in your life. I can’t help but think it’s even worse for children who realize that anonymous federal agents have taken their mother or father, or both, like what happened when I was a teenager. When I heard the audio recordings of young children crying out for a parent or aunt, to the point of not being able to catch their breath, I was overcome with a rush of painful memories. Then when I saw the videos of children wrapped in those foil-like blankets behind fencing that looked like cages, my heart broke. I thought to myself, How can our nation be so cruel? It made me want to try even harder to get people to vote in November so that the true compassionate voice of America is heard.”

Read: Mollie Tibbets Family Wants Donald Trump To Stop Politicizing Her Murder

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