Rights For All People

RAP exists to organize with immigrants and their allies to bring immigrant voices and humane policies to the struggle for justice, dignity and human rights for everyone in Colorado. We began in 1994 as a response to the passage of the anti-immigrant Proposition 187 in California, and hired our first staff in 2003.

Rights for All People has emerged as a key organization in the Denver Metro area and Colorado as a whole. Our leadership is composed of 50 immigrants and 10 allies. Our organizing base is solid and growing at 300, and other supporters number around 500. Our campaigns come from the expressed needs and perspectives of our immigrant members. A major focus is leadership development, skill building and ensuring members “own” the work of the organization.

We work closely with many allies, building a web of complementary abilities that will result in a changed Colorado. Our immigrant leaders and staff serve as resources for organizations all over the state: they work with other immigrant groups, they devote time to building strong coalitions, and they provide models of grassroots policy campaigns that can serve other emerging organizations.

In addition to participating in the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, we are active in the Colorado Community Organizing Collaborative (CCOC) and the Colorado C-3 Roundtable, a coalition of 501(c)3 organizations doing civic engagement work. We have been invited to join the State Integration Pilot Project, where we will be working with our partners to develop a model to measure an effective intervention with immigrant non-voters’ effect on their voting relatives and social contacts. We are active with Ya Es Hora, creating an ongoing pipeline of immigrants applying for citizenship. And we are partnering with the Latina Initiative and Intercambio de Comunidades to offer classes at our building.

RAP is currently the fiscal sponsor for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC). We are currently in the midst of an 18-month transition plan for CIRC to develop its own 501(c)3 status.