Tell Gov. McDonnell to veto this unacceptable redistricting bill.

While one Democratic legislator was traveling to Washington, D.C. for President Obama's second inauguration, Republicans in the Senate rammed through legislation to redraw Senate districts and make them more favorable to Republicans.

I knocked doors every day for months in 2012, getting people out to vote. Now Virginia's state government is simply trying to steal the next election.

Click here to send a letter to Gov. McDonnell telling him to veto this redistricting bill.

Congress voted for it. President Obama signed it. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld it. Yet the Affordable Care Act (ACA) still faces obstacles as key provisions and benefits are put in place for 32 million Americans between now and 2014.

Considering that Medicare and Medicaid are under constant attacks from legislators who
seek to balance the budget on the backs of our country's most vulnerable, SEIU Healthcare members continue to stand with healthcare advocates, community leaders, students, and other healthcare workers in the battle to protect healthcare for every man, woman and child across our nation.

This Monday, I joined a diverse group of community and religious leaders at the National Press Club to talk about commonsense reform of our broken immigration system. As I stood on the stage, I saw the changing face of the American electorate. I was joined by Mee Moua (President and Executive Director, Asian American Justice Center), Sister Simone Campbell (Executive Director of NETWORK), Chung-Wha Hong (Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition), Héctor J. Figueroa, (President, 32BJ SEIU) and a young DREAMer, Verónica Saravía, who aspires to become a psychologist and a nurse.

Together, we sent President Obama and Congressional leaders a clear message: now is the time to fix our broken immigration system.

On Tuesday, President Obama affirmed that he heard us loud and clear. He knows that we will no longer stand for a defective and outdated immigration system. He knows that we can no longer make immigrants political scapegoats. He knows that we will can no longer force families to be divided.

On March 1st, the automatic government spending cuts, known as the "sequester," will take effect. While the deal that the President and Republican leaders struck to avert the "fiscal cliff" delayed these cuts, Republicans are still clamoring for cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the Affordable Care Act that will hurt working families and local economies.

Today throughout the country, community groups are joining together to deliver a message to their elected officials: America needs jobs, not cuts.

You can follow those events on this Storify as they happen throughout the day.

This morning, SEIU President Mary Kay Henry held a press conference with other labor, Latino and civil rights leaders to call on our government to fix our broken immigration system.

Can you take a minute to share this graphic and help spread the word?

What we really need now is immigration reform that fits with our national values. We need a system that builds the strength and unity of working people, keeps families together and provides a clear roadmap to citizenship for hardworking, taxpaying immigrants. These are basic values that SEIU stands behind -- we are fighting for an America that treats all people with justice, dignity and equality.

President Obama is scheduled to outline his own immigration proposal tomorrow in Las Vegas, and we expect him to have a lot of the same ideas we do. A majority of voters -- 77 percent -- want a full package of immigration reforms, including a clear roadmap to citizenship.

• Click here to share this graphic and help spread the word that the "Time is Now."
• Click here to get updates on our campaign for commonsense immigration reform.

This blog post originally appeared at the Huffington Post, January 28, 2013.

Latino and civil rights leaders will join together today at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to call on our nation's lawmakers to reform our broken immigration system.

The message will be clear: immigration reform is not about race or ethnicity. It is about building national unity and economic strength, the spirit of hard work, and common-sense solutions that are equal and fair for everyone no matter where they come from.

Oscar Valladares participated with SEIU 721 members, community allies, members of other unions and elected officials in a press conference and rally for comprehensive immigration reform, LA City Hall, Jan. 18, 2013. Photo by SEIU 721.

The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s was a struggle to end the second-class status of a sector of the population that did not enjoy the rights decreed by the U.S. Constitution.

Today, undocumented immigrant workers and their families live in circumstances similar to what African-Americans had to endure before civil rights were won.

Most immigrants have been forced out of their native countries by circumstances out of their control. They are driven by their natural instinct for survival.

For janitors and security officers in Minneapolis, members of SEIU Local 26, a raise would help bring them above the poverty line. It would allow them to pay for basic necessities, including groceries, school, rent or mortgage. And they're prepared to fight for themselves, their fellow workers, and their families in order to achieve those things.

Mark Krey, an SEIU Local 284 member in St. Paul, Minn., knows firsthand how education cuts can hurt students. As a special education paraprofessional, Mark has already seen his middle school class sizes increase because of budget cuts. If further nationwide education cuts go into effect in the coming months, Mark's students would be faced with less time in the classroom, fewer instructors and other damaging cutbacks.

Watch his story:

How would cuts to vital services like education and healthcare affect you and your family? Click here to share your story.