Romney's Fundraising Visit to LA Sparks Protests

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Mitt Romney began his Los Angeles area fundraising in Irvine with a $1000 dollar-a-plate lunch where donors paid an additional $1500 to get a photo with the Republican presidential hopeful. But many Angelinos didn’t roll out the welcome mat for Mitt.

Labor leaders, immigration activists and a "Coalition of the 99 percent” are organizing three different protests outside a Romney fundraiser in Century City this evening.

"Mostly we’re sending a message to voters that Romney really is the candidate of the one percent. He’s representing not just millionaires, but a corporate culture that really crashed our economy," says Jacob Hay, of Good Jobs LA. The non-profit is part of the "Coalition of the 99 percent," which has been advocating for jobs, against foreclosures, and access to health care.

"We’re certainly going to get his attention," insists Hay. "Whether he listens or not, that remains to be seen. He does have a history of changing his position, so maybe he’s persuadable."

That’s what Pedro Ramirez hopes for. He's an organizer for a coalition of undocumented students. They're known as "DREAMers" because they came as children to the United States and dream of becoming legal citizens of the only country they know... and they’re targeting Latino voters.

"For dreamers, although we can’t vote, we can organize, we can engage our community," affirms Ramirez, who came to the U.S. from Mexico when he was just 3 years old. "We’re going to educate them on the issues, not on the candidates, but on the issues, and they’re going to be selecting the candidates. Their vote is our voice and our voice is their vote."

Latino activists believe their vote will be the deciding factor in 2012 elections.