"Ugly Betty" to "Chavez," America Ferrera, America's plum Latina sweetheart, recently opened up about growing up in Los Angeles, politics and more, The Honduran actress met up with the NBC Latino funded conversational segment "Cafecito" at the Voto Latino Power Summit in Washington, DC, earlier this year. More than 300 influential participants from across the country attended, including Chairwoman Rosario Dawson, Co-Chair Wilmer Valderama, media expert Cenk Uygur, civil rights activist Dolores Huerta and many others. Ferrera, herself, is the co-chair of Voto Latino.

Ferrera, 29, confessed to the producer and host of "Cafecito," Feliciano Garcia that she was in first grade when California Proposition 187 passed, and that marked the first time in her life where she felt that she was being singled out for what she looked like, where her parents were from and for what language they spoke. Being familiar with diversity, it felt like the norm for her until she began to feel questioned for who she was. She said that "people saw labels on me that I was too young to really see for myself."

Proposition 187 was the first time that a state passed legislation that related to immigration, and was initiated by the Republican assemblyman Dick Mountjoy of Monrovia, stating that it was the "Save Our State" (SOS) initiative. Prop 187 was said to reflect the state's concerns about undocumented immigrants of Hispanic or Asian origin, claiming that concerns were economical. It argued that they could not provide social services to the vast number of undocumented immigrants that dwelled in the state. Many believe the act was discriminatory, even the president at the time, Bill Clinton, urged Californians to reject Prop 187. He stated, "It's not wrong for you [Californians] to want to reduce illegal immigration, but [let the federal government] keep working on what we're doing."

During that time, Ferrera said that there was a lot of fear that surrounded Prop 187. She said that before going to school, her mother would tell her that she didn't have to answer anyone's question and that she should not to let anyone harass her.

The "Cafecito" interview featured an excerpt of America's speech from the power summit, where she shared information about her immigrant parents and the opportunities that this country holds.  

"My name is America and I'm a proud American," Ferrera stated, "for the sole reason that my parents came to this country, for the same reason that millions of other families have come to this country for hundreds of years, for opportunity. For the chance for them, and for the chance for me, to thrive and to be able to fulfill our potential and to contribute."

She also mentioned to Garcia that Latinos "can't be ignored," evident by the Latino turnout during the 2012 election. And, with Latino voting power, it's important that the things that Latinos care about are represented in legislation.