Jane the Virgin's Jenna Ortega Fights Anti-Immigration Rhetoric

"There are so many different ethnicities in America.”

Jenna Ortega plays the younger version of Gina Rodriguez’s main character on CW’s Jane the Virgin. But the two share more than just a TV show.

"I love what [Gina] stands for,” Jenna says. “Every Monday, she posts a ‘Motivational Monday,’ where she gives a shout-out to a Hispanic in the business, which is something that I find very inspiring."

Gina, whose parents are Puerto Rican, has been vocal in pushing for diversity — specifically the representation of the Latinx community — offscreen. Now, Jenna, whose background is Puerto Rican and Mexican, is challenging discrimination and pushing for social change. The 13-year-old appeared in a live.ly stream promoting the Pride Over Prejudice campaign from DoSomething.org.

“It’s important to embrace your culture today because there are so many different ethnicities in America,” Jenna says. “At the end of the day, you are you. You’ve got to stay true to yourself, and you can’t change yourself in order to fit in or to make someone else feel comfortable.”

Now more than ever, it’s important for influential voices to speak out against racially-motivated hate, and set the record straight about immigrants and refugees. With the world facing a refugee crisis and [hateful rhetoric] (http://www.teenvogue.com/story/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-immigration-plans) dominating the campaign trail, it's more important than ever to speak out. Through Pride Over Prejudice, Jenna helped activate thousands of teenagers to drown out xenophobia by promoting pride in their background.

Courtesy of DoSomething.org / Chris Alfonso

Jenna is just the latest to join the line of young female stars-turned-activists, like [Amandla Stenberg] (http://www.teenvogue.com/story/amandla-stenberg-interview-teen-vogue-february-2016), [Skai Jackson] (http://www.teenvogue.com/story/skai-jackson-interview-twitter-azealia-banks), and [Rowan Blanchard] (http://www.teenvogue.com/story/rowan-blanchard-not-sorry).

“I think it’s important to give back to your community because I feel that we were all put on this Earth for a reason,” Jenna says. “We all should do our part to make the world a better place.”

Want to find ways to make a positive impact on your community? Visit DoSomething.org.

Related: How Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Differ on Immigration