Only one week following President Barack Obama’s inauguration, immigration reform advocates joined together to ask the 44th President to make immigration reform one of his top priorities. During Obama’s campaign for the presidential seat, he promised to undertake immigration reform within his first year in office. Immigration advocates are doing what they can to see that the President remains true to his word gatherings at government and political offices took place throughout the country on January 21, 2009. The peaceful demonstrations included a letter writing campaign in which 10,000 letters were sent to the new president asking for immigration reform as well as a candlelight vigil in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Los Angeles to call for an end to immigration enforcement raids. Many agree that with such pressing issues as war and the economy, immigration reform will undoubtedly take a back seat and it might be awhile before any changes are implemented with current US immigration policies. Nonetheless, many immigration reform advocates remain hopeful at upcoming changes and cite President Barack Obama’s inauguration speech in which he honored those who "traveled across oceans in search of a new life."