May 15, 2014. Gina Rodriquez attends the CW Network Upfront in New York. She will be co-starring in the new fall show "Jane the Virgin." (The Associated Press)
NEW YORK – "Jane the Virgin" star Gina Rodriguez wants to use her fame for promoting causes that are close to her heart.
The 34-year-old actress, born to Puerto Rican parents, opened up to Fox News about the importance of empowering women at the height of the #MeToo movement and how she is working to protect the rights of immigrants.
“I am all about human rights and that’s what I stand for,” Rodriguez told us at the P.S. 142 School in New York City. “Every country has immigration rights, every country has borders – every country does what America does, but we need to be humane.”
Rodriguez called the Trump administration's handling of immigration issues "devastating."
"I am very vocal about being good to the human race, no matter where you come from, no matter what color or culture you are," she shared.
The Chicago native recently made headlines after announcing she would be using her 2018 “For Your Consideration” Emmy campaign money to send an undocumented high school student to college.
The CW star said she convinced her studio to turn the promotional cash into a four-year college scholarship for the young woman, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“She got into Princeton! She’s incredible,” Rodriguez said of the unnamed student who will now receive an Ivy League education. “I have been very vocal about protecting immigrant rights... We have to create a space that is equivalent to what they say America is supposed to be.”
Rodriguez made history for the CW in 2015 after winning the network's first-ever Golden Globe for her starring role in “Jane the Virgin.” In the popular series, Rodriguez stars as Jane, a woman who has sworn off sex until marriage but finds herself pregnant after her gynocologist confuses her with another patient and artifically inseminates her.
Rodriguez takes her "Jane the Virgin" role on and off screen as an activist for female inclusivity and supporter of the #MeToo movement. (Getty)
Rodriguez, who has previously said her character is "funny and brave," said Jane, like herself, would vocalize support for the current female-driven #MeToo movement in Hollywood.
“Prior to Time’s Up... we just didn’t have any voice,” she explained. “Now we have a voice of all the women who are rising up and saying ‘You’re not alone in this fight.’”
And as a staunch supporter for both immigrant and female rights, the star recently partnered with Always Brand to help end period poverty, a crisis resulting in women not having access to the feminine product resources they need.
“I was aware of period poverty and I was aware of how it affected girls everywhere else in the world because there are third world countries that suffer immensely, but when I found that one in every five American girls leave school or miss out on school because they don’t have period products – I said that is bananas,” she shared.
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