California API Caucus Legislative Briefing: Asian Pacific Islander Immigrant Rights Leaders Unite to Stop Anti‐immigrant Policies

WHAT:  API Caucus Legislative Briefing: Protecting Immigrants' Access to Vital Supports and Services           
Assemblymember Rob Bonta, District 18 (D‐Oakland), to give key address    
WHEN:  Friday, September 15, 2017
TIME:  9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Luncheon to follow
WHERE:  Capitol Building, Room 113, Sacramento, California  
WHO:  Co‐sponsored by 20 Asian Pacific Islander nonprofit organizations    

Scheduled to Testify:

  • Tung Nguyen, MD, physician and professor, University of California, San Francisco
  • Ninez A. Ponce, PhD, MPP, professor, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research Thu Quach, PhD, community health and research director Asian Health Services
  • Tanya Broder, JD, senior staff attorney, National Immigration Law Center

Interviews and Photo Opportunities: Leaders, activists, and constituents will be available for interviews and photos.
Please contact Lina Park, 510/735‐3175 or Sara Ying Rounsaville, 415/300‐5121, to schedule interviews and photo opportunities.  

Background: A series of federal policies recently introduced, including banning entry from Muslim‐majority countries, limiting immigration, and ending DACA, signal more anti‐ immigrant policies to come from the current administration. In late January, a handful of draft executive orders were leaked. Among them was one that targets newly arrived immigrants (lawful permanent residents or LPRs) and threatens to strip their access to healthcare, housing, food assistance, disaster relief, and other public programs funded by the federal government, as well increase the risk of deportation for our lawful permanent residents.

Immigrants from Asia comprise the largest percentage of lawful permanent residents than any other global region (54% in California and 65% in the San Francisco Bay Area); and thus, the proposed legislation would disproportionately impact the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population. However, the impact will be felt by all immigrant communities.

The chilling effects of the proposed executive order from earlier this year have already left imprints in immigrant communities, as community health centers and other service providers are documenting more reports of immigrants opting out of public programs and limiting their utilization of health care services. Furthermore, past experiences with wrongful public charge enforcement, including during Welfare Reform in 1996, have resulted in immigrants being unlawfully penalized and even deported.

The legislative briefing will provide information on the impact of dangerous policies that create unnecessary barriers to receiving public benefits based on status unrelated to need, including immigration or refugee status.

Immigrants and refugees are long‐term members of our community. They make this nation. They make significant contributions to our society, both economically and socially.  They are our neighbors, our co‐workers, our community members, our families, our friends. They are us. We honor the immigrant in all of us, and know that we are stronger together.

The Briefing is Co-Sponsored by:
Asian Health Services
AAPIs for Civic Engagement
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles
Asian Americans for Community Involvement
Asian Americans Pacific Community Health Organizations
Alameda Labor Council, AFL-CIO
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Asian Pacific Islander Council
Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Asian Prisoner Support Committee
Buena Vista United Methodist Church
Chinese for Affirmative Action
Chinese Progressive Association
East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation
Filipino Advocates for Justice
Hmong Innovating Politics
Korean American Community Foundation – San Francisco
North East Medical Services
National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse Inc
OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates, East Bay Chapter
OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates, Sacramento Chapter
Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance
PIVOT - The Progressive Vietnamese American Organization
Southeast Asian Resource Center