Tag Archives: Activism

Join the SEARR Campaign!

This September, the SEARR Campaign is launching the national platform to call for US accountability and an end to Southeast Asian deportations.

This national campaign is focused on calling for the US to take responsibility for the harms caused to the Southeast Asian community, dating back to the US’s intervention in Southeast Asia, to the failed Southeast Asian refugee resettlement program, and to the on-going deportation crisis facing our community today. As part of this campaign, the Southeast Asian Freedom Network (SEAFN) is introducing new federal legislation, the “Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act,” that would end deportations and its harms for the Southeast Asian community.

SEAFN launching their campaign the week of September 19th in Washington, DC. 

During this launch, they’ll unveil the platform which includes 2 key strategies: 1) the long-term strategy to demand US responsibility in partnership with the Agent Orange, Legacies of War, and New Way Forward campaigns, and 2) the strategy to bring immediate relief through the Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act.

As we’re gearing up for the launch, SEAFN is asking ally organizations to sign-on in support of this critical campaign. Will your organization sign-on to support the SEARR Campaign?

Signing on indicates that your organization:

  • Supports the SEARR campaign
  • Allows us to use your organization’s name and logo on the SEAFN website and in its public materials 
  • Agrees to receive updates on the campaign from SEAFN, including opportunities to join them and help amplify actions, events, etc. 

If you all do decide to sign-on to the SEARR Campaign, please: 

Here is a 2-page overview of the SEARR Campaign. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to Sarath at [email protected] and Soche at [email protected]

AAAJ-Atlanta: Atlanta Spa Shootings Collective Statement

Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta invites organizations to sign on to their Collective Statement in remembrance and solidarity to mark the one-year anniversary of the Atlanta spa shootings.

Organizations who wish to be listed should sign on by Wednesday, March 9.

To view and sign the statement, click here.

Take Action Against Anti-Asian Violence and Racism

Our network partners have worked In allyship and solidarity across marginalized groups and have continued to call on community members to report hate incidents, condemn anti-AAPI and racist sentiments, attend workshops and bystander intervention trainings, and call for greater accountability and policy responses from elected officials. Community groups and activists have also provided support systems and spaces for community members to reflect in the current moment, learn more about the long history of anti-Asian violence in the United States, as well as support those who have experienced hate themselves. Here are some ways you can take action against anti-Asian violence and racism:

Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Chicago is offering various Bystander Intervention Trainings each month. To combat the current rise in harassment and discrimination and to also proactively prepare for the future increase of hate incidents, Advancing Justice | Chicago is partnering with New York-based nonprofit Hollaback! and CAIR-Chicago to plan and implement an aggressive scaling up of locally-led bystander hate incident intervention trainings for community members.

Asian Americans United and VietLeadAdd Your Name: Joint Statement in Response to Recent Anti-Asian Violence! Our hearts go out to the Asian American youths who were harmed by racially motivated intimidation and violence on SEPTA. We recognize that they suffered real physical, mental, and emotional trauma, and that this harm is felt broadly across many in our communities. We know that increased policing and punitive measures will not break this cycle of violence and is not part of the vision for true safety that our communities continuously seek. Add your name to our petition to actually center our young people and ask: What does justice look like for them?https://secure.everyaction.com/ZtLzCsn_ikub0NarCatfEw2

Watch this Facebook live event from Cia Siab, Inc where community members learned how to effectively respond as a bystander and how to form a safety plan from some of the Cia Siab, Inc. staff. Members of the community can also continue to report hate incidents through Cia Siab, Inc’s Hate Incident Form at www.ciasiabinc.org/hateincidentreport.

Address Anti-Blackness through Racial Justice Discourse

As we continue to work towards social and racial justice, incidents of anti-racism and xenophobia in AAPI communities has also brought forth calls for racial solidarity to dismantle anti-Blackness in our communities and understand the role of white supremacy in our struggles toward shared liberation. Here are some ways to take action, continue your education to address anti-blackness, and help fight against attacks on social justice discourse:

VAYLA’s AAPI Rising: Uplifting AAPI Means Dismantling Anti-Blackness Event – Over the past year, the uptick of anti-Asian incidents has reminded us that racism and violence against AAPIs is not new. Through much grief and pain, our AAPI community is strengthened through solidarity. As AAPI communities move forward and overcome increased anger, fear, and violence, it is critical for us to recognize and dismantle anti-Blackness in our communities and understand the role of white supremacy in our struggles toward shared liberation. Watch the recorded session and listen to the community and conversation around addressing anti-Blackness with our own family, community, elders, and navigating internalized white supremacy.

Join the crucial fight to defend the truth with the African American Policy Forum’s #TruthBeTold Campaign – “After unprecedented global protests for racial justice that followed the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, right-wing groups across America instigated and intensified well-funded, orchestrated disinformation campaigns against critical race theory, intersectionality, and other forms of racial and gender justice discourse.” Visit their website to learn more about how to respond to these organized attacks and find the latest updates from the disinformation and legislative campaign against critical race theory, social justice discourse, and race and gender education. This website also offers articles, research, and critical analyses that help explain the who, what, where, and why of the coordinated attacks on critical race theory, racial justice, and anti-racist education (including useful explainers of critical race theory, research into the structure of the disinformation campaign, political analysis, and more).

As an organization of Muslim women committed to building sisterhood and advancing social equity, Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment has continued to open space for our community to learn and grow as anti-racist activists, advocates, and allies. Please visit their anti-Blackness resource page to learn about places to begin or continue your anti-racism journey.

Empowering Pacific Islander Communities invites Black Pasifika specifically to join in conversation with one another to share space and perspectives from the skin you live in as Black AND Pacific Islander. This discussion will be facilitated by Jason Finau and Savali Andrews, two maternal cousins with a shared identity but different upbringings and journeys forward as African American Samoans raised on the west coast in the US. This space will convene on the second Friday of every month. “Black Pacific Alliance Join us every 2nd Friday for conversations on the Black + PI experience. Our next meeting is Friday, January 14th, 2022 | 6-8 PM (PT) For more info or to join, please contact: [email protected].”

Organizing to Protect Immigrants, Refugees, and TPS Holders

Our network partners have been advocating for immigrant and refugee rights and protections as they call for pathways for citizenship, organize against ICE, defend asylum, advocate to end deportations and incarceration in our communities, and work to free our community members from immigration jails, prisons, and detention facilities. Here are some of the most recent campaigns that you can take part in to protect our communities from these incidents of anti-Asian violence. 

Adhikaar has previously called upon Congress to act now to protect Nepali TPS holders and affirm immigrants by creating a concrete pathway to citizenship and permanent residency through legislation. Adhikaar launched a TPS redesignation campaign and needs your help! Nepal remains unsafe for return due to the continuing effects of the 2015 earthquake, ongoing and recent political instability, and the current impacts of COVID-19. Their campaign urges the Department of Homeland Security to redesignate Nepal for TPS, which could allow for 35k+ additional Nepalis to become eligible for TPS. Watch this video to understand why redesignation is so important and what you can do. Take action today by signing the petition to call Secretary Mayorkas to redesignate Nepal for TPS

Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW) – “In order to #StopAsianHate, we have to hold to account the way the government enacts anti-Asian violence through deportation. Anti-Asian violence isn’t just between individuals, it’s ingrained in how our country is governed. #seafreedom #stopseadeportation.” Join the Coalition of Asian American Leaders and their partners with the Southeast Asian Deportation Defense Network (SEADDN) in calling for urgent action to end the deportation of Southeast Asian families by signing this petition demanding that visa sanctions against Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos be removed. Sign this petition to demand that President Biden and DHS Secretary Mayorkas lift all visa sanctions

Southeast Asian Freedom Network – SEAFN has worked to lift up the stories of community members who were targeted unjustly by the immigration legal system. Detention and deportation is anti-Asian violence. The Southeast Asian immigrants facing deportation have families, communities, lives ahead of them. They do not deserve to have their lives upended by an unjust immigration system. Join these organizations and pledge to support the end of Southeast Asian Deportation: http://bit.ly/seafreedom. You can also share their toolkit: https://bit.ly/seafreedomtoolkit. We cannot stop until deportations are ended entirely for Southeast Asian immigrants and refugees.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta The Biden administration plans to expand Folkston ICE Processing Center, making Georgia the private prison capital of the U.S. We stand firm with 20 other organizations to demand an immediate halt to all plans to expand! #AbolishICE #ShutDownFolkston #CommunitiesNotCages Read the full press release here: https://drive.google.com/…/1mLiIefWe7GUDndK3jUKy1b…/view

Southeast Asian Freedom Network – SEAFN – Phoeun You, is a 47-year-old Cambodian refugee and crisis counselor from Long Beach, CA. After serving over 25 years in and being found suitable for parole, Phoeun deserves to be reunited with his family! Not transferred to ICE detention! His leadership and hard work has been overlooked because he is a refugee. #StopICEtranfers to #ProtectPhoeun and support #VISIONAct. Use this Toolkit: bit.ly/ProtectPhoeun

Advocating for a Pathway to Citizenship for All

Sign the petition: Vice President Kamala Harris and Congressional Democrats can and must provide a pathway to citizenship immediately – We won’t take no for an answer. This is the year we will win citizenship for millions. Sign the petition: Vice President Kamala Harris and Congressional Democrats can and must provide a pathway to citizenship immediately.

Adhikaar along with Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP) releases the following statement urging the Senate to disregard the Parliamentarian and provide green cards to millions. “This third rejection by the Parliamentarian clearly shows that she has no intention of approving any form of immigration relief to be included in the Build Back Better Act, despite very clear and significant budgetary impact. Senators must not allow a non-elected Senate staffer to subvert the will of the people via a purely advisory opinion. Senators must fulfill their duties to our communities and legislate what is right.  The only way to do this is by including permanent residency in the Build Back Better Act.” Read their full statement here:

Help Fund Excluded Workers in New York

DESIS RISING UP AND MOVING: We will continue the fight to fully Fund Excluded Workers! Thousands of eligible New Yorkers are being shut out from the fund. NY must boost the fund. Stay connected to organizations like DRUM to join the fight and stay informed about next steps. In the News:  New York Set Aside $2.1 Billion for Undocumented Workers. It Isn’t Enough. The Fund Excluded Workers Coalition is calling on Gov. Hochul and NYS Legislature to add $3 billion to the fund to cover workers who have been shut out from the fund.

Visit the Fund Excluded Workers Resource Page here!

HR5665 – Combating International Islamophobia Act

H.R.5665 – Combating International Islamophobia ActThis bill passed in the House on December 14, 2021 and goes to the Senate next for consideration.

This bill establishes within the Department of State the Office to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia and addresses related issues.

The office shall monitor and combat acts of Islamophobia and Islamophobic incitement in foreign countries. The bill establishes the position of Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Islamophobia, who shall head the office.

The bill also requires certain existing annual reports to Congress about human rights and religious freedom in foreign countries to include information about Islamophobia, such as information about (1) acts of physical violence or harassment of Muslim people, (2) instances of propaganda in government and nongovernment media that attempt to justify or promote hatred or incite violence against Muslim people, and (3) actions taken by a country’s government to respond to such acts. The office shall coordinate and assist in preparing these portions of the reports.

No funds made available pursuant to the bill may be used to promote or endorse a boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement ideology (i.e., economic measures against Israel or Israel-related individuals or organizations) or used to promote or endorse a Muslim ban.

Calling on Biden to End the China Initiative

NBC ASIAN AMERICA: “Asian American groups call on Biden to end controversial China Initiative Advocates say the Trump-era national security program to address Chinese economic espionage unfairly targets ethnic Chinese scientists and harms their families.

“Over the past year, Asian American advocacy groups have increased pressure on the Biden administration to end the initiative, which they say unfairly targets ethnic Chinese scientists and brings emotional and financial harm to their families. 

“’The China Initiative impacts Americans, permanent residents, immigrants, international students and visiting scholars,’ said Gisela Kusakawa, a staff attorney for the civil rights group Asian Americans Advancing Justice, or AAAJ. ‘It’s based on the premise that all scientists of Chinese descent or [who] have connections to China should be treated with suspicion.’ A year ago, AAAJ launched the Anti-Racial Profiling Project to persuade lawmakers to end the China Initiative and assist people targeted by the Justice Department. The group has provided legal and advocacy support to more than 70 academics, many of whom lost their jobs.

“Thu Nguyen, the executive director of OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, a nonprofit advocacy group, said the program has created a climate of fear that could trigger a brain drain in academia. The growing threat of racial profiling in the U.S., she said, has already pushed some talented scientists to look for jobs back in China. The China Initiative, she said, affects not only professors and working scientists but also students, many of whom may hesitate to apply for scholarships or pursue careers in science and technology out of fear of prosecution. In recent months, OCA has been lobbying lawmakers to end the program. In November, the group visited senators and mobilized chapter members to speak out about the issues at legislative sessions.”

Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC: On May 29, 2020, six armed FBI agents raided Professor Shaorong Liu’s home, interrogated him and his wife, and arrested them. Professor Liu, who teaches at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry of the University of Oklahoma, and his wife were charged with stealing years of research funding, even though they did the research, resulting in over a dozen academic articles and a U.S. Patent.In our latest blog, hear from Professor Liu’s daughter, Di Liu, about the devastating impact being targeted by the government’s racial bias and profiling through the “China Initiative” had on her family.”My parents have lived here in the U.S. for most of their lives. They are proud American citizens. They are not spies. They are academics who have committed their lives to improving life for everyone. Why has this man-made tragedy been forced upon them? What have they done to deserve the scorn, rather than protection of their own government?”Read the full blog here: bit.ly/diliublog. #StopProfilingUs

Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC: A new study shows that over 50% of scientists of Chinese descent working in the U.S., regardless of citizenship, fear they are under surveillance by the U.S. government. Read our Anti-Racial Profiling Project Intern Alex Liang’s latest on the reverberating effects of the “China Initiative” within the scientific community, and the dangers of it coming at a time when the pandemic and climate change have become predominant threats to Americans’ health and prosperity.

Why Ending the Justice Department’s “China Initiative” is Vital to U.S. Security