Tag Archives: Southeast Asian

National Week of Action to End Southeast Asian Deportations

Join the Southeast Asia Deportation Defense Network (SEADDN) national movement in our Week of Action to #StopTheRaids! 

SEADDN will be hosting a week of call-in sessions to demand that the White House and ICE stop separating families. There will be organizations from different parts of the country hosting virtual sessions each day as listed below although all sessions are virtual and you may join in any region.

Tuesday, Feb. 15: West Coast Day of Action
Wednesday, Feb. 16: Northeast Region Day of Action
Thursday, Feb. 17: South Region Day of Action
Friday, Feb. 18: Midwest Region Day of Action

More information, including a social media toolkit to promote the Week of Action, can be found at bit.ly/seatoolkit2022 and on SEARAC’s Facebook and Twitter.

If you can’t make one of the sessions listed above, call the White House today to demand that ICE not deport any Cambodian community members. Remind them that the Biden Administration has recently celebrated its accomplishments in protecting Asian American immigrants and refugees, and that the act of separating families and deporting community members is an unjust act of violence.

Call the White House at 202-456-1111 and use the following call script (or write your own):

“My name is ____ from (city, state). I am calling President Biden to express concern over the planned deportations of Cambodian Americans. Many of these community members came to the United States as refugee children. Deportation is a double-punishment to individuals who committed crimes but have already served their time. They deserve justice and a second chance. Your administration recently celebrated that you had reduced deportations to Burma, Cambodia, and Laos during the first year of the Biden presidency. I demand that ICE reconsider these upcoming deportations and allow Southeast Asian Americans to remain at home with their families and communities.”

Learn more at bit.ly/seatoolkit2022

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

Demand That President Biden and DHS Lift Sanctions on Laos and Cambodia

Learn more and sign here: http://bit.ly/2021VisaSanctionsPetition

“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:

There is currently one immigration ban still in effect from the Trump Administration – the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) visa sanctions against Laos that prevent all forms of immigration to the United States from that country. The DHS sanctions keep war torn families apart and perpetuate violence against refugees and immigrants. Between 2016 and 2019, DHS placed visa sanctions on Laos, Cambodia, Eritrea, and Burundi, and other primarily Southeast Asian and African countries because they refused to bow to pressure from the Trump Administration to fully accept deportations.

Over 2,000 Southeast Asian refugees have been deported from the United States since 1998. After Donald Trump’s election, deportations of Southeast Asians drastically increased, with Cambodian removals seeing a 279% increase between 2017 and 2018. The removals are the direct result of visa sanctions placed on these countries by the Department of Homeland Security. Despite the change in presidency, these harmful sanctions are still being implemented by the State Department on the behest of DHS. This has devastated communities who have survived U.S. backed wars, violence, and genocide and face poverty, incarceration, and now, deportation while living in this country.

Despite public requests for the Biden Administration to lift the sanctions, they remain in place. These Trump era bullying tactics and efforts to deport refugees and immigrants  must be stopped, and President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas must not continue to implement Trumpian policies that perpetuate violence against our communities.

Join us and demand President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas lift all DHS visa sanctions, end harm against refugees and immigrants through these sanctions, and allow Laotian families to reunite. Sign the petition today and demand an end to this injustice.

 

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 is launching 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. This is why we are launching our campaign to urge 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. 

Freedom Inc – Deportation impacts the whole family and community. Freedom, Inc has been fighting against the deportation of Southeast Asians for the last 20 years and has been centering the voices of women, children, and those who identify as LGBTQI+. 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.

 

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New Way Forward Act for Southeast Asian Refugees

NBC: Asian American community advocates say a new immigration reform bill reintroduced in Congress on Tuesday can become a pathway for Southeast Asian Americans who have been deported to return to the U.S. or who are in deportation proceedings to stay in the country.

Reintroduced by Reps. Jesús  “Chuy” García, Pramila Jayapal, Karen Bass, and Ayanna Pressley, the New Way Forward Act seeks to decriminalize immigration and tackle systemic racism in the country’s immigration system. Key components of the bill include: eliminating mandatory detention, redefining convictions, ending deportations based on certain convictions, restoring judicial discretion for immigration judges, creating a five-year statute of limitations for deportability, and establishing an opportunity to come home for certain deported individuals or non-citizens in deportation proceedings.

Advancing Justice and SEARAC issued the following joint statement: “This landmark legislation re-envisions the United States’ severely flawed and racist immigration enforcement system. The New Way Forward Act would restore fundamental due process protections and compassion back to our immigration system. For the last several years, our country’s outdated and unjust immigration laws have been used to deport our communities at an unprecedented level. As we look to eliminate mass incarceration and create a racially just society, the New Way Forward Act is an essential step toward justice and equity for immigrant and refugee communities. We need to provide a way for those individuals who were unjustly removed to have the opportunity to come home and be reunited with their families.”

Read more about the news story here. Find out how you can take action today by following Advancing Justice and SEARAC’s action alerts to contact your members of Congress and ask them to co-sponsor the New Way Forward Act! Find the digital tool kit here.