Press Releases

Trump’s Nativist Immigration Ban Will Continue to Harm Our Recovery

6/23/2020

For Immediate Release: June 22nd 2020
Contact: Armando Carmona, 951-966-6500, armando@tzunu.com

Los Angeles - Today, President Trump extended and amended his executive order issued on April 22, 2020, seeking to limit legal immigration under the excuse to protect “US workers” during the Pandemic. This executive order follows the implementation of a rule to make it even more difficult than what it already is for asylum seekers to obtain a work-permit during the lengthy and burdensome asylum process that will harm immigrant communities.

Megan Essaheb, Director of Immigration Advocacy at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC:
“Trump continues to advance his xenophobic agenda to divide the country and scapegoat immigrants. He’s used every moment of crisis, every failure of his as an opportunity to expand his nativist policies and prevent hardworking families from reunification . It’s hypocrisy to utilize COVID-19 as an excuse as the U.S has more than 2 million infections and millions of jobs have been lost because of it. This action not only separates families it will hamper our nation's ability to fully recover.

Despite these efforts to divide us, immigrants and refugees are working alongside every American towards overcoming the COVID-19 virus and also defeating the plague of racism. Now, it’s up to Congress to ensure that the family-based green cards don't get lost and force hundreds of thousands of immigrants to wait an extra year to reunite with their families after decades of waiting. We must ensure that the family-based visas rollover into Fiscal Year 2021 so that the millions of long backlogs do not continue to increase.”

Alvina Yeh, Executive Director of Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO:
“Our communities across the country and the world are suffering from COVID-19 due to the failures of leadership by elected officials and greedy corporations Who are not doing their part to ensure the safety of their workers.Instead of building infrastructure for testing, contact tracing, and PPE that would diminish the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump Administration is going after immigrants and foreign workers in a bid to distract from its immense failures. The Administration has already killed more than 100,000 Americans due to their inaction on COVID-19: they are seeking to bring harm upon thousands more families with this immigrant ban. We condemn this executive order and will keep organizing to protect the most vulnerable workers.

Immigrant Youth Win as SCOTUS Decision Impedes the Trump Administration from ending the Deferred Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program

6/18/2020

For Immediate Release: June 18, 2020
Contact: apala@apalanet.org

Today, the Supreme Court of the United States issued that the Trump administration cannot proceed with ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. For now, the 700,000 DACA recipients and their families, of which 16,000 are Asian American and Pacific Islander, are safe from the threat of deportation.

Yves Gomes, Former APALA National Executive Board Member said, “DACA is a program that immigrant youth fought decades for and today they are able to hold on to their wins. Many DACA recipients are our frontline workers keeping our grocery stores stocked and our hospitals staffed during this global pandemic. About 27,000 DACA recipients are healthcare workers, most of whom are the first in their family to attend college, some of whom recently graduated and are already caring for COVID-19 patients. As undocumented people, we risk our lives taking care of other people's wellbeing. But we will not prop up the ‘good immigrant narrative’ because we believe that no one should be subject to Trump’s racist deportation machine."

APALA National President and NEA Appointee Monica Thammarath said, “We join DACA recipients across the nation, who refuse to trade their safety and well-being for the criminalization of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, to call for justice for Black lives, and that includes Black immigrants and Black DACA recipients. While this decision will provide much needed relief for immigrants, we must remember that Black immigrants are more likely to be deported than non-Black immigrants because of disproportionate policing. We demand that (1) the government reallocate money in our communities to reinvest in housing, education, economic support, climate justice, healthcare, and mental health services, (2) the federal government defund Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and (3) Trump to resign.”

APALA and LCLAA Condemn Trump’s Anti-Worker Activists Nominees to the Federal Circuit Court

6/1/2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 1, 2020

APALA Contact: Michelle Loo, Michelle@apalanet.org
LCLAA Contact: Andrea Arenas, 202-316-1212

Washington, DC - The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO and Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) condemns Trump’s nominations for the two vacant seats on the federal circuit court: Justin Walker to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the second most powerful court in the country, and Cory Wilson to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Walker and Wilson are both anti-worker activists who are determined to strip us of our right to organize and other workers’s rights, civil rights, voting rights, abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights, and much more. There are only two vacant seats left on the federal circuit court. This is important because while the Supreme Court only takes up dozens of cases a year, hundreds of cases are decided at the circuit court level that impact our communities.

“Imbuing Walker and Wilson with the power to make court rulings and policies that could impact workers’ rights for generations to come is irresponsible and a blatant blow to our communities. These two are unfit to serve lifetime seats on the federal bench that give them the power to shape and strip many civil rights and economic priorities.” said Alvina Yeh, Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance.

"The confirmation of Justin Walker and Cory Wilson represent a serious attempt to undermine our nation's democracy and liberties by transforming our justice system into a powerful and dangerous body that will have a detrimental impact on American law and its ability to rule in an unbiased and just manner. These appointments could limit our government's authority to protect workers' rights, civil liberties, immigrants, health care access, to name a few, in exchange for unchecked executive power. We vehemently oppose these pernicious appointments, and are committed to continue advocating for a justice system capable of upholding our nation's values," said Yanira Merino, LCLAA National President.

Senators vote to confirm nominees. Senators do not often hear from constituents on federal judges therefore every call to our Senators matter. It is up to us to make our voices heard:

Sign the petition to Stop Justin Walker's Confirmation
Call your Member of Congress at (202) 224-3121 and urge them to (1) reject Justin Walker's nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and (2) reject Cory Wilson to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Sample Script:
“Hello, my name is [your name] and I am calling to urge [your Senator] to to (1) reject Justin Walker's nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and (2) reject Cory Wilson to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It is the responsibility of US Circuit Judges to preside fairly but Walker and Wilson have both show time and time again that they are anti-worker, anti-gay, anti-immigrant, and anti-women. They are not fit to be US Circuit Judges so I urge the Senator to reject their confirmation. Thank you, that’s what I have to share with the Senator. My zip code is [your zip code].”

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The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) is the leading national organization for Latino(a) workers and their families. LCLAA was born in 1972 out of the need to educate, organize and mobilize Latinos in the labor movement and has expanded its influence to organize Latinos in an effort to impact workers' rights and their influence in the political process. LCLAA represents the interest of more than 2 million Latino workers in the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), The Change to Win Federation, Independent Unions and all its membership. Visit LCLAA on the web at www.lclaa.org, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO is the first and only national organization of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) workers, most of whom are union members, and our allies advancing worker, immigrant and civil rights. Since its founding in 1992, APALA has played a unique role in addressing the workplace issues of AAPI union members and workers and in serving as the bridge between the broader labor movement and the AAPI community. Visit APALAnet.org to learn more or find us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

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Press Releases

Trump’s Nativist Immigration Ban Will Continue to Harm Our Recovery

Immigrant Youth Win as SCOTUS Decision Impedes the Trump Administration from ending the Deferred Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program

APALA and LCLAA Condemn Trump’s Anti-Worker Activists Nominees to the Federal Circuit Court

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