Washington, D.C. - Wednesday, November 15, marks over 2 months since the Trump administration killed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, putting the lives of immigrant youth immediately at risk for detention and deportation.
 
On November 15, over 120 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) immigrant youth and leaders from across the country will convene to demand that the passing of a clean DREAM Act become Congress’s top priority before the end of the year.
 
Following the press conference, AAPI leaders will engage in a march and a rally as well as legislative visits urging key congressional targets to pass a clean DREAM Act by December 8th.
 
When:
11:00AM ET | Wednesday, November 15, 2017
 
Where:
House Triangle, United States Capitol, Washington, DC 20016
 
Who:
Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-27), CAPAC Chair
Jung Bin Cho, National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
Johanna Puno Hester, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA)
Patrick Carolan – Franciscan Action Network
Saba Nafees, Ph. D. Candidate – Texas Tech University
Steve Li, ASPIRE
Additional CAPAC Members
 
###
​

​Washington, DC - The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA) celebrates the victory of Democratic candidates up and down the ballot in yesterday's Virginia elections and across the nation and applauds the electorate for rejecting candidates running on a platform of hate and white supremacy.
 
Jillian Matundan, APALA DC Chapter Co-President, stated: "Our immigrant communities were clearly targets in this heated gubernatorial campaign, but our efforts to help mobilize Asian American voters in Northern Virginia have succeeded! We are thrilled to celebrate with our partners in Virginia and energized to see progressive leaders take office in Virginia, including Kathy Tran -- the first Vietnamese-American woman ever elected to office in Virginia -- and the first two Latina women to the VA House of Delegates."
 
Monica Thammarath, APALA National President and APALA DC Chapter Board Member, added: "Wins across the country -- from Washington state to Philadelphia -- show we must continue to campaign for issues that impact immigrant communities and working families. Especially after we witnessed the acts of terror in Charlottesville earlier this year, the victories in Virginia signal that our communities will continue to fight back against racism, xenophobia, and hate in our communities, in the streets, and at the ballot box. Let's take this momentum into 2018 and 2020."
 
Yesterday's elections also marked victories for Democrats across the country. In Edison, two Asian American candidates Jerry Shi and Falguni Patel, who had been targeted by racist mailers, were elected to the NJ school board. In Philadelphia, we witnessed the triumph of Larry Krasner for District Attorney who ran on implementing progressive criminal justice reform. Hoboken voters elected Ravi Bhalla, the first ever Sikh mayor, and the Washington's State Senate flipped from red to blue.
 
"These are just some of the crucial wins at the state and local level that our communities need. We celebrate alongside our sisters, brothers, and siblings as we continue to build the political power of our diverse AAPI community," concluded Thammarath.
 
###

​Washington, DC - The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA) blasts the Administration's latest tactic to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program for Nicaraguans -- a move that further advances Trump's white supremacist, mass deportation agenda of communities of color.
 
"The administration continues to play politics with people's lives," stated APALA National President Monica Thammarath. "Thousands of Nicaraguans have created deep roots in this country and make meaningful contributions to our society every single day. Tearing working families apart and deporting our immigrant communities will have serious consequences on the moral fabric and economic stability of this country."
 
"Ending TPS for Nicaraguans without an alternative is yet another hateful reminder that immigrants are not welcome in this country," added APALA 1st Vice President Johanna Puno Hester. "As an immigrant myself, I am utterly disgusted. The administration has already unabashedly turned its back on undocumented immigrant youth, and now it is turning its back on families that have already escaped tremendous hardship - be it war or natural disaster. Put simply, to deport our families and our friends is to advance an ethnic cleansing agenda."
 
"As a daughter of refugees from Laos, my family's story is not so different from the thousands of TPS holders who've come decades ago. My family came to the U.S. to escape the dangers of war-torn country, and I would not be here if not for their bravery to start a new life in America," ended Thammarath. "APALA urges Congress to protect TPS holders whose status will soon expire, and we demand the administration save TPS for Hondurans, Salvadorans, and Haitians. Any elected official who refuses to stand up for our immigrant and refugee communities is complicit in the preservation of white supremacy at the highest level of government and ultimately the destruction of our democracy."
 
###