Washington, DC – Asians Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) Beyond Bars, a coalition of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations, community leaders, and directly impacted individuals, join 39 organizations in an effort to improve the lives of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. Particularly, they are calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring up a vote on the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (S. 2123), and for all Senators to support the bill.
“As a nation, we need to make criminal justice reform a priority especially as young people of color that come from immigrant, poor, and working class families, and communities become further disproportionately impacted by our country's ’tough on crime’ policies and perpetual school to prison to deportation pipeline,” said Minh Nguyen, Executive Director of VAYLA based in New Orleans, LA. "Bringing the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act to the senate floor for a vote would mark a step forward for the many communities fighting for comprehensive criminal justice reform policies in this country. We are committed to this fight to dismantle the system of oppression for the long haul and will continue to organize to ensure racial, gender and economic justice for all.
In the last thirty years alone, America's prison population has grown from 500,000 during the 1980s to the 2.2 million incarcerated people today1. As a result, the United States now shares 25% of the world's prison population2. Specifically for AAPI communities, the prison population has increased by 250% from 1990 to 20003.
"We understand that the Southeast Asian and broader AAPI narrative is continuously overlooked in debates surrounding criminal justice reform. From high poverty rates, high school dropout rates, a history of trauma, criminalization, and an increase in deportation rates, the experiences of Southeast Asian communities pose a unique challenge for the many policy makers who have little to no understanding of the nuanced experiences of the larger AAPI population," said Cat Bao Le in Charlotte, NC, Southeast Asian Coalition's Executive Director. 
In December 2015, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA), Asian Prisoner Support Committee, National Education Association and Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) published “AAPIs Behind Bars”, a first of its kind report on how the school-to-prison-to-deportation impacts AAPI communities. View the report: http://bit.ly/AAPIsBehindBars 
"As a community organization that supports formerly incarcerated AAPIs and works to end mass incarceration and the criminalization of people of color, API RISE is proud to stand with others in the AAPI community to call on Senator McConnell to bring up a vote on the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (S. 2123). Given many AAPIs in prison were juveniles sentenced as adults, we hope that this is just the beginning and that future efforts will be able to impact more men and women regardless of their crimes," said Duc Ta of Asian Pacific Islander Re-Entry and Inclusion Through Support and Empowerment (API RISE) based in Los Angeles, CA.
APALA Nevada’s Ray Takeda & member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) added, "We will continue to engage our communities in Las Vegas, throughout the state and across the country to pass S. 2123 and move sentencing and broader criminal justice reform. It is especially important for our communities to stand together on this issue if we are to ever create a system of restorative justice for all."
The full letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can be found here:http://bit.ly/1RWP4iq
1 The Sentencing Project, “Trends in U.S. Corrections”:http://sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/inc_Trends_in_Corrections_Fact_sheet.pdf 
2 American Civil Liberties Union, “The Prison Crisis”:https://www.aclu.org/prison-crisis   
3 Oh, A., and Umemoto, K. AAPIs: From incarceration to re-entry. Amerasian Journal. 2005;31(3):43-59

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​Washington, DC – On April 7, 2016 APALA National President Johanna Puno Hester, National Secretary Tracy Lai and Executive Director Gregory Cendana joined the AFL-CIO, #FREEAMERICA and artist John Legend on a prison visit to the Washington Corrections Center for Women in order to have a deeper conversation around the role of the labor movement in ending mass incarceration.

“APALA is proud to stand alongside the AFL-CIO and #FreeAmerica in our collective fight to end mass incarceration and the criminalization of our communities, particularly people of color,” said Gregory Cendana, APALA Executive Director. “For AAPIs specifically, the prison population has grown 250% since the ‘90s yet there continues to be gaps in data and research necessary for the voices of AAPI communities to be heard in the larger conversations around criminal justice reform.”

Just this past December, APALA, alongside Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, Asian Prisoner Support Committee, National Education Association and Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, published a policy report titled “AAPIs Behind Bars” in an effort to expose the school-to-prison-to-deportation pipeline that exists.

“The harsh immigration policies passed in 1996 have left Southeast Asian communities with refugee and legal status vulnerable for deportation based on past criminal records. These policies have subjected immigrant youth to multi-generational poverty, racial profiling, over policing inside the school, and mass incarceration, which in turn have ended in the deportation and separation of families,” said Tracy Lai, APALA National Secretary and member of the American Federation of Teachers.

The report was written following a convening held at California’s San Quentin State Prison offering a number of policy recommendations that would better serve the needs of incarcerated AAPIs. Recommendations included investing in and developing culturally competent programs that address intergenerational trauma, promoting restorative justice and healing models, providing prisoners access to a college education, repealing the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), and expanding reentry pipelines for formerly incarcerated people.

“APALA’s leadership has been integral to moving the broader labor movement forward on criminal justice reform,” stated Carmen Berkley, Director of the Civil, Human and Women’s Rights Department of the AFL-CIO. “Their values of centering the work around those disproportionately impacted, organizing at the intersections and utilizing art and culture has been transformational to how unions will engage in this work.”

“There is a vicious cycle of incarceration and poverty across all communities. We need to do better in helping support our formerly incarcerated Brothers and Sisters by expanding prison-to-job pipelines that foster social entrepreneurship and create pathways to jobs with living wages, healthcare and a voice at work." said APALA National President Johanna Puno Hester  and an American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) International Vice President. "This starts by implementing ‘Ban the Box’ policies in the hiring process at every state and federal level. It means looking at workers beyond their past criminal records and recognizing the unique skills and abilities many bring."  
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The complete policy report can be found at bit.ly/AAPIsBehindBars. To learn more about #FreeAmerica, visit LetsFreeAmerica.com.  

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​(Washington, DC) – During a Congressional briefing at Cannon House Office Building yesterday, national advocacy organizations representing Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) groups and their allies shared a policy report on the impact of mass incarceration on the AAPI community entitled “AAPIs Behind Bars: Exposing the School to Prison to Deportation Pipeline.”

Discussing the impact of mass incarceration and mass criminalization within the AAPI community, the policy report was created after a historic convening held in June 2015 inside the walls of San Quentin State Prison in Northern California. The June gathering had connected more than 100 leaders, including activists, funders, lawmakers, policy experts, and community members, with actively incarcerated AAPI prisoners.

Yesterday’s Congressional briefing included remarks from Reps. Judy Chu (CA-27, CAPAC chair) and Bobby Scott (VA-3). Rep Barbara Lee (CA-13) attended the event to meet with impacted members from her district. In addition, formerly incarcerated individuals and those with pending deportation orders were invited to reflect on their personal experiences.

ABOUT THE AAPIS BEHIND BARS POLICY REPORT
Written in collaboration with the prisoners enrolled in an APSC transformation and racial healing program called Restoring Our Original True Selves (ROOTS), the report offered a number of policy recommendations that would better serve the incarcerated AAPI community, including the implementation of culturally competent programs, reformation of sentencing laws, reinstitution of Pell grants to fund prisoners’ college educations, repeal of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, and the creation of a prison-to-jobs pipeline, among others.

Officially categorized as "Others" throughout much of the prison system, AAPIs represent a population that is often overlooked. In 2013, there were 118,100 "Others" in the state and federal prison system, comprising 9% of the state and federal prison system.1 During the prison boom of the 1990s, the AAPI prisoner population grew by 250%, while disaggregated data shows that certain Asian subgroups, such as Southeast Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, have significantly high rates of arrest and incarceration.1 Closely tied to the rise of mass incarceration is the growth of immigration detention and deportation, which has increased for AAPIs overall, and Southeast Asian Americans in particular. In fact, Southeast Asian American communities are three to four times more likely to be deported for old convictions, compared to other immigrant communities.2 Incarcerated AAPIs also experience unique challenges, including cultural stigmas, lack of community awareness, and disownment from their families.

ABOUT THE CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING
The briefing was hosted by Asian Americans Advancing Justice - LA (AAAJ-LA), Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance / AFL-CIO (APALA), Asian Prisoner Support Committee (APSC), the National Education Association (NEA), the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) and the National Council on Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), in collaboration with the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC).

Moderated by Paul Jung, of AAAJ-LA, the panel of formerly incarcerated individuals included Naroen Chhin, 1Love Movement, Philadelphia; Lundy Khoy, SEARAC, D.C.; David Kupihea, API Rise, Los Angeles; Kristopher Larsen, Formerly Incarcerated Group Healing Together (FIGHT), Seattle; Harrison Seuga, APSC, Oakland; and Eddy Zheng, APSC, Oakland.
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Panelists shared stories of events that profoundly impacted their lives, from being born in refugee camps, growing up in poverty, enduring sexual abuse, and being victimized by bullying. They also stressed the importance of education both inside and outside prison walls, and called for the AAPI community to come together to fight the cycle of injustice collectively.

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