Seattle, WA - On Thursday and Friday, over 40 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) activists from labor, education, civil rights, and criminal justice organizations, along with prisoners at the Monroe Correctional Complex, gathered in the Seattle area for a grassroots convening called "AAPIs Beyond Bars & Beyond Borders." Eddy Zheng, co-chair of the Asian Prisoner Support Committee and a Soros Justice Fellow, said, "The AAPIs Beyond Bars & Beyond Borders national convening offers a historic opportunity for AAPI individuals and organizations to strengthen our tools and maximize our power to end mass incarceration and deportation." Participants strategized around collective action to address mass incarceration and deportation in the AAPI community.
 
The incarceration rate of AAPIs has skyrocketed since the 1990s, and certain AAPI groups are deported at disproportionately high rates because of criminal convictions. Often overlooked in the immigration and criminal justice debates, the convening highlighted the experiences and stories of AAPI immigrants and refugees whose contact with the criminal justice system makes them automatically deportable, even if they are lawful permanent residents.
 
During the convening, prisoners with pending ICE holds at Monroe Correctional Complex in Washington talked about their fears of being deported upon completion of their sentences. For those who are not deported right away, the lack of access to critical re-entry services and the lengthy and expensive process to get authorization to work in the US creates additional hardships. "Southeast Asian American communities are three to four times more likely to be deported for old convictions, compared to other immigrant communities," stated Naroen Chhin, co-director of 1Love Movement. "For our families, it feels like a life sentence, even after serving time." The majority of Southeast Asian Americans with deportation orders remain in the US for months or years awaiting deportation.
 
Participants at the convening also had the opportunity to talk over Skype with US deportees living in Cambodia. Almost 700 Cambodian American deportees are living in Cambodia, the majority of whom were refugees and lawful permanent residents in the US. Some do not speak the language and many have no family or support system in the country. Chhin continued, "Many of these individuals were convicted as juveniles and grew up incarcerated. Now, they are living a life sentence of physical isolation and family separation."
 
"Formerly incarcerated immigrants and refugees pay a particularly high cost in our criminal justice system due to laws that automatically funnel them into the deportation pipeline," said Quyen Dinh, executive director of the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC). "Many Southeast Asian Americans have transformed their lives and enriched their communities, yet are offered no path to a second chance."
 
AAPI youth growing up in poverty are subject to the same school-to-prison pipeline that has fueled mass incarceration for all communities of color. In California, Samoans, Cambodians, and Laotians have disproportionately high rates of arrest and incarceration. [1] These juveniles are more likely to be tried as adults compared to their white counterparts. [2] Gregory Cendana, executive director of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA), stated, "In order to disrupt the school-to-prison-to-deportation pipeline, we need to not only engage allies and the broader labor movement but also prioritize the stories, dignity, and humanity of all formerly and currently incarcerated individuals."
 
The "AAPIs Beyond Bars & Beyond Borders" convening continues the dialogue that was started last year at the "AAPIs Behind Bars: Exposing the School-to-Prison-to-Deportation Pipeline" convening at San Quentin State prison in California, which focused on education and information sharing by advocates, formerly incarcerated, and currently incarcerated AAPIs. This year's gathering in Seattle focused on creating actionable next steps driven by grassroots organizing and supported by national advocacy.
 
Zheng added, "If we focus on identifying our collective struggles and embracing our differences, then we can make systemic change." 
 
The convening will conclude with a community rally entitled "Stand Together 4 Love" at the Tacoma Northwest Detention Center, where participants will join other local immigrant rights advocates to demand an end to deportation and family separation.
 
Sources: 
1. Males, M., and Macallair, D. The color of justice. Washington, DC: Building Blocks For Youth, 2000.
2. API Youth Violence Prevention Center (2007). Under the Microscope: Asian and Pacific Islander Youth in Oakland - Needs, Issues, Solutions. Oakland: National Center for Crime & Delinquency.

###

​Contact:
Chanravy Proeung, 1Love Movement
[email protected]
401-440-6975
 
Marian Manapsal, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA)
[email protected]
202-508-3733

Ben Wang, Asian Prisoner Support Committee
[email protected]
510-292-0852
 
Katrina Dizon Mariategue, Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
[email protected]
202-601-2968

Washington, DC – Earlier this week, all charges related to the 2015 detainment and death of Freddie Gray against the three remaining officers were dropped. The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA) is disappointed in the prosecutors’ decision to drop all charges and demands justice and accountability for all Black lives.

“It’s extremely unfortunate that the prosecutors dropped all charges in this case,” stated APALA National President Johanna Hester. “However, what we’ve witnessed already in this case – the acquittal of three police officers of any and all charges – shows how broken our criminal justice system is. Without substantive reforms in the system and a cultural shift in how people perceive Black folks, we can’t move towards any type of racial justice.”

Earlier this year, Baltimore Police Officers Brian Rice, Edward Nero, and Caesar Goodson, Jr. were all acquitted of charges in their involvement in the case. The lack of justice and accountability for Black deaths remains all too recent with the July murders of Delrawn Small, Alton Sterling, and Philando Castile.

“Blacks folks have every right to be angry at the state-sanctioned targeting of their bodies. Freddie Gray. Alton Sterling. Sandra Bland. Eric Garner. The list goes on and on,” added APALA Executive Director Gregory A. Cendana. “We can’t – we refuse – to normalize Black deaths. I echo my disappointment with the recent news of prosecutors dropping all charges. But it’s sad to say that had those gone to trial, the result would have been the same. Without Black liberation, none of us can be free. That’s something we need to remember.”
​
APALA stands firmly with #BlackLivesMatter and the Movement for Black Lives and calls for all Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to join us in organizing for Black liberation.

###

​Washington, DC - The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA) is disgusted by Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at last night’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland. APALA is prepared to double down our efforts against any racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic and hateful rhetoric and actions heading into November’s general election.
 
APALA National President Johanna Hester declared: “His speech made one thing clear: what he calls ‘law-and-order’ we call the mass criminalization of people of color and poor people. Trump’s entire message caters to maintaining a status quo that benefits entirely wealthy white men. If elected, his policies will only serve to further criminalize poor folks, Black folks, Muslims, immigrants, and communities of color. We can’t – and won't – let that happen.”
 
“Trump’s focus on ‘safety at home’ begs the question safety for whom,” added APALA Executive Director Gregory Cendana. “He misses the point that our brothers and sisters live in a society where their safety is regularly threatened for being Black or for being Muslim. Under Trump’s proposed policies, the world will be less safe. Time after time, Trump has proven that he is not a leader fit to carry out the values we hold dear.”
 
“I am truly saddened by how divisive our political parties have become. He, alone, will not fix our country if elected to office. Trump will destroy it,” reflected Hester. “We at APALA are ready to make sure that doesn’t happen. Together with our partners, we are more committed than ever to making sure that the voices of millions of people who are from communities of color, who are women, who are Muslim, who are immigrants are being heard. Trump doesn’t care for workers of color. But we do. We are with our workers and their families. If we truly are anti-Trump, then we need to be truly pro-worker and stand for all workers and their families. We won’t let Trump stifle what’s truly important to us a nation – respect, dignity and love.”

###