Asian American Week of Action for Immigration Reform

Forwarding this one from SAALT: South Asian Americans Leading Together:

Starting August 14, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders around the country have been coming together to flex their political muscle in the first-ever week of action for immigration reform.

You can take action in a variety of ways. One simple step you can take today is support immigration reform today using your cell phone. Today is National AAPI Text-In Day for Immigration Reform, and all you have to do to participate is text "AAPI" to 69899!

The National Coalition of South Asian Organizations has been engaged in the One Community United Campaign for Immigrant and Human Rights. As part of the Campaign, SAALT along with NCSO partners, recently held a town hall in New Jersey.

Chicago Town Hall with Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Mike Quigley
WHERE: Mayfair Salvation Army Community Church, Chicago, IL
WHEN: Saturday, August 22 | 1:00PM-3:00PM
Contact sungyeon@aaichicago.org for more information.

Los Angeles Town Hall with Rep. Judy Chu
WHERE: St. John's Baptist Church, Baldwin Park, Los Angeles, CA
WHEN: Thursday, August 27 | 6:00PM
Contact cchoi@apalc.org for more information.

Washington DC Film Screening and Discussion
WHAT: Screening of "Made in LA" followed by discussion
WHERE: TBD, Washington DC
WHEN: Sunday, August 30 | 3:00PM-5:00PM
Contact napawfdc@yahoo.com for more information.

Miami Town Hall on Immigration
WHAT: Join us for a Town Hall with the South Asian community in Miami to discuss immigration and human rights issues.
WHERE: 8601 W. Commercial Blvd., Tamarac, FL 33351
WHEN: Saturday, September 26 | 11:00AM-2:00PM
Contact saalt@saalt.org for more information.
Cosponsors: SAALT, Sahara, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Miami Dade Asian American Advisory Board

Check out events on SAALT's Community Calendar.
SAALT staff are available to speak at your events on topics including immigrant rights, South Asians in America, civic engagement, and immigration. Please email us at saalt@saalt.org for more information.

9500 Liberty - Immigration Video Channel

What is 9500 Liberty? Call it “Macaca 2.0”.

We recently got a head's up from friends of the Village about an interesting project underway in Virginia that tries to bring some focus and dialogue to the immigration debates for those who want to give more independent thought to the issue.

A collective of activist filmmakers, many of them Asian Americans who had prominently pushed the charge to oust then-Virginia Senator George Allen during Macaca-gate, have again convened in the state to create a multivocal video documentary project about local government efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants in Manassas.

Calling itself 9500Liberty, the group has created a subscribable online video channel to form what it calls an "interactive documentary wall" comprising short guerilla videos that (to the group's credit) present multiple perspectives on the local immigration debate.

Although the project coordinators’ sympathies are clearly with immigrants in the area, 9500 Liberty publishes videos that convey the perspectives of both proponents and opponents of the anti-immigration measures. Videos range from interviews with Corey A. Stewart, Chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, to presentations given at public hearings to harrowing on-the-street confrontations between local whites and Hispanic and Asians.

The group has also crafted a network of discussions on Blogspot, Facebook, and MySpace as well as YouTube, aiming to “elevate dialogue…and inform the public, and investigate alternatives to the intense polarization that is hindering progress on the immigration issue.”

In this way, they say, they hope to help pre-emptively inform the public about a complex issue, rather than allow immigration to become the kind of emotional, polarizing issue in the next national election that gay marriage was in the previous one. Although some viewers may well leave the 9500 Liberty Channel still convinced of their own position on the immigration crackdowns -- whether pro or con -- the visit should leave them better aware of the real issues beyond the campaign rhetoric, and better equipped to make an independent decision.

Asian American Activists Call White House Immigration Paper ‘Anti-Family’

Asian American Activists Call White House Immigration Paper ‘Anti-Family’:

Newly leaked White House immigration draft could be as devastating as the Chinese Exclusion Act, according to Asian American community leaders

New America Media, News Report, Eugenia Chien, Posted: Apr 06, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO -- Asian American community leaders called a newly leaked White House immigration draft “inhumane” and “un-American” because it calls taking away the right of legal immigrants to sponsor their relatives to join them and breaking up families as a result.

The document containing “a set of principles” for immigration reform drafted by key Republican Congressional representatives was circulated in Washington last week. The plan creates temporary visas for undocumented immigrants and new workers, but it also puts more limits on American citizens’ ability to bring their parents, children over age 21 and siblings to the United States.

“This plan attacks families and offers false hope for those seeking to legalize,” says to Karen K. Narasaki, executive director of the Washington-based Asian American Justice Center. "

More...

New Column: Immigration Q&A with Attorney Patricia Ice

IMDiversity.com is pleased to introduce a new column focused on answering practical, real-life immigration-relation questions.

The column is provided by our new Featured Columist L. Patricia Ice, a Mississippi-based immigration attorney and immigrant rights activist currently taking time out from her successful law practice to serve as an Equal Justice Works Katrina Legal Fellow, working with the non-profit rights education group, MIRA: The Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance at www.yourmira.org. In this role, she will help communities in need in areas around the Gulf Coast, with a special focus on immigrant employment issues such as fair labor standards, and wage and hour problems.

Ms. Ice contributes regular immigration advice stories to area publications including La Noticia and The Jackson Advocate.

The new column will be housed in a new immigration readings department at Hispanic American Village, the sister site of Asian American Village, providing careers and feature content for Latino professionals.