Month: February 2020

Southeast Asian American and Asian American Organizations Across the Country Denounce Trump Administration’s Move to Increase Deportations to Laos: PRESS RELEASE

Posted on by KaYing Yang

Message from Bo Thao-Urabe, Executive and Network Director (CAAL):

Because deportation has numerous detrimental impacts on individuals who are deported, and on the families and communities they are forced to leave behind, CAAL along with our partners across the country stand firm in our position that immigrants and refugees should not be deported without due process and human rights considerations. Please read our statement to community on the latest efforts by the Trump Administration to deport Hmong, Lao and other immigrants and refugees who have heritage to Laos.

If you are impacted there is help. If you want to help advocate on this issue there is a network you can participate in. Together we must build from the work of our Vietnamese and Khmer communities to demand just change, and ensure our government is working to protect us, not tear us apart.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:


February 7, 2020

Southeast Asian American and Asian American Organizations Across the Country Denounce Trump Administration’s Move to Increase Deportations to Laos
Hmong/Lao Americans with Removal Orders Should Seek Legal Assistance

WASHINGTON, DC – We learned that in 2019 the U.S. State Department (DOS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Government of Laos (GoL) made a verbal agreement to deport a significant number of individuals annually with final removal orders to Laos. While there is currently no formal deportation memorandum of understanding between the United States and Laos, this verbal agreement makes those with final orders for deportation potentially more vulnerable to removal by the Trump Administration.

Moreover, the U.S. DOS recently confirmed that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is funding a reintegration program in Laos for deported individuals who do not speak t Lao or have family connections — an indication that even former refugees with no ties to Laos will be included in this annual deportation goal. Since 1998, the United States has deported 219 individuals to Laos, and in 2019, five individuals were deported. Currently, about 4,500 Hmong/Laotian individuals living in the U.S. have a final order of removal.
Below is a statement from the Southeast Asian Deportation Defense Network:

“We reject the continued deportations of immigrants and refugees without regard for human rights and due process. We condemn efforts by the United States government to continue deporting Southeast Asian Americans, many of whom are former refugees. We fundamentally believe that regardless of past mistakes, everyone must be given the opportunity, resources, and support networks to turn their lives around and become productive citizens. We believe in transformation and know that many individuals are pivotal members in their local communities. They must be afforded the same due process rights as every other American.

Those who are targeted now have served their time and should not face a lifetime sentence by being deported. We have learned from decades of work with our Cambodian and Vietnamese communities that we must not give up and can stop deportation cases through partnership with advocacy and legal organizations. We urge impacted families to seek legal assistance with experienced and trusted immigration and criminal defense attorneys. We also ask that individuals and organizations who want to effectively organize and advocate on this issue join us.”

Below are organizations with experience serving and advocating on this issue. The services provided by these groups are especially focused on assistance to gain relief from detention and deportations; while advocacy work focuses on stopping the deportation of this group of people through policy changes. Individuals facing deportation to Cambodia, Laos, or Vietnam can also access the Southeast Asian Raids website for additional resources, or call (415) 952-0413 for free legal advice.

For those in our community who are impacted, we urge you to take the following steps to protect you and your families:
1) All individuals who currently live in the U.S. with deportation orders to Laos should contact organizations in your state or the regions closest to you for assistance.
2) All individuals who are green card holders who are facing criminal convictions should talk to their lawyer about deportation consequences.
3) Those seeking advocacy support for detentions and deportations can also access this resistance toolkit.


Please reach out to these organizations for more support:

California:
• Asian Americans Advancing Justice – ALC, Anoop Prasad, anoopp@advancingjustice-alc.org
• Asian Prisoner Support Committee, Nate Tan, nate@asianprisonersupport.org
• Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries, Lucky Siphongsay, lucky@firminc.org
• Hmong Innovating Politics, Nkauj Iab Yang, nkaujiab.yang@hipcalifornia.com

Georgia
• Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta, Phi Nguyen, pnguyen@advancingjustice-atlanta.org

Massachusetts
• Asian American Resource Workshop, Kevin Lam, kevin@aarw.org
• Greater Boston Legal Services – Asian Outreach Unit, Bethany Li, bli@gbls.org

Minnesota:
• Coalition of Asian American Leaders, KaYing Yang, kaying@caalmn.org
• Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota, Sunny Chanthanouvong, sunny@laocenter.org
• Release MN8, Montha Chum, montha@releasemn8.org

New York
• Mekong NYC, Chhaya Chhoum, chhaya@mekongnyc.org
• Southeast Asian Defense Project, Socheatta Meng, smeng@seadefense.org

North Carolina:
• Southeast Asian Coalition, Ong Vang, ong@seacvillage.org

Pennsylvania:
• Laos in the House, Catzie V., catziev@gmail.com
• VietLead, Nancy Nguyen, nancy.nguyen@vietlead.org

Washington:
• Khmer Anti-Deportation Advocacy Group, Sina Sam, khaagwa@gmail.com

Wisconsin:
• Freedom, Inc., Kabzuag Vaj, kabvaj@freedom-inc.org

National:
• Laotian American National Alliance, Jonathan Vorasane, jonathan@lana-usa.org
• Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, Kham S. Moua, kham@searac.org
• Southeast Asian Freedom Network, June Kuoch, june@seafn.net

About the Southeast Asian Deportation Defense Network

The Southeast Asian Deportation Defense Network is a national collective of Asian American organizations focused on preventing the detention and deportation of Southeast Asian refugees, and reuniting deported loved ones with their families in the United States. Member organizations include advocacy, grassroots, and legal organizations with over two decades of experience in deportation defense work.

For more information, please contact:

KaYing Yang, CAAL, kaying@caalmn.org / 651-756-7210
Kabzaug Vaj, Freedom, Inc., kabvaj@freedom-inc.org / 608-217-7754
Vimala Phongsavanh, LANA, vimala@lana-usa.org / 401-378-1949
Kham S. Moua, SEARAC, kham@searac.org / 612-465-9539

February 2020 – Staff Corner

Posted on by Kay Moua

It’s been a long journey of unlearning and relearning how to step into my leadership and take up my rightful space in this world.

My childhood and education experiences were filled with constant messages and reminders that the terms “Asian American”, “womxn”, and “leader” don’t belong together. From being called “the quiet Asian girl from Pitch Perfect” to having teachers who reinforced my quietness as standard for students of color, I grew up thinking I wasn’t destined for greatness – that my voice is insignificant.

In sophomore year of high school, my homeroom was voting for student council members. Across from me sat two white students. I saw that one began carelessly crossing out names. His  friend asked, “Why are you crossing out their names?” He answered, “Oh, I am just crossing out the Asian names.” They both looked at each other and laughed out loud.

I was horrified but deep down inside I understood where those boys were coming from. They, like me, had over 10 years of formal education where none of us had never read, seen, or studied a positive Asian person in our curriculum. I realized that the two white male students were merely a reflection of our broken, inequitable, and exclusionary education system. 

In those 10+ years of formal education, all my ambitions, passion, and voice were constantly erased, and my identity didn’t matter. What happened in homeroom that day struck me. It motivated me to explore and define what being an Asian American womxn meant to me. I began to embrace my various identities – Asian American, womxn of color, child of refugees – and embraced them as assets. I began to think of them as the foundation for how my leadership could show up in the world. It was the beginnings of an important shift.

When I graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2017, I discovered the Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL). I loved seeing the terms “Asian American” and “leader” together in a sentence, and it felt like a happy ending to my high school chapter. I feel grounded at CAAL, knowing that everyone who enters our network is already seen a leader regardless of their titles. They each bring important assets, experiences, and expertise into the network. They bring their full selves, and that is enough to build from. This resonated so much with my own leadership philosophy. I always knew in my heart, but doubted it’s validity because of my experiences growing up.

It’s been almost 10 years since I started high school. Now when I have conversations with Asian American youth, they share similar leadership and identity challenges – they name the persistance of racism. It is heartbreaking hearing that they feel exactly the same way that I did in high school. Not much has changed.

I believe young people deserve better and they can indeed take up leadership to help end historic systemic practics of erasure, denial, and exclusion. So, as 2019 came to a close young Asian Minnesotans co-created Becoming Organizers, Becoming Advocates (BOBA) with CAAL. BOBA invites youth to unapologetically celebrate and honor who they are, and supports and builds them to show up as their most authentic and brilliant selves. Young people don’t have to wait to be leaders; they are leaders today.