Speak out to protect immigrants from public charge

Today is the last day to submit comments against the Trump administration's unethical "public charge" rule.



Today, December 10, is the last day to submit a public comment opposing the Trump administration's unethical "public charge" rule, a set of broad regulations that threatens the lives of immigrant families.

According to the proposed regulation, immigrants who apply for lawful permanent resident status could be denied if they or their dependents, including U.S. citizen children, use certain government benefits such as nutrition programs and housing assistance. This is, simply, a nasty attack on immigrant rights, targeting some of the most vulnerable members of our community. No one should have to choose between basic needs like health care or feeding their family and not getting deported.

The government has to respond to every single public comment submitted about a proposed rule change. You can still get one in under today's deadline. Here's some more information, written and illustrated by artist Thi Bui (adapted from this slideshow originally posted by Asian Health Services) on the public charge rule and, more importantly, how you can take action right now.

Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants targeted for deportation

"We can't stay silent."


Kim Nak Chhoeun, 42, came to the U.S. as a refugee when he was 6 years old.
From the Los Angeles Times: Most associate Trump's rhetoric about deportations with Latinos, given his vows to build a border wall, his assertions that Mexican immigrants are "rapists" and drug dealers, and his decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for immigrants brought to this country illegally as children, most of whom are Latino.

But immigration activists say the roundups of people of Cambodian and Vietnamese descent are unprecedented and have sparked anxiety in Asian immigrant communities.

"People may think it's just Latinos being threatened when it comes to deportations. But there are all sorts of immigrants affected, and we can't stay silent," said Laboni Hoq, litigation director for the Los Angeles chapter of the civil rights organization Asian Americans Advancing Justice.

"This is a political issue. The administration is cracking down to deliver on campaign promises, and they are going community by community to make their actions known."

More here: As more Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants are targeted for deportation, advocates say they 'can't stay silent'

Filipino workers file labor lawsuit against popular bakery

Eleven guest workers are suing L'Amande French Bakery for exploitation, discrimination and trafficking.


(Los Angeles Times)
This week in Los Angeles, eleven immigrant workers filed a lawsuit against two popular bakeries, alleging that owners lured them from the Philippines promising high-paying jobs, only to exploit them.

Beverly Hills bakery workers say they were paid as little as $2 an hour

The lawsuit, filed by Advancing Justice - LA and Latham & Watkins LLP on behalf of eleven current and former employees of L'Amande French Bakery, alleges that the workers were fraudulently lured to the United States on E-2 guest worker visas and then subjected to exploitative working conditions including forced labor, severe wage theft, immigration-related retaliation, and national origin discrimination.

AAWW presents Undocupoets Petition Reading

Friday, March 27 at The Asian American Writers' Workshop



Did you know that many writing contests require you to be a US citizen? This requirement ends up discriminating against millions of undocumented writers of color a year. If you also think no poet should be excluded just because of where they were born, the Asian American Writers Workshop invites you to their Undocupoets Petition Reading, requesting that writing contests change their guidelines and get out of the business of checking passports. Featuring Wo Chan, Sonia Guiñansaca, Jennifer Tamayo, Javier Zamora and Christopher Soto, it's happening Friday, March 27 at the Asian American Writers' Workshop in New York.

Here are some more details about the reading:

Jose Antonio Vargas detained at Texas airport

Undocumented journalist and immigration activist taken into custody by Border Patrol



Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, filmmaker and immigrant rights activist Jose Antonio Vargas -- arguably the most visible undocumented immigrant in the country -- was detained at a Texas airport this morning.

Reporter Jose Vargas, symbol of immigration debate, detained at airport

Vargas, who started the campaign Define American and has been outspoken about being undocumented, was detained in McAllen, Texas while trying to go through airport security. He was in McAllen to cover the children migrant crisis and show solidarity for the youth who have been recently crossing the border from Central America.

Only after arriving in McAllen, where the security procedures are much stricter, did he realize how challenging it might be to return home. As an undocumented immigrant, Vargas does not have a U.S. government-issued ID, and expressed uncertainty about getting through the numerous Customs and Border Protection checkpoints.

This morning, Vargas tweeted that he was about to go through airport security:

Join the campaign to release the #ElPaso37

More than thirty Punjabi asylum seekers remain in ICE custody without due process



In Texas, more than forty Sikh men from India -- members of a minority political party from the Punjab region -- have been detained since spring of 2013 at the El Paso Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center. They fled their home country seeking asylum from persecution, only to find themselves languishing in custody here in the United States without due process for nearly a year.

Earlier this month, 37 of the detainees -- dubbed the #ElPaso37 -- initiated a hunger strike in protest of continued denials of their rights to due process. The ended after ten days, with several hospitalizations, amid promises from ICE that the detainees' paperwork would finally move forward. But so far over thirty detainees still remained in custody in El Paso.

18 Million Rising has launched a campaign to increase pressure on ICE to release these detainees and call attention to their plight. Starting today, 18MR has partnered with United We Dream to kick off a three-day protest, during which community members, activists, and organizers from across the country will inundate ICE with phone calls expressing concern about and demanding the release of the #ElPaso37.

Want to participate? Here's what to do:

CNN acquires Jose Antonio Vargas' documentary Documented

Film follows former Washington Post journalist's life as an undocumented immigrant



CNN Films has acquired the U.S. broadcast rights for Documented, the feature-length documentary by Jose Antonio Vargas, about his experiences as an undocumented immigrant, activist and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist: CNN Films Acquires Jose Antonio Vargas' 'Documented'

Documented will be broadcast nationally in the spring of 2014 as a CNN Films broadcast, following its international premiere this month at the 2013 International Documentary Film Festival and its theatrical distribution in the U.S. It screened last week as the closing night film of the San Diego Asian Film Festival.

Here's the trailer for Undocumented:

Why We Rise: Undocumented Youth Speak Out

Got this passed along to me from AALDEF... Why We Rise is a compelling new 13-minute documentary featuring three young Asian American New Yorkers who reveal what it's like to grow up without having legal immigration status. It's a unique glimpse into the struggles of real individuals whose lives are affected by the debate raging in Congress over immigration reform. Check it out:

#UndocuAsians Film/Theater Performance, May 20

Heads up, New York. On Monday, May 20, catch a performance of #UndocuAsians, a new film and theater performance by undocumented Asian youth. The night opens with a short film following the lives of three undocumented Asian American youth followed by an onstage performance by more than a dozen undocumented youth, all members of AALDEF's undocumented youth group). Poet Kelly Tsai will be a special presenter.

Internship Opportunity: Winter/Spring 2013, Korean Resource Center

Here's an internship opportunity for folks in Southern California... The Korean Resource Center is seeking an intern for Winter/Spring 2013 to work in the program areas of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Rights.

This part-time position (20 hours/week) runs January to May, and is open to college students, recent college graduates, or high school graduates with two or more years of work experience after high school. The intern will work out of KRC's office in Los Angeles, alongside KRC staff.

Here are some more details about the internship's responsibilities, qualifications and requirements: