Wis. Organization for Asian Americans (WOAA) Fall Potluck
Cross cultural perspectives on Immigration
Cross cultural perspectives on Immigration
By Heidi M. Pascual
The Wisconsin Organization for Asian Americans (WOAA) has proven time
and again that it is an association promoting in-depth discussions of important
issues that impact not only Asian Americans but also other groups in the state of
Wisconsin and in the U.S. WOAA prides itself on the fact that several
government officials have spoken to the group and answered queries on topics
that currently matter. As co-Chair Lakshmi Sridharan said at their Fall Potluck,
WOAA has had the following speakers: U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, U.S. Rep.
Tammy Baldwin, Wis. Gov. James Doyle, and Dane County Exec. Kathleen Falk,
among others. Aside from government officials, notable community leaders from
various ethnicities have been WOAA panelists.
One of the major issues WOAA has been actively focusing on this year is
immigration, with the ultimate goal of creating a position paper that will be sent
to our legislators in the nation’s Capital before it tops the legislative agenda in
2011. The Spring/Summer WOAA meeting on June 28 featured a panel composed
of Madison Alder Shiva Bidar-Sielaff and lawyers Carmel Capati, Saejung Lee,
and Ramona Natera. At the recent Fall meeting on Nov. 21, five UW-Madison
students of WOAA member Jan Miyasaki (UW-Asian American Studies Program)
presented their research on immigration, as part of the course Asian American
Studies 540 (Asian American Pan-Ethnicity and Community Organizing) - service
learning component.
At the outset, Miyasaki explained how the students’ research dovetails into
the present discussion of WOAA. “There’s been a couple of sites that Asian
American Studies has been conducting service learning at — Freedom Inc., the
Cambodian Temple and the Cambodian Association of Wisconsin, and this
organization — the Wisconsin Organization for Asian Americans (WOAA),” she
said. “We’ve been looking at a couple of issues. These students are working
with WOAA, while other students are looking at domestic violence in the Hmong
community, at naturalization and immigration in the Cambodian community, and
at youth and juvenile delinquency over at Freedom Inc. It’s a range of topics that
are important. This semester, these five students have been working on an
assignment to help WOAA come up with a position paper on immigration.”
Miyasaki spoke of two reasons she was interested in working with WOAA
on the immigration issue: for Asian Americans to have representation in the
Madison Area Immigration Coalition, a group largely composed of Latino groups;
and to help local Asians facing deportation, such as low-income families and
individuals in the Cambodian community. She praised Saejung Lee for being
very helpful to Cambodians who are facing deportation for a range of reasons:
language barrier (family has interpreted for them instead of a professional
interpreter); criminal-justice experience, such as domestic violence; or those
who entered the country through a fiancé visa and who are now having
problems.
“These are the kinds of things that become much more pressing to me as a
member of the Asian American community,” Miyasaki said. “So when I think
about what kinds of service learning my students could do, I thought that some
students could do some research on what other communities are doing.”
Below is the summary of the presentations made by UW students Becky Tabbert,
Blia Xiong, Jenny Renzas, Fengling Han, and Andrea Sunarisa Soen. Miyasaki
acknowledged that most of the students’ researches were Internet-based.
Becky Tabbert – “Golden Venture” film excerpt
“Golden Venture” (written, directed and produced by Peter Cohn) chronicles
the ongoing struggles of passengers who were aboard the Golden Venture, an
immigrant smuggling ship that ran aground near New York City in 1993. These
“immigrants” who originated from Fujian Province in China paid at least $30,000
to be brought to the United States unnoticed. The Golden Venture crash caught
national media attention and became a symbol of a growing concern over illegal
immigration. The film follows the stories of the 220 Golden Venture passengers,
about half of whom were deported (but 60 have returned to the U.S. illegally).
Initially, the illegal immigrants were detained by the INS in jails around the U.S.,
with 150 of them held in York County, PA. Twelve of the passengers received
political asylum in South America through a deal brokered by the Vatican; 55
were released on bond or INS parole; 53 were released on a parole from Pres.
Clinton but were not awarded legal status; 2 received artists’ visas; 14
juveniles were released to court custody; 6 escaped; and 10 died. Most of the
passengers who stayed in the U.S. work in or own Chinese restaurants; many
have gotten married and have American-born children; a handful of them have
become U.S. citizens. Those without legal status haven’t seen their families for
more than 14 years, including those with wives and children in China.
Blia Xiong and Jenny Renzas – Latino Organizations
The Wisconsin Organization for Asian Americans (WOAA) has proven time
and again that it is an association promoting in-depth discussions of important
issues that impact not only Asian Americans but also other groups in the state of
Wisconsin and in the U.S. WOAA prides itself on the fact that several
government officials have spoken to the group and answered queries on topics
that currently matter. As co-Chair Lakshmi Sridharan said at their Fall Potluck,
WOAA has had the following speakers: U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, U.S. Rep.
Tammy Baldwin, Wis. Gov. James Doyle, and Dane County Exec. Kathleen Falk,
among others. Aside from government officials, notable community leaders from
various ethnicities have been WOAA panelists.
One of the major issues WOAA has been actively focusing on this year is
immigration, with the ultimate goal of creating a position paper that will be sent
to our legislators in the nation’s Capital before it tops the legislative agenda in
2011. The Spring/Summer WOAA meeting on June 28 featured a panel composed
of Madison Alder Shiva Bidar-Sielaff and lawyers Carmel Capati, Saejung Lee,
and Ramona Natera. At the recent Fall meeting on Nov. 21, five UW-Madison
students of WOAA member Jan Miyasaki (UW-Asian American Studies Program)
presented their research on immigration, as part of the course Asian American
Studies 540 (Asian American Pan-Ethnicity and Community Organizing) - service
learning component.
At the outset, Miyasaki explained how the students’ research dovetails into
the present discussion of WOAA. “There’s been a couple of sites that Asian
American Studies has been conducting service learning at — Freedom Inc., the
Cambodian Temple and the Cambodian Association of Wisconsin, and this
organization — the Wisconsin Organization for Asian Americans (WOAA),” she
said. “We’ve been looking at a couple of issues. These students are working
with WOAA, while other students are looking at domestic violence in the Hmong
community, at naturalization and immigration in the Cambodian community, and
at youth and juvenile delinquency over at Freedom Inc. It’s a range of topics that
are important. This semester, these five students have been working on an
assignment to help WOAA come up with a position paper on immigration.”
Miyasaki spoke of two reasons she was interested in working with WOAA
on the immigration issue: for Asian Americans to have representation in the
Madison Area Immigration Coalition, a group largely composed of Latino groups;
and to help local Asians facing deportation, such as low-income families and
individuals in the Cambodian community. She praised Saejung Lee for being
very helpful to Cambodians who are facing deportation for a range of reasons:
language barrier (family has interpreted for them instead of a professional
interpreter); criminal-justice experience, such as domestic violence; or those
who entered the country through a fiancé visa and who are now having
problems.
“These are the kinds of things that become much more pressing to me as a
member of the Asian American community,” Miyasaki said. “So when I think
about what kinds of service learning my students could do, I thought that some
students could do some research on what other communities are doing.”
Below is the summary of the presentations made by UW students Becky Tabbert,
Blia Xiong, Jenny Renzas, Fengling Han, and Andrea Sunarisa Soen. Miyasaki
acknowledged that most of the students’ researches were Internet-based.
Becky Tabbert – “Golden Venture” film excerpt
“Golden Venture” (written, directed and produced by Peter Cohn) chronicles
the ongoing struggles of passengers who were aboard the Golden Venture, an
immigrant smuggling ship that ran aground near New York City in 1993. These
“immigrants” who originated from Fujian Province in China paid at least $30,000
to be brought to the United States unnoticed. The Golden Venture crash caught
national media attention and became a symbol of a growing concern over illegal
immigration. The film follows the stories of the 220 Golden Venture passengers,
about half of whom were deported (but 60 have returned to the U.S. illegally).
Initially, the illegal immigrants were detained by the INS in jails around the U.S.,
with 150 of them held in York County, PA. Twelve of the passengers received
political asylum in South America through a deal brokered by the Vatican; 55
were released on bond or INS parole; 53 were released on a parole from Pres.
Clinton but were not awarded legal status; 2 received artists’ visas; 14
juveniles were released to court custody; 6 escaped; and 10 died. Most of the
passengers who stayed in the U.S. work in or own Chinese restaurants; many
have gotten married and have American-born children; a handful of them have
become U.S. citizens. Those without legal status haven’t seen their families for
more than 14 years, including those with wives and children in China.
Blia Xiong and Jenny Renzas – Latino Organizations
(Counterclockwise from top left)
WOAA co-Chair Lakshmi
Sridharan, Fengling Han,
Andrea Sunarisa Soen, Becky
Tabbert, Paul and Atsuko
Kusuda, Carmel Capati and
Regina Cowell, Melba
Jesudason, Saejung Lee,
Jenny Renzas, Blia Xiong, and
Jan Miyasaki
WOAA co-Chair Lakshmi
Sridharan, Fengling Han,
Andrea Sunarisa Soen, Becky
Tabbert, Paul and Atsuko
Kusuda, Carmel Capati and
Regina Cowell, Melba
Jesudason, Saejung Lee,
Jenny Renzas, Blia Xiong, and
Jan Miyasaki
Blia Xiong focused on organizations that have made a statement or have been cited for their
comments on immigration reform. Some of them were:
1) “Feet in 2 Worlds”-http://feetin2worlds.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/activists-see-reversal-even-
betrayal-in-obamas-postponement-of-immigration-reform-bill/
— (Comments posted in response include: deport all immigrants; people need to come to terms
with the fact that Obama only said what people wanted to hear but will not do as he says; the racist
‘hicks’ from down south need to become educated and face the reality of today’s times; we need to
stop fighting and work together for an equal America.)
2) Voces de la Fontera-http://www.vdlf.org/ -supports the DREAM Act (Development, Relief and
Education for Alien Minors Act). They have been active in contacting Pres. Obama and reminding
him of his campaign promise on immigration reform; led “A Day Without Latinos March” to argue
against the “Immigration Reform Bill” that would turn 12 million people into convicted felons;
supports the “Secure Orderly Immigration Act” which incorporates legalization, guest worker
programs, and border enforcement components; fights to change Wisconsin Laws denying licenses
to illegal immigrants; and fights for workers’ rights and against deportation.
3) Standing Firm-http://www.standing-firm.com/ is a national coalition of grassroots organizations
fighting for immigrant rights at the local, state, and federal level.
4) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1080734/posts says dairy farmers in Wisconsin are
unhappy with raids of undocumented immigrants because a survey of 600 farms (in 4 counties)
reveals that 90 percent of their workers are Mexican immigrants.
5) The Council for the Spanish Speaking Inc. (Milwaukee)-aside from supporting the DREAM Act and
the Obama immigration reform, provides legal aid to undocumented
immigrants.
Jenny Renzas highlighted Latino Ethnic Groups in Wisconsin, their mission, programs, and
contact information.
1) The Hispanic American Council of Wisconsin, Inc. (Fond du Lac and Sheboygan) provides free
information about community services and helps take away immigrants’ fears regarding utilizing
state human services.
2) Hispanic Professionals of the Greater Milwaukee Area provides networking opportunities and
advising on careers and volunteering opportunities.
3) Centro Hispano of Dane County provides programs that serve Latino youth in Dane County
comments on immigration reform. Some of them were:
1) “Feet in 2 Worlds”-http://feetin2worlds.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/activists-see-reversal-even-
betrayal-in-obamas-postponement-of-immigration-reform-bill/
— (Comments posted in response include: deport all immigrants; people need to come to terms
with the fact that Obama only said what people wanted to hear but will not do as he says; the racist
‘hicks’ from down south need to become educated and face the reality of today’s times; we need to
stop fighting and work together for an equal America.)
2) Voces de la Fontera-http://www.vdlf.org/ -supports the DREAM Act (Development, Relief and
Education for Alien Minors Act). They have been active in contacting Pres. Obama and reminding
him of his campaign promise on immigration reform; led “A Day Without Latinos March” to argue
against the “Immigration Reform Bill” that would turn 12 million people into convicted felons;
supports the “Secure Orderly Immigration Act” which incorporates legalization, guest worker
programs, and border enforcement components; fights to change Wisconsin Laws denying licenses
to illegal immigrants; and fights for workers’ rights and against deportation.
3) Standing Firm-http://www.standing-firm.com/ is a national coalition of grassroots organizations
fighting for immigrant rights at the local, state, and federal level.
4) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1080734/posts says dairy farmers in Wisconsin are
unhappy with raids of undocumented immigrants because a survey of 600 farms (in 4 counties)
reveals that 90 percent of their workers are Mexican immigrants.
5) The Council for the Spanish Speaking Inc. (Milwaukee)-aside from supporting the DREAM Act and
the Obama immigration reform, provides legal aid to undocumented
immigrants.
Jenny Renzas highlighted Latino Ethnic Groups in Wisconsin, their mission, programs, and
contact information.
1) The Hispanic American Council of Wisconsin, Inc. (Fond du Lac and Sheboygan) provides free
information about community services and helps take away immigrants’ fears regarding utilizing
state human services.
2) Hispanic Professionals of the Greater Milwaukee Area provides networking opportunities and
advising on careers and volunteering opportunities.
3) Centro Hispano of Dane County provides programs that serve Latino youth in Dane County
schools and cultural, educational and social service programs for adults. It assists those seeking employment, as well as offenders navigating
the court system.
4) Latino Support Network (LaSup) is a network of social service providers and others working in the Latino community to share information,
discuss and find solutions to critical issues, and to learn about community resources.
5) Hispanic Latino Alumni Association (UW-Madison) promotes higher education in the Latino community, promoting a positive image of the
university in the Latino community, and evaluating university policies affecting Latino faculty, alumni and students, among other things.
Other Latino groups actively involved in the well-being of the Latino community included in Renza’s report were: Community Action Coalition for
South Central Wisconsin, Wisconsin Migration Research Group (UW-Madison), Latino Resources-UW Extension (Plymouth Congregational
Church, Iowa County, WI), Milwaukee-Area Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, and UW-Milwaukee-Roberto Hernandez Center.
Renzas also cited recent publications, statewide and nationwide, that focus on the Latino community, particularly Latinos’ active participation in
marches and rallies to advance their cause.
Fengling Han- African and African American Organizations
Fengling Han started off with statistics about African Foreign-Born residents in the U.S. (1960-2007), highlighting the top five countries of
origin and which American state has the largest number of African immigrants. She then talked about the percentages of those granted legal
permanent residency status depending on immediate-relative petition by U.S. citizens, refugee/asylum, and diversity and employment-based
visas; as well as state resettlement patterns which, she said, are generally dominated by certain ethnic communities. “Resettlement agencies
try as much as possible to place refugees in areas in which the refugee may already have family members or where there are pre-existing
ethnic communities,” Han reported.
Local African and African American Associations include:
1) ASA (African Students Association, UW-Madison) promotes cultural and social awareness of African students at UW
2) African Association of Madison, Inc. promotes and encourages the collective cultural, social and economic welfare of members; and
provides immigration counseling services in collaboration with Centro Hispano and the Jewish Social Services.
3) The Urban League of Greater Madison’s mission is to improve the social and economic conditions of African Americans, other people of
color, and the economically disadvantaged in the community.
Broader area organizations include:
1) The Pan-African Association, based in Chicago, works to assist African refugees and immigrants come together as a cohesive, supportive
group. Its Citizenship Program assists those who wish to become naturalized American citizens.
2) The African Development Center, based in Minnesota, is dedicated to the economic empowerment and success of African immigrants. Since
Minnesota is home to more than 100,000 African immigrants, this center is busy attending to their needs.
Andrea Sunarisa Soen –Asian and Pan-Asian Ethnic Groups
Soen’s report focused on these groups and their efforts at making their views known about various issues, including immigration.
1) The Asian Law Caucus (San Francisco, CA) is the first legal and civil rights organization serving low-income Asian Pacific Americans. They
provide the following services and ahve been instrumental in the following immigration policies:
-Removal proceedings: The Caucus represents a number of immigrants in removal proceedings before the SF Immigration Court; provides legal
advice and assessment; gives referrals to private lawyers if needed.
-Legal Immigration Reform: In 1996, Congress passed a series of harsh immigration laws, including the Illegal Immigration Reform and
Immigrant Responsibility Act, which imposed severe restrictions on public benefit eligibility for new immigrants, stiff penalties for unlawful
presence, and substantial expansion of the grounds for mandatory deportation. The Caucus has been a primary resource of immigration
information for the Asian Pacific American community. It is also an active advocate for positive, pro-immigrant legislative reform.
-Naturalization and the Disability Waiver (Form N-648): The Caucus helps immigrants, particularly the elderly and the disabled, to naturalize. It
conducts community workshops, presentations and media strategies on the naturalization process.
-Late Amnesty Settlements (CSS and Newman/LULAC): The Caucus presents a series of workshops to assist community members in applying
for legal status under the recent settlement agreements in this case. The agreements established a one-year legalization filing period beginning
May 24, 2004 for certain undocumented immigrants who first arrived in the U.S. prior to January 1, 1982. The filing period was thenextended to
Dec. 31, 2005.
-Immigration Law and Battered Women: The Caucus, together with countless community groups, advocated for the passage of the Violence
Against Women Act (1994) and the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (2000), which together extend immigration protection to
victims of battering or extreme cruelty by their spouse or parent who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.
-Immigration Law and the Southeast Asian Community: The Caucus conducts programs for the Southeast Asian Task Force (SEATF), now known
as the Coalition for Southeast Asian Community Action (CSEACA), including community education on the 1996 deportation amendments, the
Cambodian Repatriation Agreement, and monthly immigration clinics.
-Cambodian Repatriation Agreement (CRA): On March 22, 2002, the Cambodian government agreed to allow the INS to forcibly deport
Cambodian refugees with decades of legal residence in the U.S. The agreement exacerbated the effect of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform
and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) and the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), which require the issuance of
deportation orders for anyone convicted of a specified crime, including certain misdemeanors. It shattered hundreds of families in the
Cambodian American community, particularly those who had accepted deportation orders just to be released from INS detention. The Caucus
collaborates with CSEACA partners in efforts to amend mandatory deportation laws.
-Public Interest Parolee (PIP)( Adjustment of Status (AOS) Filings: Section 586 of the Foreign Operations, Export, Financing and Related
Programs Appropriations Act of 2001 allows Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese nationals who were paroled into the U.S. as public interest
parolees (PIPs) to adjust their status from parolee to lawful permanent resident (LPR). The Caucus, as part of a national effort, succeeded in
persuading Congress to eliminate the 5,000-person cap for PIPS to become LPRs, since the number of PIPs admitted to the U.S. was between
15,000 to 20,000 (through The Consolidated Appropriations Act [Public Law No. 108-44]) signed into law on Dec. 8, 2004, Sec. 534].
2) NAPALC (National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium)/AAJC (Asian American Justice Center), Washington, D.C. is the nation’s
premiere authority on immigration policy as it affects the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
In recent years, anti-immigrant voices and legislation have fueled a heated national immigration debate that disproportionately ignores Asian
Americans. This is despite the fact that nearly 40 percent of all immigrants to the U.S. came from Asia; that 1.5 million of them are
undocumented; and that more than 60 percent of Asian Americans are foreign-born. NAPALC/AAJC leads the struggle to educate the public,
lawmakers and the media on the pressing need to overhaul the nation’s badly broken immigration system and provides Asian Americans with
essential information, insight and analysis on newly enacted and proposed immigration policies.
3) NAKA (National Association of Korean Americans) is a civil and human rights organization of concerned Korean Americans that also
promotes cooperation and better understanding between the Korean American community and other racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. They joined
the Immigrant Rights March on Sept. 7, 2006 in Washington, D.C. to demand rights for immigrants and an end to their deportation.
4) The CASL (Chinese American Service League), Chicago, Ill. is the largest and most comprehensive social service agency in the Midwest
dedicated to serving the needs of Chinese Americans. Its programs mainly serve newly-arrived immigrants with no formal education, few
transferable job skills, who do not speak English, and who are sometimes without family or friends in the area. [Illinois state funding cuts to
social services, however, threaten to decimate CASL’s programs that offer child care, senior services, immigration services, and family
services.]
5) The CAI (Cambodian Association of Illinois) prepares clients to properly complete INS application forms, successfully graduate from
citizenship classes, pass actual citizenship interviews and tests, and recognize important changes to citizenship procedures.
6) JACL (Japanese American Citizens League), San Francisco, CA has always supported comprehensive immigration reform.
7) NAVASA (National Alliance of Vietnamese American Service Agencies), Silver Spring, MD has enabled local service providers to strengthen
their activities by bringing together key community and ethnic leaders to work on vital issues affecting self-support, cultural adjustment and
community strengthening of refugees. It also provides leadership training, ethnic community development, education and information
dissemination on ethnic-specific issues, etc.
8) Hmong National Development, Inc., Washington, D.C. works to build capacity, develop leadership and empower the Hmong American
community. It collaborates with other local and national organizations to assist the Hmong community adapt to and succeed in the U.S.
9) NaFFAA (National Federation of Filipino American Associations) Washington, D.C. addresses four major issues: immigration, affirmative
action, welfare reform and equity for Filipino World War II veterans.
10) IADO (Indo-Americans Democratic Organization), Skokie, Ill., strives to be a unified voice for the Indian American community and
encourages participation in the political process. For more than 20 years, IADO has lobbied the government for fair immigration laws and
representation of Indian Americans and Asian Americans in government. It also conducts voter registration and candidate forums, works on
numerous campaigns for candidates, leads campaigns against media stereotypes, and partners with other groups/communities on issues such
as hate crimes, affirmative action and glass ceiling issues.
After the students’ presentations, WOAA members and guests discussed some more ongoing problems and issues revolving around
current immigration policies. With the above research work, additional collaborative work with other local community groups such as the
Latino community and other immigrant groups, and perhaps an audience with Wisconsin legislators in the U.S. Congress, WOAA hopes to take a
unified stand on the issue and make its voice heard when the comprehensive immigration reform debate tops the agenda in Washington, D.C.
the court system.
4) Latino Support Network (LaSup) is a network of social service providers and others working in the Latino community to share information,
discuss and find solutions to critical issues, and to learn about community resources.
5) Hispanic Latino Alumni Association (UW-Madison) promotes higher education in the Latino community, promoting a positive image of the
university in the Latino community, and evaluating university policies affecting Latino faculty, alumni and students, among other things.
Other Latino groups actively involved in the well-being of the Latino community included in Renza’s report were: Community Action Coalition for
South Central Wisconsin, Wisconsin Migration Research Group (UW-Madison), Latino Resources-UW Extension (Plymouth Congregational
Church, Iowa County, WI), Milwaukee-Area Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, and UW-Milwaukee-Roberto Hernandez Center.
Renzas also cited recent publications, statewide and nationwide, that focus on the Latino community, particularly Latinos’ active participation in
marches and rallies to advance their cause.
Fengling Han- African and African American Organizations
Fengling Han started off with statistics about African Foreign-Born residents in the U.S. (1960-2007), highlighting the top five countries of
origin and which American state has the largest number of African immigrants. She then talked about the percentages of those granted legal
permanent residency status depending on immediate-relative petition by U.S. citizens, refugee/asylum, and diversity and employment-based
visas; as well as state resettlement patterns which, she said, are generally dominated by certain ethnic communities. “Resettlement agencies
try as much as possible to place refugees in areas in which the refugee may already have family members or where there are pre-existing
ethnic communities,” Han reported.
Local African and African American Associations include:
1) ASA (African Students Association, UW-Madison) promotes cultural and social awareness of African students at UW
2) African Association of Madison, Inc. promotes and encourages the collective cultural, social and economic welfare of members; and
provides immigration counseling services in collaboration with Centro Hispano and the Jewish Social Services.
3) The Urban League of Greater Madison’s mission is to improve the social and economic conditions of African Americans, other people of
color, and the economically disadvantaged in the community.
Broader area organizations include:
1) The Pan-African Association, based in Chicago, works to assist African refugees and immigrants come together as a cohesive, supportive
group. Its Citizenship Program assists those who wish to become naturalized American citizens.
2) The African Development Center, based in Minnesota, is dedicated to the economic empowerment and success of African immigrants. Since
Minnesota is home to more than 100,000 African immigrants, this center is busy attending to their needs.
Andrea Sunarisa Soen –Asian and Pan-Asian Ethnic Groups
Soen’s report focused on these groups and their efforts at making their views known about various issues, including immigration.
1) The Asian Law Caucus (San Francisco, CA) is the first legal and civil rights organization serving low-income Asian Pacific Americans. They
provide the following services and ahve been instrumental in the following immigration policies:
-Removal proceedings: The Caucus represents a number of immigrants in removal proceedings before the SF Immigration Court; provides legal
advice and assessment; gives referrals to private lawyers if needed.
-Legal Immigration Reform: In 1996, Congress passed a series of harsh immigration laws, including the Illegal Immigration Reform and
Immigrant Responsibility Act, which imposed severe restrictions on public benefit eligibility for new immigrants, stiff penalties for unlawful
presence, and substantial expansion of the grounds for mandatory deportation. The Caucus has been a primary resource of immigration
information for the Asian Pacific American community. It is also an active advocate for positive, pro-immigrant legislative reform.
-Naturalization and the Disability Waiver (Form N-648): The Caucus helps immigrants, particularly the elderly and the disabled, to naturalize. It
conducts community workshops, presentations and media strategies on the naturalization process.
-Late Amnesty Settlements (CSS and Newman/LULAC): The Caucus presents a series of workshops to assist community members in applying
for legal status under the recent settlement agreements in this case. The agreements established a one-year legalization filing period beginning
May 24, 2004 for certain undocumented immigrants who first arrived in the U.S. prior to January 1, 1982. The filing period was thenextended to
Dec. 31, 2005.
-Immigration Law and Battered Women: The Caucus, together with countless community groups, advocated for the passage of the Violence
Against Women Act (1994) and the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (2000), which together extend immigration protection to
victims of battering or extreme cruelty by their spouse or parent who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.
-Immigration Law and the Southeast Asian Community: The Caucus conducts programs for the Southeast Asian Task Force (SEATF), now known
as the Coalition for Southeast Asian Community Action (CSEACA), including community education on the 1996 deportation amendments, the
Cambodian Repatriation Agreement, and monthly immigration clinics.
-Cambodian Repatriation Agreement (CRA): On March 22, 2002, the Cambodian government agreed to allow the INS to forcibly deport
Cambodian refugees with decades of legal residence in the U.S. The agreement exacerbated the effect of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform
and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) and the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), which require the issuance of
deportation orders for anyone convicted of a specified crime, including certain misdemeanors. It shattered hundreds of families in the
Cambodian American community, particularly those who had accepted deportation orders just to be released from INS detention. The Caucus
collaborates with CSEACA partners in efforts to amend mandatory deportation laws.
-Public Interest Parolee (PIP)( Adjustment of Status (AOS) Filings: Section 586 of the Foreign Operations, Export, Financing and Related
Programs Appropriations Act of 2001 allows Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese nationals who were paroled into the U.S. as public interest
parolees (PIPs) to adjust their status from parolee to lawful permanent resident (LPR). The Caucus, as part of a national effort, succeeded in
persuading Congress to eliminate the 5,000-person cap for PIPS to become LPRs, since the number of PIPs admitted to the U.S. was between
15,000 to 20,000 (through The Consolidated Appropriations Act [Public Law No. 108-44]) signed into law on Dec. 8, 2004, Sec. 534].
2) NAPALC (National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium)/AAJC (Asian American Justice Center), Washington, D.C. is the nation’s
premiere authority on immigration policy as it affects the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
In recent years, anti-immigrant voices and legislation have fueled a heated national immigration debate that disproportionately ignores Asian
Americans. This is despite the fact that nearly 40 percent of all immigrants to the U.S. came from Asia; that 1.5 million of them are
undocumented; and that more than 60 percent of Asian Americans are foreign-born. NAPALC/AAJC leads the struggle to educate the public,
lawmakers and the media on the pressing need to overhaul the nation’s badly broken immigration system and provides Asian Americans with
essential information, insight and analysis on newly enacted and proposed immigration policies.
3) NAKA (National Association of Korean Americans) is a civil and human rights organization of concerned Korean Americans that also
promotes cooperation and better understanding between the Korean American community and other racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. They joined
the Immigrant Rights March on Sept. 7, 2006 in Washington, D.C. to demand rights for immigrants and an end to their deportation.
4) The CASL (Chinese American Service League), Chicago, Ill. is the largest and most comprehensive social service agency in the Midwest
dedicated to serving the needs of Chinese Americans. Its programs mainly serve newly-arrived immigrants with no formal education, few
transferable job skills, who do not speak English, and who are sometimes without family or friends in the area. [Illinois state funding cuts to
social services, however, threaten to decimate CASL’s programs that offer child care, senior services, immigration services, and family
services.]
5) The CAI (Cambodian Association of Illinois) prepares clients to properly complete INS application forms, successfully graduate from
citizenship classes, pass actual citizenship interviews and tests, and recognize important changes to citizenship procedures.
6) JACL (Japanese American Citizens League), San Francisco, CA has always supported comprehensive immigration reform.
7) NAVASA (National Alliance of Vietnamese American Service Agencies), Silver Spring, MD has enabled local service providers to strengthen
their activities by bringing together key community and ethnic leaders to work on vital issues affecting self-support, cultural adjustment and
community strengthening of refugees. It also provides leadership training, ethnic community development, education and information
dissemination on ethnic-specific issues, etc.
8) Hmong National Development, Inc., Washington, D.C. works to build capacity, develop leadership and empower the Hmong American
community. It collaborates with other local and national organizations to assist the Hmong community adapt to and succeed in the U.S.
9) NaFFAA (National Federation of Filipino American Associations) Washington, D.C. addresses four major issues: immigration, affirmative
action, welfare reform and equity for Filipino World War II veterans.
10) IADO (Indo-Americans Democratic Organization), Skokie, Ill., strives to be a unified voice for the Indian American community and
encourages participation in the political process. For more than 20 years, IADO has lobbied the government for fair immigration laws and
representation of Indian Americans and Asian Americans in government. It also conducts voter registration and candidate forums, works on
numerous campaigns for candidates, leads campaigns against media stereotypes, and partners with other groups/communities on issues such
as hate crimes, affirmative action and glass ceiling issues.
After the students’ presentations, WOAA members and guests discussed some more ongoing problems and issues revolving around
current immigration policies. With the above research work, additional collaborative work with other local community groups such as the
Latino community and other immigrant groups, and perhaps an audience with Wisconsin legislators in the U.S. Congress, WOAA hopes to take a
unified stand on the issue and make its voice heard when the comprehensive immigration reform debate tops the agenda in Washington, D.C.