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Letter from our Co-Directors
 Dear Friends, At this time of thanks, we want to express our heartfelt appreciation for your decision to stand with us this year. For all of us who care about immigrant communities and civil rights, this year has brought deeply disappointing setbacks at the federal level. We will end 2013 without a path to citizenship for the over 11 million undocumented community members living in and contributing to our country. We also witnessed the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, resulting in the loss of civil rights protections in jurisdictions with a track record of discrimination against minority voters. But, with your support, 2013 has also been a year of groundbreaking civil rights victories at the state and local level: - The Trust Act became state law in October, making California the first state in the country to pass this type of legislation. We estimate that the Trust Act will stop 20,000 unjust deportations in California annually by disentangling the criminal justice system from the federal immigration system.
- In San Francisco, we were able to push through even greater protections for immigrant communities through the Due Process for All Ordinance, which places strict limits on local police participation in deportations.
- California also became the first state to expand the opportunity to monitor elections to legal permanent residents, affirming a vision of immigrants as integrated members of our communities.
These victories provide important protections and opportunities to vulnerable communities, but they are also significant as powerful proof of what is possible when diverse communities - Asian American, Latino, LGBTQ, African American, faith - come together to fight for a common vision of a just society. We go into this Thanksgiving holiday with immense gratitude for the progress your support has enabled, and with grounded optimism for what we can achieve together moving forward. Yours, 
Chris and Hyeon-Ju |
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Advancing Justice - ALC Calls for Action to Address San Francisco's "Eviction Epidemic"
Until this fall, home for the Lee family was a 3-bedroom apartment near Chinatown that they'd lived in since 1979. That changed last month when the Lees and their 48-year old disabled daughter were evicted under the Ellis Act, a California law that allows landlords to take housing off the rental market and sell it. Since then, a citywide coalition has emerged in full force on the heels of the Lee family's eviction case to shape the political direction on affordable housing rights.
Advancing Justice - ALC's representation of the Lees culminated in a September protest at their home to stave off the sheriff's eviction. Hundreds of residents across the city attended the protest in a show of community solidarity with the Lees, which resulted in a temporary reprieve. Their case re-awakened a collective opprobrium against the latest wave of low-income household evictions in an overheated housing market of accelerating increases in rents and property values.
In October, Advancing Justice - ALC launched a campaign with coalition partners on the steps of City Hall to outline a comprehensive policy agenda to curb the excesses of speculator-driven gentrification. Key pieces of the package include regulating the conversion of rent-controlled properties to luxury residences and increasing tenant protections and relocation compensation.
Momentum has not let down, and in November, several city supervisors responded to the campaign's call with an equal sense of urgency to push local legislation aligned with our values. Mayor Ed Lee announced that he would take the charge to Sacramento and has begun working with state legislators to formulate a strategy to amend the Ellis Act, which has been the main tool in overcoming local rent control law to make way for short-term high yield real estate ventures. Advancing Justice - ALC will continue driving our policy agenda to ensure that genuine and meaningful institutional change occurs to protect our communities.
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Meet an Advancing Justice - ALC Alumnus: Judge Michael Begert
 When Judge Michael Begert first began volunteering with Advancing Justice - ALC in the 1990s, it marked the beginning of a relationship that has spanned over two decades. As an attorney at Bingham McCutchen, Michael's then-coworker Jane Gorai encouraged him to get involved with the organization. Jane herself was a longtime Advancing Justice - ALC supporter and former Board member, and in 1993, Michael joined the Annual Event Committee. By 1995, Michael began serving on the Board of Directors and became Board President in 1997 until 2010.
Yet Advancing Justice - ALC is only one of a handful of organizations that Judge Begert has volunteered with extensively. Michael is also a former Board member and Chair of the Board of National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (now Advancing Justice - AAJC), and in that role, he continued his ties to Advancing Justice - ALC. The rules on judicial ethics required Michael to resign from both boards when he became a family law judge in the San Francisco Superior Court in 2011, and these days Michael stays active with groups that address child custody issues and reduce conflict in families, such as Rally Family Visitation Services and the Sergeant Shriver Project.
Judge Begert's spirit of community giving is practiced daily in his role as a judge, and while the "problems we face are complex and sometimes overwhelming," he says that "the possibility that I might have improved someone's life is the greatest reward that I have ever received from any work I have done. I feel privileged to be in a role that allows me to strive for that."
The force that drives Judge Begert to work towards social justice is reflected in his encouragement towards community members who may be thinking of getting involved with Advancing Justice, too. "If you want your work to make a difference, working with Advancing Justice - ALC offers several important advantages. It has the credibility of a long and effective history. It has the resources to follow through on your objectives. It has the relationships to incorporate your efforts into a larger framework. Most of all, it has the right strategy: providing direct services while using that experience to inform broader policy objectives."
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We Will Not Be Used: Why the Deportation Crisis is an Asian Pacific Islander Issue
Over two decades ago, Mari Matsuda warned Asian-Americans that they were in danger of becoming the "racial bourgeoise" - a weapon to be used against Black and Brown communities. She urged Asian-Americans to adopt the slogan of "We will not be used." to reject the racial hierarchy and form alliances with Black and Latino/a communities. At times in the debate on immigration reform, I fear that we have failed to rise to Mari Matsuda's challenge.
An image has emerged in the immigration debate of the deserving, good immigrant - who came here "legally," is hard working, tax paying, and law abiding as opposed to the bad immigrant - who is undocumented, poor, and has been arrested. Advocacy for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities has focused on visas for tech workers and expanding "legal" family immigration. The role that we have been forced into playing has been that of the good immigrant. Not only has this framing turned us into a weapon against Latino/a communities, it has failed our own communities.
Over two hundred thousand AAPIs have been deported in the last four years, but as they fail to fit the profile of the good immigrant, their stories have been left out of advocacy for our communities. AAPIs are often undocumented, poor, and incarcerated. Over 1.7 million of us are undocumented. Over a quarter of undocumented AAPIs are living below the poverty line. Southeast Asians and Pacific Islanders are deported for criminal convictions at five times the rate of other immigrants. When the President talks about deporting "criminal aliens," he is talking about us. By claiming that tech workers and family immigration are the sum of our interests in immigration, we have silenced their voices.
As the calls for an end to deportations grow stronger, our community is speaking out on its own. Last week, two undocumented Filipino immigrants, Dean Santos and Emmanuel Valenciano, joined arms with undocumented Latino/a immigrants to place their bodies in front of a bus deporting immigrants in San Francisco. Dean cited his own detention and experiences talking to Latino detainees as his motivation to stop the bus. As we move forward, I hope that we join Dean and Emmanuel and take a serious pledge to not be used - not against our own communities and not against other immigrants.
This article, by Anoop Prasad, originally appeared on our blog at advancingjustice-alc.org. Photo credit: Krsna N. Avila.
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| About Advancing Justice - ALC: The mission of Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus is to promote, advance, and represent the legal and civil rights of the Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Recognizing that social, economic, political and racial inequalities continue to exist in the United States, Advancing Justice - ALC is committed to the pursuit of equality and justice for all sectors of our society with a specific focus directed toward addressing the needs of low-income, immigrant, and underserved Asian and Pacific Islanders. Visit: advancingjustice-alc.org |
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Save the Dates!
Advancing Justice - ALC Trivia Competition: Saturday, November 23, 2013. 7pm to 10pm at St. Mary's Cathedral
42nd Anniversary Dinner: Friday, April 25, 2014. 6pm to 9:30pm at the Hilton Union Square |
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How can you support Advancing Justice - ALC?
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Advancing Justice - ALC is a non-profit, charitable organization. Community and corporate support of Advancing Justice - ALC plays a critical role in defending civil rights by supporting legal services, community education and leadership towards a more just society.
We count on donations from people like you to continue our work defending civil rights. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by the law. Payable in cash, check, or credit card, via mail or online at advancingjustice-alc.org.
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Advancing Justice - ALC Now Accepting Internship Applications!
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Advancing Justice - ALC offers internships three times a year: spring, summer and fall. An undergraduate internship at Advancing Justice - ALC offers unique opportunities for students interested in civil rights, education, communications, community and youth outreach, and event planning. For more information, visit advancingjustice-alc.org.
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