PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
July 16, 2014
CONTACT:
Quincy Surasmith
Advancing Justice – LA
Communications Coordinator
213-241-0259
[email protected]
ASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE CALLS FOR COMPASSIONATE RESPONSE TO
BORDER CRISIS AND FOR BOLD, INCLUSIVE ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF
LOS ANGELES – In light of the recent surge of unaccompanied children fleeing violence and gang warfare
in Central America, Asian Americans Advancing Justice (Advancing Justice), with affiliates in Los Angeles,
Chicago, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, issues the following statement:
“Advancing Justice calls on the Obama Administration to respond compassionately to this humanitarian crisis
and to uphold due process for these children in compliance with existing law. We also call on President
Obama to enact bold and inclusive administrative relief that would start to turn back the tide of the two million
deportations that have happened under his watch.
Just yesterday, undocumented Filipino American activist and journalist, Jose Antonio Vargas, was detained
and released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in an effort to draw attention to and support
Central American migrant children and undocumented families trapped at the border. Mr. Vargas’ detention
highlights the injustices that happen everyday to immigrants, refugees, and their families.
As civil rights organizations serving Asian American and Pacific Islander immigrants, we stand with the
Central American migrant children and families seeking safety at the border, and the entire undocumented
immigrant community.
In order to live up to our American ideal of being a nation of immigrants, it is imperative that there be a fair
and humane response to the crisis at the border, and to the larger crisis that we face with the broken
immigration system. We need Congress and the Obama Administration to provide solutions that stop
criminalizing undocumented families trapped at the border, protect the human and legal rights of refugee
children fleeing violence in Central America, and uphold critical due process protections for these children.”
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Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Los Angeles is the nation’s largest legal organization serving Asian Americans
and Pacific Islanders through direct legal services, impact litigation, policy advocacy and leadership development.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC is a national organization that advances the civil and human rights of Asian
Americans and builds and promotes a fair and equitable society for all through public education, policy analysis and
research, policy advocacy, litigation and community capacity and coalition building.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Asian Law Caucus is the nation’s oldest legal organization defending the civil
rights of Asians and Pacific Islanders, particularly low-income, immigrant and underserved communities.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago is the leading pan-Asian organization in the Midwest dedicated to
empowering the Asian American community through advocacy, research, education, leadership development and
coalition-building.
www.advancingjustice.org