Your AP(Eye) on the Hill: Keeping the DREAM alive
​Published: July 28, 2017

AP(Eye) on the Hill is our weekly highlight of significant federal updates, particularly those that impact AAPI communities regarding reproductive, immigration, and economic justice. Learn about NAPAWF’s and other national AAPI groups’ federal policy work while you’re out on the ground!

Policy Recap

  • Senators introduce DREAM Act to protect young immigrants

  • Senate Republicans push to repeal ACA appears unsuccessful, but fight continues

  • Asian legal professionals face barriers in advancement, reports Asian Bar Association

  • Data shows South Asian Americans face income inequality, civil rights struggles

  • Poet Bao Phi creates guidebook for young Asian Americans

Senators introduce DREAM Act to protect young immigrants

Photo Credit: KPFA

On Thursday, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) re-introduced the DREAM Act, a bipartisan effort to protect young immigrants who have lived in the US most of their lives, known as DREAMers, from deportation and provide a path to citizenship. This legislation would enable young immigrants who are at risk of deportation to become lawful permanent residents of the US if they have been longtime residents of the US, pass background checks and haven’t committed federal crimes, can show they are proficient in English and know US history, are graduating from school or have a GED, and are pursuing higher education or serve in the military. It would also further protect recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program started by President Obama.

  • To see a comparison of the 2010 and 2017 DREAM Acts, click here.
  • Learn about DACA-eligible AAPI populations by the numbers here.
  • Learn about how ending DACA would costs states billions of dollars here.
  • Read NAPAWF’s statement applauding Senators Durbin and Graham on previous efforts to protect DACA recipients from deportation here.
  • Read NAPAWF’s statement in opposition to the Supreme Court’s actions on DACA here.

Senate Republicans push to repeal ACA appears unsuccessful,
but fight continues

Photo Credit: All*Above All

Senate Republicans have been forced into dropping the Better Care Reconciliation Act, the Senate version of a widely denounced House bill which would cost 22 million Americans health care coverage. After Senator John McCain was forced to withdraw from voting due to health issues, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pulled the BCRA from the Senate floor. Instead, Senator McConnell reportedly plans to call a vote on repealing the Affordable Care Act without providing a replacement plan. However, Senator McConnell and Republican leadership have not confirmed exactly what health care bill, if any, will be up for debate. The fight over access to health insurance in the U.S. continues.

  • Read NAPAWF Executive Director, Sung Yeon Choimorrow’s op-ed on how repealing the ACA would affect AAPI women at The Hill.

  • Learn more about what women of color have to lose if the ACA is repealed by reading “The House Republican Repeal Bill Threatens Reproductive Justice for Women of Color” from NAPAWF, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, and National Partnership for Women and Families.

  • Find out about three more ways the Republican repeal of Obamacare would devastate communities of color from the Center for American Progress.

  • Read about other groups NAPAWF has joined to oppose the Republican repeal bill here!

  • To stand with NAPAWF and support the Affordable Care Act, learn more and raise your voice with our partner, All* Above All!

Asian legal professionals face barriers in advancement,
reports Asian Bar Association

Photo credit: NAPABA

A new report from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association is the first-ever comprehensive look at AAPI people in the legal profession. One of the authors of the report, California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin H. Liu said, “Our study shows that Asian Americans have a foot in the door in every sector of the legal profession. The question now is how wide the door will swing open. Despite much progress, Asian Americans still face significant obstacles to reaching the leadership ranks.”

Data shows South Asian Americans face income inequality,
civil rights struggles

Photo credit: Washington Post

After recent hate crimes against South Asian Americans, AAPI groups and activists are raising awareness about the facts on South Asians in the US. While “model minority” myths and aggregated data  depict AAPI people only as the “highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the U.S.,” statistics and stories show many AAPI sub-ethnic groups, including many South and Southeast Asian groups, continue to struggle for financial, social, and health equity.

  • Read a breakdown of the data and stories about South Asian Americans at The Aerogram.

  • Learn about South Asian Americans on the front lines of the civil rights fight at India Abroad.

  • Learn about how hate crimes function as terrorism, and are inspiring fear in international students from South Asia at The Huffington Post.

Poet Bao Phi creates guidebook for young Asian Americans

Photo credit: Kickstarter

Poet Bao Phi’s new book, Thousand Star Hotel, is a collection of poems about his life to date-- as an Asian American, refugee, and father, Phi hopes his insights on currently little-known community experiences such as police brutality and the invisibility of poor AAPIs will serve as a “guidebook” to young Asian Americans seeking their place in the U.S. Read Phi’s interview with NPR’s Code Switch now.

“I think that the idea of Asian and Asian-Americans is that we're all like valedictorians who get into Harvard and become engineers or dot com — and that's fine, that's part of who we are. But I think for the vast majority of us that's actually not our story. For the vast majority of us, the stories are not about success. ... And I gotta believe that there are people out there who both need to see that and maybe learn from it.” - Bao Phi



Keep an eye out for…

  • July 24: SALDEF's 4th Annual Langar on the Hill. RSVP here!

  • July 29: Asian American Literature Festival’s last day at the Library of Congress. Learn more here!

  • July 31: 2017 Asian American and Pacific Islander Youth Summit, hosted by the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (open only to students). Register free here!

  • September 27-29: Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum’s conference VOICES 2017. Register here!

  • September 29-30: Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund’s convening Summit: Elevate. Learn more and Register here!

  • NAPAWF is hiring! Click here to see the opportunities.