WHAT:  API Caucus Legislative Briefing: Protecting Immigrants' Access to Vital Supports and Services
Assemblymember Rob Bonta, District 18 (D‐Oakland), to give key address    
WHEN:  Friday, September 15, 2017
TIME:  9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Luncheon to follow
WHERE:  Capitol Building, Room 113, Sacramento, California  
WHO:  Co‐sponsored by 20 Asian Pacific Islander nonprofit organizations  

September 5, 2017
The Trump administration's announcement today to end the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrival (DACA) program, which provides opportunities to nearly 800,000 undocumented young Americans, marks another dark period in our nation's history. Immigrants of all status have contributed significantly to this nation, both economically and socially. Rather than recognizing the remarkable strength and diversity that immigrants bring to our nation, this Administration chooses to unnecessarily target, blame, and displace these young immigrants, despite the government's invitation for them to apply for DACA and register themselves.

August 15, 2017
Today, August 15th, marks the five year anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA), a program that defers the deportation of eligible undocumented immigrants and allows them a work permit for two years. More than a relief program, DACA provides opportunities to many immigrants across different racial/ethnic groups, including Vietnamese Americans.

August 14, 2017
On this past weekend, the KKK and Neo-Nazis marched under torchlight through Charlottesville chanting “Blood and Soil”, evoking Nazism and the Holocaust, some of the most brutal consequences of racism and hatred in recent memory. This disgusting scene turn tragic when dozens were injured and Heather D. Heyer, 32, was killed when a car plowed in a crowd of counter-protesters. Donald Trump, in a statement of characteristic moral blindness, condemns hatred “on all sides,” equating those who seek to oppress with those who struggle against oppression.

July 2, 2017
By Mai Do
It's 2:00AM on June 30. I am writing a poem. I check Twitter in case of news updates from Hong Kong or Southeast Asia. I am prepared to see images of protests, or to see more images from Marawi City, or to see reports of the Rohingya crisis. I am not prepared to see The Seattle Times report that Tommy Le, a young, twenty-year-old, Vietnamese American man, was shot and killed by King County police without solid reason on June 14. The reported reason for shooting Tommy Le? He was allegedly carrying a knife, but in actuality, he was carrying a pen. Tommy Le was fatally shot while carrying a pen.

June 30, 2017
In an effort to stop a potential Trump Executive Order that would impact lives of immigrants who are admitted to the United States legally, 38 nonprofit organizations, government officials and academics serving Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are uniting to increase public awareness of an ominous executive order, leaked earlier this year and foreshadowed in public statements again just last week, that threatens immigrants with deportation if they use federally funded public benefits, and indebts their sponsors with repaying such benefits.

June 27, 2017
By Tung Thanh Nguyen, MD
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a non-partisan government agency whose analyses of the effects of federal legislation are generally accepted to be the most accurate, has issued its assessment of the Senate Health Care Bill. The CBO analysis confirms the general perception that the bill is tax reform masquerading as health care reform.

June 12, 2017
Welcome to the Young Vietnamese American Voter Survey!
The purpose of this survey is to gather information on what young, Vietnamese Americans care about in relation to social issues within their communities. The PIVOT Young Vietnamese Americans (YVA) Committee will use this information to create resources and implement programs that will empower young people to become more civically engaged. 

Terms of the incentive for completing the survey:  To thank you for your time, upon completion of the survey, you will get a chance to enter in a weekly raffle. Each week for the next four weeks, a winner will be drawn from our survey pool for a chance to win a $25 gift card. You may prefer to not participate and have the option to remain anonymous.