LOS ANGELES – Today, President Trump issued a new executive order which is essentially a “Muslim Ban 2.0” in that it reiterates key components of its prior ban on immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. The new order, issued less than a month after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit halted the original ban based on a preliminary finding that it violates the Constitution, continues to target immigrants and visitors from Muslim majority countries. While Iraq has been dropped from the list, the other targeted countries remain: Yemen, Libya, Somalia, Iran, Syria, and Sudan. It also continues to suspend the refugee program, which has provided humanitarian relief to large numbers of people fleeing political strife in the banned Muslim countries and elsewhere.

“The new ban makes minor changes in an attempt to get around the existing court rulings. It continues the administration’s effort to implement xenophobic policies, shut down Muslim immigration, and racially profile Muslim refugees as threats,” said John C. Yang, president and executive director of Advancing Justice | AAJC. (more…)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2017

CONTACT: Brandon Lee
773-259-5288
blee@advancingjustice-chicago.org

Advancing Justice | Chicago responds to Rep. Mike Bost’s ridiculous comments

Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago’s executive director Tuyet Le responded to Representative Mike Bost’s (IL-12) comments:

Representative Mike Bost’s ridiculous comments draw an ignorant picture of a culture about which he knows very little. We would not entertain comments like this on the streets or in our schools, so it is even more absurd to hear them coming from a U.S. Congressman. (more…)

New U.S. Attorney General’s troubling record is a blow to Immigration and Civil Rights progress

WASHINGTON, D.C. — February 8, 2017 ― Attorney general nominee, Jeff Sessions, was confirmed through a floor vote in the Senate this evening.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice (Advancing Justice), an affiliation of five civil rights organizations, issued the following statement:

The new U.S. Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, has much to prove to the American public that he will lead the U.S. Department of Justice in a fair and equitable manner that is in direct opposition to his 30-year record of being anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, and anti-civil rights. (more…)

Asian Americans Advancing Justice Strongly Opposes Restrictionist Immigration Bill

Washington, DC — Today, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Senator David Perdue (R-GA) filed a bill called the RAISE Act that would upend the immigration system to further a white nationalist agenda and move the country in the wrong direction.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice issued the following statement in response to this harmful proposal:

Asian Americans Advancing Justice is alarmed that U.S. Senators have filed legislation that will severely restrict the overall number of immigrants to the United States, and decimate the transformative progress our country has made since the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 that both reunited countless American families with their loved ones abroad, and which dismantled the previous, racist immigration system that heavily favored European immigrants. The RAISE Act would immediately cut the number of green cards made available in any given year by 40%, then eventually reduce the number down to 50% of today’s levels; strip the rights of U.S. citizens to apply to bring their parents, siblings, and adult children to the United States as lawful permanent residents; and eliminate the ability of lawful permanent residents to sponsor their unmarried adult children for green cards. Additionally, the bill lowers the number of green cards allocated for family-based sponsorship to a mere 88,000 per year. (more…)