National Council of Asian Pacific Americans Joins 220+ Organizations to Urge Supreme Court to Protect Immigrant Families

The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) and 11 of its member organizations joined a coalition of 224 immigration, civil rights, labor, and social service groups to file an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to review Texas v. U.S., the case that has temporarily blocked some of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

The filing comes less than a month after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled 2-1 to block implementation of protections for millions of immigrants across the country, including nearly half a million Asian Americans.

NCAPA is pleased that the Supreme Court has set a schedule that could allow the Court to consider the case and possibly decide it during this current Supreme Court term.

“It is critical that the Supreme Court take this case without delay and allow this program to proceed so that millions of hardworking immigrants and their families can continue making valuable contributions to their communities and to our nation,” said NCAPA National Director Christopher Kang. “NCAPA stands more committed than ever to support this constitutional program and to fight for comprehensive immigration reform for all immigrant families and our future.”

“More than five million families are waiting for a decision by the Supreme Court for expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA),” said Dae Joong Yoon, executive director of the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), which co-chairs the NCAPA immigration committee. “These are not just numbers. Behind these numbers, there are children, youth, parents and their hopes and dreams to live with their loved ones in a country they call home. We are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to set aside anti-immigrant politics and put families first by taking up and making the right decision about the case temporarily blocking the implementation of DAPA and expanded DACA. We encourage community members of all immigration statuses from undocumented to U.S. citizens to come together and join in the fight for a permanent solution, a fair and humane comprehensive immigration reform, for our community at large.”

"Undocumented immigrants have waited for over a decade for immigration reform, and DACA and DAPA are their only reprieve provided the absence of legislation,” said Ken Lee, chief executive officer of OCA, which co-chairs the NCAPA immigration committee. “The first iteration of DACA enabled us to legally hire undocumented students and/or interns in Washington, D.C. The lower courts’ decisions to halt the programs not only leave over 400,000 Asian and Pacific Islanders in fear, but rob any opportunities from our students and other individuals who have rooted their hopes and dreams in America. It also threatens to tear the families of undocumented parents of our U.S. citizens and legal permanent resident students and interns away.  Our Justices have an obligation to our country to hear the case, and we are hopeful the Justices will make the right decision.”

NCAPA organizations who joined the brief are National Korean American Service & Education Consortium; OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates;  Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum; Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC; Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations; Japanese American Citizens League; National Asian Pacific American Bar Association; National Federation of Filipino American Associations; National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance; South Asian Bar Association of North America; and Southeast Asia Resource Action Center.

### 

Based in Washington, D.C., the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans is a coalition of 35 national Asian Pacific American organizations that serves to represent the interests of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities and to provide a national voice for our communities’ concerns. Our communities are the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the United States, currently making up approximately six percent of the population.