National Council of Asian Pacific Americans Opposes Potential Addition of Harmful Immigration Policy Riders in Government Funding Legislation

With only days until a potential government shutdown and Congressional leaders concluding their negotiations, the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) reiterates its call that Congress not include any controversial immigration policy riders.

Last month, NCAPA joined 45 organizations in asking Congress not to use the must-pass government funding legislation to enact harmful immigration policies that would not otherwise have the necessary support of Congress. NCAPA also has opposed legislation that would effectively block all refugees from Syria and Iraq from being resettled into the United States and opposed legislation that would undermine local efforts to enhance our community safety.

Recently, the Senate rejected three harmful amendments related to immigration and refugees. NCAPA supports the two bipartisan votes to defeat legislation that included proposals that would have undermined trust between local law enforcement and communities. This legislation already had been rejected once before. We also applaud the Senate for its overwhelming bipartisan vote in which 89 Senators opposed an effort to suspend the issuance of visas to refugees from Syria and more than 30 other countries. 

Finally, NCAPA strongly endorses the letter from House Democrats—including more than half of the Democrats who voted for the Syrian and Iraqi refugee legislation that the House of Representatives passed last month—asking Speaker Ryan to reject attempts to include such legislative provisions in the government funding bill.

NCAPA strongly opposes any controversial immigration policy riders in the government funding legislation. If proponents of such policies want to debate immigration measures, they should do so in a debate on comprehensive immigration reform, not insert them here because these policies could not pass otherwise.

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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.