NCAPA Weekly Roundup | Sept. 27 - Oct. 4, 2016 - National Council of Asian Pacific Americans

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Updates

NCAPA members register voters for National Voter Registration Day: Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) and the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) registered voters last Tuesday for National Voter Registration Day, with APALA registering voters in Alexandria, Va., and NAKASEC in Annandale, Va. APALA will continue voter registration efforts in the area throughout the month. Sign up here.

Celebrating Filipino American History Month: This month and every October, we celebrate Filipino American contributions to our nation. Check out the feature on the NCAPA website. NCAPA member the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) also has called for greater participation by Filipino Americans in U.S. society.

Hepatitis B screening test added as a preventive service for Medicare beneficiaries: Hep B United, a coalition co-chaired by NCAPA member the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) and the Hepatitis B Foundation, applauded the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for their decision to cover hepatitis B screenings at no cost to Medicare beneficiaries.

20 years of trauma -- marking the anniversary of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act: The Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) marked the 20th anniversary of immigration laws that increased deportations in the U.S. and limited due process for immigrants with old criminal convictions, which has greatly affected Southeast Asian American immigrants. The majority of them were refugees who fled wars in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. SEARAC has been raising awareness about these laws with their #Fix96 campaign.

APALA commends Obama Administration’s actions on paid sick leave: Last week, the Obama Administration announced a final rule to extend paid sick leave to federal contract workers and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission finalized an action to require companies to report pay data by gender, race and ethnicity. APALA commended this news and urged the next administration to keep up these efforts for working people in America.

California governor signs bill requiring educators to provide anti-bullying materials: Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed The Safe Place to Learn Act, which will help protect Sikh and Muslim American students by requiring the California Department of Education to assess whether schools provide adequate resources and information to educators and the community regarding students who are subject to bullying and religious discrimination. The Sikh American Legal Defense & Education Fund (SALDEF), Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Sikh Coalition co-sponsored the bill.

SALDEF announces new executive director: Join us in welcoming SALDEF’s new executive director, Deepinder Singh! Deepinder was previously a full-time faculty member at Madonna University in Michigan and was the Director for the Center for Catholic Studies and Interfaith Dialogue.

NCAPA in the News

In the New York Times, Jeremy W. Peters used APIAVote’s survey to show the leftward shift since 2012 among Asian American registered voters.

In Psychology Today, read the five lessons we learned from the “Mail Order Family” fiasco. The sitcom would have involved a family living with a mail order bride from the Philippines. E. J. R. David, Ph.D., in collaboration with Dr. Alicia del Prado - psychologist, professor, and co-chair of the Asian American Psychological Association's Division on Filipino Americans, wrote this piece.

Asian American Psychological Association’s Kevin Nadal, Ph.D., talked to NBC Asian America about where stereotypes about Asian American men come from and how microaggressions can have a significant impact on people’s lives.

Take Action!

Sign your organization on to urge the Department of Homeland Security to extend Temporary Protected Status for Nepal after their devastating earthquake last year. (Deadline: Friday, Oct. 8)

TODAY is the day of action for #CitizenshipforAllAdoptees. Send an e-postcard to your member of Congress.

Support National Federation of Filipino American Association’s (NaFFAA) Joe Montano Fellowship Program.

Volunteer for the Asian American Exit Poll and Poll and Polling Monitoring Project. Sign up here with AALDEF.