In 2022, our team advocated for several local, state, and federal policies to advance the civil and human rights of immigrants, refugees, and marginalized communities of color. As we build our teams, we're expanding our policy staff in Sacramento and the Bay Area, and building deeper relationships with advocates across the country who are leveraging each other's progress to strengthen our social and racial justice movements. Take a closer look at our 2022 policy priorities.
AB 937: VISION Act
Once again, California came as close as we’ve ever been to passing the VISION Act and dismantling the prison-to-ICE detention and deportation pipeline. With the backing of 26 legislative co-authors, hundreds of organizations, and a majority of California voters, the VISION Act inspired more and more people and elected officials to come together across races, geographies, and generations to take action for family reunification and community safety. Disappointingly, a few Senators chose to continue the unconscionable double punishment of immigrant and refugee Californians.
The ICE Out of CA coalition and Californians harmed by ICE transfers continue to fight to reunite families and help more people build safe and thriving lives. Learn more about their stories and campaigns for family reunification through the Home, Not Heartbreak photo series.
AB 1766: CA IDs for All
In September, the governor signed AB 1766 (CA IDs for All) into law, which will make available state-issued ID cards to all Californians by July 1, 2027, regardless of immigration status. State-issued IDs will ensure more than 1.6 million undocumented Californians without access to a car or who are unable to take a driver’s test, including women, elderly people, people with disabilities, and people who were formerly incarcerated, will be able to take care of themselves and their families. With widely recognized ID, they will be able to open a bank account, register their children for school, and get medical care.
Measure W (Oakland)
In November, about 70% of Oakland voters approved Measure W, the Oakland Fair Elections Act. Measure W will make Oakland’s election finance system more transparent, democratic, and responsive to everyday Oakland residents. The measure will also require greater transparency in political campaign ads so that voters can clearly see who is funding candidates and ballot measures. It will also limit lobbying by former city officials and lower contribution limits to local campaigns.
Most importantly, the measure will create a Democracy Dollars program that provides each eligible Oakland resident with four $25 Democracy Vouchers to donate to qualifying local political candidates of their choice. The program will make local leaders and candidates more responsive to the needs and concerns of all Oakland residents, instead of just large donors and well-funded corporate lobbying groups.
Proposition H (San Francisco)
After Proposition H passed with nearly 70% of votes in San Francisco this past November, the city will now align its future elections with the federal election schedule, moving them from odd years to even years, when over 80% of San Francisco’s registered voters typically turn out to vote.
The ballot measure will significantly increase voter participation in San Francisco’s municipal elections, particularly among young voters, working class voters, and communities of color. Local elections are expected to become more representative of the city as a whole. Consolidating elections into even years will also save San Francisco an estimated $7 million per year.
Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act
This past fall, U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), Southeast Asian Resource Action Center (SEARAC), Southeast Asian Freedom Network (SEAFN), and Southeast Asian and Asian American organizations introduced the Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act. The bill would limit Southeast Asian deportations and provide protections for the more than 15,000 Southeast Asian refugees who are threatened by deportation and enduring ongoing trauma and fear of being separated from their families and communities. It’s the first bill of its kind to include protections for Cambodian community members. The bill would also:
- Limit DHS’ authority to deport Southeast Asian refugees from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam who arrived in the U.S. by 2008;
- Permanently authorize employment eligibility for Southeast Asians with a final order of removal with a five-year renewal period; and
- End in-person ICE check-ins and establish five-year intervals between virtual check-ins for Southeast Asians on order of supervision.
The Yappie reports that “many of these [deportation] orders are a consequence of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which gave the U.S. the authority to deport immigrants convicted of certain crimes without the chance to argue their case.”
Sophea Phea, who was deported to Cambodia more than 11 years ago and was able to come back home to Long Beach with help from the Asian Law Caucus’ immigrant rights team, spoke at the press conference introducing the bill. She said, “We have accepted the consequences for our mistakes, and have finished the sentence we deserve. Deportation is not what we deserve.”
Expanding the VOTE Act
In the last Congress, Rep. Nikema Williams (GA-05) and 118 other House Democrats introduced HR 8770 (Expanding the VOTE Act) that would give state and local governments the resources and funding they need to deliver greater language access at the ballot box. Across our work to protect Asian and Pacific Islander communities’ voting rights, we know turnout increases when voters have election materials in the languages they use.
HR 8770 would affirm that Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act requires the provision of state and local elections materials and ballots in covered jurisdictions. The legislation would also:
- Create a federal program to help jurisdictions expand their language access, including to counties and states that want to be more inclusive than the legal minimum;
- Ensure jurisdictions are notified when their voting population will soon be legally entitled to translated voting materials and ballots under the Voting Rights Act; and
- Commission a report to assess the current Section 203 threshold and opportunities to broaden language access for all voters.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice analyzed current Section 203 determinations and found that jurisdictions in 30 states may need to start providing translated voting materials and ballots in dozens of different languages after the next determinations in 2026. Many of these counties may need to provide election materials in different Asian languages, such as Korean and Filipino in Cook County, Illinois; Korean in Fairfax County, Virginia; Filipino in Aleutians East Borough, Alaska; and Chinese in Boston, Massachusetts and Clark County, Nevada.