Asian Law Caucus

National Security and Civil Rights: Our programs also pursue the promise of democracy for all, no matter where people are from, what language they speak, or how they pray. Through our National Security & Civil Rights program we protect the civil rights of individuals and communities unjustly impacted by overbroad national security policies, especially Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities. We strive to confront the day-to-day breaches of civil rights to impact the larger social and institutional dynamics that prevent the realization of equal rights, challenge the unjust surveillance of AMEMSA communities in the U.S. and assist families facing discrimination, passport revocation, denaturalization, and other tactics in the name of national security.

Voting Rights: Asian Law Caucus' Voting Rights program works to expand access to the democratic process for AAPI, AMEMSA, and other immigrant communities, limited-English speaking Californians, and all those who have been historically disenfranchised. In March 2024, in partnership with California Common Cause, ALC conducted the largest nonpartisan poll monitoring program in California. We then released a joint report based on our poll monitoring and advocated for local improvements to election systems. Since 2022, we co-led a statewide language access workgroup that released a report and roadmap to improve the voting experience for voters who need translated election materials. In the 2022-2024 state legislative processes, we co-sponsored three state legislative bills focused on improving the language access laws, the local redistricting process, and the process when local jurisdictions adopt district elections.National VR (July 2023 - December 2023): The Affiliation Voting Rights Strategy sought to empower AAPIs by increasing capacities for voting rights advocacy and civic engagement in AAPI communities across the country, including in geographic areas where AAPI populations are emerging as a potent force in our democracy. Our work included litigation, legal research and policy advocacy; demographic research, data analysis and mapping; training and consultation on voting rights and election administration issues. In 2021 and 2022, we worked with each of our affiliates and groups in GA, IL, MI, MN, NM, NC, TX, PA and VA to address fair redistricting, election law compliance, voter education and access to voting, and related issues affecting local communities. Asian American Leaders Table: Since 2020, Asian Law Caucus has convened AAPI community leaders from over 70 organizations to participate in the Asian American Leaders Table. Together, we are developing strategies to address the root causes of interpersonal and systemic racism, and to provide our partners with resources and tools to help their communities-both for rapid response to violence and for longer-term interventions to achieve safety and well-being for our communities. Value Our Families: We engaged immigrant rights advocates and experts across the country in discussion seeking to reimagine what the US legal immigration system could be designed to support family immigration and respond to the country's economic needs. National Democracy Initiative: The National Democracy Initiative (NDI) supports partner organizations across the country to strengthen local efforts to build power and engage in advocacy to achieve policy change and other social justice objectives to meet the needs of AAPI AMEMSA communities. The NDI provides support and resources, including advice and consultation, technical and policy expertise, strategic analysis, data and research, subgrants and in-kind support to help partners advance strategic campaigns and efforts in their communities. The NDI also serves as a braintrust for movement partners, and harnesses the expertise and capacities of ALC's programs, built over decades of community lawyering experience, to share strategies, tactics, knowledge with emerging AAPI AMEMSA organizations that seek to organize for power in their communities and advocate for progressive social change.State Power Building: Since 2022, the Asian Law Caucus has worked in coalition with our partners at Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Civic Empowerment Education Fund (AAPI FORCE-EF), Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), and Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) to develop priorities for fortifying and expanding community infrastructure in California and collectively build long term power for low-income and underserved Asian Americans. In 2023, we co-led a series of interviews with AAPI community leaders and worked to develop an initial framework for a longer term plan for a statewide network of power building organizations to advance economic equity, immigrant justice, and create an inclusive democracy. Community Safety: Asian Law Caucus' Community Safety Program aims to ensure AAPI community safety by building preventative, restorative, and community-based alternatives to our ineffective criminal legal system. In particular, we seek to disentangle state and local government agencies from immigration enforcement and to reimagine AAPI community safety. Our work includes community education, legal representation, and policy advocacy on behalf of low-income immigrants and communities of color. In 2023-24, CSP continued our community education and advocacy work to end ICE transfers and ICE collaboration in California, launched our new Legal Clinic for Victims and Survivors of Violence, and provided subgrants to multiple community partners to build restorative justice infrastructure that can support Bay Area AAPI communities.Housing Rights: Asian Law Caucus' Housing Rights program advocates on behalf of low-income residents in the areas of housing and community development. We focus primarily on serving low-income communities of color and gateway communities for new immigrants. We have a long-standing focus on San Francisco and San Francisco Chinatown, where large numbers of tenants and seniors are in danger of displacement due to gentrification and other economic pressures. Informed by our direct legal services, we advocate for local and state policies that protect tenants, preserve housing, create affordable housing options, and decrease inequities in housing and land use.Other programs include Litigation, Communications, and Affiliate works.