RELEASE: NAKASEC and Affiliates Tell the House to Stop Wasting Time on Anti-Immigrant Legislation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Emily Kessel, eakessel@nakasec.org
Wednesday, January 14, 2015

NAKASEC and Affiliates Tell the House to Stop Wasting Time on Anti-Immigrant Legislation

Anti-immigrant members of Congress continue to disappoint the immigrant community by threatening to tear apart hardworking families

WASHINGTON, D.C.— During the first week in session, anti-immigrant members of the 114th Congress have poisoned the Department of Homeland Security’s budget (H.R. 240) with amendments that would defund President Obama’s recent executive actions on immigration and trample on the dreams of 48,000 newly eligible Korean Americans and half a million Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

Below is a joint statement by Dae Joong (DJ) Yoon, executive director of the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), Inhe Choi, executive director of the Korean American Resource & Cultural Center (KRCC) in Chicago, and Hee Joo Yoon, executive director of the Korean Resource Center (KRC) in Los Angeles and Orange County.

“Every day, we hear the stories of our community members who are suffering and are afraid of being separated from their families. But the recent executive actions on immigration brought hope to the families that do qualify. Voting on a bill and amendments that would directly attack our families is unacceptable and inhumane. Though we are outraged at the members of Congress who voted in favor of today’s anti-immigrant legislation, we recognize that there was some bipartisan support for our immigrant communities. We appreciate those members who showed courage and leadership by standing up for our country’s value of keeping families together. Moving forward, we urge Congress to stop the senseless attacks and to come together to find a permanent and humane solution to today’s broken immigration system. Our community members work hard for this country and deserve to live without the fear of deportation. NAKASEC, KRCC, and KRC will continue to fight back on harmful legislation as we prepare for DACA expansion and DAPA implementation. We are counting on our elected officials to stop wasting time on legislation that instills fear and to start working for our families.”

For more information about the bill, please click HERE.

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The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) was founded in 1994 by local community centers to project a progressive voice and promote the full participation of Korean Americans on major social justice issues. NAKASEC maintains offices in Annandale, Virginia and Los Angeles, California. NAKASEC has affiliates in Chicago (Korean American Resource & Cultural Center) and Los Angeles and Orange County (Korean Resource Center).