For Immediate Release:
November 17, 2014
National Contact: Emily Kessel, eakessel@nakasec.org
Virginia Contact: Dong Yoon Kim, dkim@nakasec.org
NAKASEC, KRC, and KRCC Call on the AAPI Community to Join Sign-on Letter to Urge President Obama to Keep His Promise: Bold Administrative Relief Now
WASHINGTON, DC- Today, the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) and its affiliates, the Korean Resource Center (KRC) in Los Angeles and Orange County and the Korean American Resource & Cultural Center (KRCC) in Chicago, along with other Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations called on AAPI organizations to join a sign-on letter urging President Obama to keep his promise to announce bold and inclusive administrative relief on immigration. The sign-on letter also addresses members of Congress, urging them to support the President taking bold executive action on immigration. Sam Yoon from the Council of Korean Americans (CKA) also joined NAKASEC in the Virginia office to express his personal support as a community leader in the Korean American community.
Dae Joong (DJ) Yoon, Executive Director of NAKASEC, said: “We’ve delivered thousands of post cards from community members and voter pledges from registered voters to the White House urging the President to provide relief to the undocumented immigrants who call America their home and to family members stuck in lengthy immigration backlogs. Now, we ask our AAPI partners across the country to sign onto our letter urging the President to keep his promise to make bold relief a reality for our community members who have been waiting for months after the delay. Additionally, our leaders in Congress need to support, not block, the President as he does the right thing by providing relief to families through executive action on immigration. During this critical time, every voice, especially our AAPI voice, needs to be heard.”
Hee Joo Yoon, Executive Director of KRC, said: “Every day, community members come to KRC asking when the President will provide relief to their family members who are not eligible for DACA. Disappointed by Congress’ inaction and months of delay by the President, our community demands the President to act now for hardworking immigrant families that have been waiting for relief.”
Inhe Choi, Executive Director of KRCC, said: “President Obama taking executive action is the right thing to do, not only for our immigrant community, but also for America. This is an opportunity for him to make history. The President and Congress must remember that this is about families, not politics. KRCC has been organizing and working with the Korean American community for 19 years. We will continue to mobilize around issues of immigrant rights until our community’s voices are heard and taken seriously by our elected officials.”
Sang Jung, a community member from Los Angeles, said: “The President should not be fooled by Congress’s threat to block executive action. The American people voted you into office so you could transform the United States into a country that is stronger and healthier than what we see today. As an immigrant father working hard to support my two children and provide them with a good education, I am sharing my story once again, asking you to keep your promise and announce bold administrative relief immediately. Many immigrant parents like me, whose children are DACA recipients, have been waiting for many years for this moment. Please make our American dreams come true.”
AAPI organizations can sign onto the letter online via http://bit.ly/AAPI4AdminReliefSignOn. The sign-on deadline is Wednesday, November 19 by 12 PM EST.
If you have questions or comments, please email Diana Bui at dbui@nakasec.org or Emily Kessel at eakessel@nakasec.org or call the NAKASEC office at (703) 256-2208.
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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).
