An Introduction to Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach
Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach (APILO) is a program of the Asian Pacfic Islander Equality & Legal Assistance (API-LEAP). Although its mission had evolved over the past three decades, most primarily in response to community needs and service gaps, the core aims of APILO remain unchanged: to ensure equal access to justice, promote understanding of the law, customize and secure legal rights through community organizing, individual case advocacy and education. In 1982, APILO, originally formed by a $1 million US Department of Justice Special Impact Project grant, set out with two prime objectives: to create a self-help (non-legal) center for API residents, and to provide direct assistance to improve low-income API residents’ access to legal information, representation and training. Two specific goals of the Special Impact Project grant were to expand and facilitate communication and interaction between API and non-API groups and individuals on legal issues; and to educate and support the API community on legal rights and responsibilities . In addition, the program was organized to support legal services organizations who provide legal aid services to indigent APIs, to implement innovative self-help programs and to reach out to community based organizations that serve the API community. In response to the growing number of immigrant and refugee survivors of domestic violence and their children, in 1996 and with a grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services, APILO launched a domestic violence program, providing holistic services to such families. Over the years, APILO has provided legal referrals and free consultations, self-help materials and workshops, translations, interpreter’s services, and group legal clinics related to domestic violence, elder abuse, family law, immigration, housing, poverty law, consumer fraud, and torts. APILO works proactively to introduce legal aid to individuals from the API communities while helping legal aid providers gain understanding of cultural make-up and modalities of APIs’ interaction with the legal system.
Legal Issues Facing Asian Pacific Islander Communities
Asian Pacific Islander communities in the United States face a range of legal challenges that have significant impacts on their civil rights, social wellbeing, and economic vitality. Among these challenges are issues related to immigration laws, discrimination and racism, and unequal access to social and legal resources.
Immigration law has been a particularly critical issue for Asian Pacific Islander communities. In the modern era, the country’s sole source of legal Asian Pacific Islander immigration was through the national origins quotas, which limited Asian immigrants to immigration at a rate not to exceed 2% of the total entrants in the United States in 1890. This resulted in a substantial species of discrimination against Asian Pacific Islander immigrants that would lead to the Ocean Act, which reduced legal immigration to almost nil. While the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 opened immigration to Asian countries for the first time, it was not until the 1970s with the amendment of Title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the subsequent Asia-Pacific Triangle Immigration Freedom Act, that legislative changes finally reflected a move towards eliminating immigration discrimination.
However, anti-Asian sentiments have persisted. Racial profiling, detentions, deportations, and threats of violence have been all too common, often undergirded by long-standing historical animus and institutional discrimination. According to the Asian American Justice Center, among Asian Pacific Islander refugees, those from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos face the greatest number of detainees at immigration detention centers, with approximately between 80% and 95% of individuals in correspondence facilities (depending on the facility) originating from these countries as of August 2018. In addition, the Migrant Protection Protocols – or "Remain in Mexico" policy – is being used to return Central Americans to Mexico, but it is also being applied by Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") to asylum seekers from countries such as China, Somalia, and Bangladesh. The policy allows CBP agents to transfer asylum seekers at ports of entry to Mexico, where they are forced to remain while their case is being decided in court in the United States. Once transferred to Mexico, they are expected to meet with their representatives and produce documentation for their claims. In many cases, this is virtually impossible; there is often a language barrier, insufficient time, and inadequate information and resources.
As noted earlier, discrimination has continued to persist, especially in light of Asia Pacific Islander hate crimes surging in 2017 and 2018. After years of steadily declining rates, there has been a 300% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in the United States. A report by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism recorded 387 anti-Asian incidents in 2017, compared to just 300 in 2016. By 2018, the number had increased to 579, up from 305 in 2017. And similar to the racialized discrimination that has plagued Asian Pacific Islander immigrants over the course of American history, the recent spate of hate crimes were aided by the 44th President’s hostility towards the Asian Pacific Islander community.
And while anti-Asian hate crimes are at their highest in the last several decades, Asian Pacific Islander communities have continued to face barriers in accessing social and legal resources in the United States. In a recent survey by the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, 50% of respondents reported not knowing where to get help about domestic violence. And one in five API women and girls are not aware of any legal resource in their area. Many of them lack access to the resources they need to defend their individual rights.
Programs and Services Provided by API Legal Outreach
Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach (APILO) offers various programs and services to support low-income members of ethnic communities throughout the District of Columbia. Its staff have expertise in civil legal issues, support services and community outreach. Many of the people served by APILO are undocumented immigrants and refugees facing multiple barriers to legal assistance. Through its partnerships and collaborations with community-based and national organizations, APILO has developed a referral network of pro-bono attorneys who provide legal advice and representation for low-income clients.
As an Asian American Advancing Justice member organization, APILO provides free legal consultations and representation to low-income Asian Americans. It provides services in the following areas:
Family law: APILO assists clients on a wide range of family law issues, including child custody, child support, child visitation/timesharing agreements, protection orders and divorce.
Immigration law: Consistent with the work of Advancing Justice – AAJC in this area, APILO conducts legal orientation and legal clinics on immigration and citizenship issues.
Community legal education: In keeping with its mission of empowering low-income Asian Pacific Islanders, APILO works to increase public awareness of its programs and services through community and legal education.
Legal advice and referrals: The need for civil legal assistance among low-income ethnic communities in the District of Columbia is high, and most people are unaware of immigration and other legal protections. Understanding the need requires careful knowledge of the communities. Most of APILO’s client base remains extremely vulnerable and/or isolated, as many of them are at or below the poverty line. Many are immigrants who lack legal status. These challenges contribute to the barriers faced by our clients.
API Legal Outreach Impact in the Community
A notable impact we have had in the community occurred when our Outlet Center friend, a middle-aged woman from Sri Lanka, saw her husband’s car in the parking lot and attempted to drive it home after he became separated from her. An Outlet Center security officer alerted his manager of his suspicions that "that Hispanic woman" was trying to drive her husband’s car away. Our Outlet Center lawyer was there to pick up a pizza and learned that the Sri Lankan woman was being held and sought help. He was able to connect the South Asian woman with a South Asian attorney from the Community Justice Project (CJP) housed within Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach. Our attorneys ultimately represented her in her asylum case and found an interpreter to help her communicate with them despite her limited proficiency in English. She ultimately received asylum so she could safely return to her children and family in Sri Lanka .
In another impactful matter, we helped an Indonesian family escape an immigration scam. The father had been a client of Greencard USA Inc., an immigration consultant agency that closed as people were preparing for their final interviews. Four months later, the children’s mother became a patient in Pennsylvania and was diagnosed with terminal cancer for which she was uninsurable. After some of the family members passed away, GC and a co-counsel were asked to assist with the father’s petition. We were helped by the consular officers at the Jakarta consulate with whom we had established a very good working relationship over the years. Our PD used some of the funds we received from the Office on Violence Against Women at the Department of Justice to pay for travel and other costs. We did not charge the client anything for our services, although we did request a gift card as a thank you from her grateful son.
Getting Involved with API Legal Outreach
There are several ways to support or get involved with Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach. For those looking to volunteer their time, API Legal Outreach depends on volunteer attorneys, law students, and paralegals to provide legal services to our communities. A few of the common volunteer projects include Estate Planning Clinics, General Immigration Clinics, naturalization workshops, victim advocate training, legislative advocacy, and outreach presentations. We also welcome pro bono support, from a single case-to-case basis to ongoing retention representation and are always in need of mentors, sponsors, and volunteers. We are happy to work with you to design a project that is of mutual interest.
At API Legal Outreach, we believe that a vital aspect of our mission is getting used to working within the communities and organizations that serve the AAPI community. Through partnerships with local organizations, API Legal Outreach conducts workshops aimed at educating community members about their legal rights and responsibilities. These workshops can also be used as resource events that serves as an opportunity for attendees to learn about what API Legal Outreach offers, as well as allow API Legal Outreach to receive information about community needs.
We also welcome corporate sponsorships and individual donations. API Legal Outreach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and donations made to API Legal Outreach are tax deductible according to law. Financial support from individuals and corporations has helped us to maintain and expand our services to underserved communities. API Legal Outreach has a number of opportunities for generous supporters and corporations interested in philanthropy with a focus on social responsibility.
API Legal Outreach Future Directions and Goals
The mission of A P I Legal Outreach is to empower our communities and to ensure equitable access to justice by Asian Pacific Islanders through the provision of quality and cost-effective legal services. A P I Legal Outreach sees itself as a leading legal services organization to Asian Pacific Islanders able to provide high quality and culturally competent legal services to those individuals in need of assistance. Ultimately , the additional goal of the organization is to continue to empower its clients by seeking resources and systematically lead its clients towards their sustainability. While A P I Legal Outreach has begun to identify and fill small gaps through the provision of small grants, its vision for the future is to expand this service so that its clients are able to increase their capacity and independence. Specifically, in regards to grants, A P I Legal Outreach intends to: