Webinar Recap
The Public Charge Policy: AAPI Immigrant Families at Risk
On August 9, AAPIP partnered with APIAHF on a webinar on the Trump Administration’s expected proposal of an immigration regulation re-defining the “public charge” requirement for individuals applying for permanent residence (“green cards”). This proposed regulation could impact 3.8 million AAPI immigrants’ access to healthcare, economic security, early childcare access, food, and other safety nets. The expected public charge regulation is already resulting in a chilling effect on the utilization of public benefits by immigrants and their U.S. born children.
The webinar featured the following speakers:
- Jonathan Blazer, Senior Program Officer, Four Freedoms Fund
- Rosemary Veniegas, Senior Program Officer, California Community Foundation
- Carolyn Wang Kong, Senior Program Officer, Blue Shield of CA Foundation
- Bonnie Kwon, Director of Network Innovation, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF)
The webinar included an overview of the proposed regulation, funder responses at the regional and national levels including responses by funders who don’t identify as “immigration funders,” and the #OneNation campaign featuring AAPI-specific strategies and resources.
Since the webinar, there has been additional media coverage of the issue, and a public statement by the director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that the proposed regulation is still being drafted, but is on track to be published soon: https://cis.org/Transcript/Imm
Meanwhile, we wanted to share with you some additional resources related to this issue:
- Grantmakers Concerned About Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) has monthly calls for funders to provide updates on immigration policy: https://www.gcir.org/
programs/2017/ monthlypolicycalls. Once the proposed regulation is published, GCIR will be developing and sharing a “template” comment, which funders can use as a springboard for customizing their own organizational comment opposing the proposal.
- The Protecting Immigrant Families campaign, which has been organized to oppose the proposed public charge regulation, has updated its website, with updated fact sheets, community education materials (in multiple languages), media coverage, and additional background materials: https://protectingi
mmigrantfamilies.org/
- The #OneNation campaign, a joint project of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, Asian Health Services, and AAPI Progressive Action, features AAPI specific resources: https://www.
onenationaapi.com/
Webinar Recording and Slides