Please join the fight to end the raids led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targeting Central American children and families who recently came seeking protection from life-threatening violence in their home countries.

Please sign on your AAPI organization by Monday, February 1 @ 2PM ET.

(Note: Letter originally sent on Tuesday, January 12, 2016).

The letter content can be found below:

February 2, 2016

President Barack Obama
The White House
Washington, DC 20006

Dear President Obama,

We, the undersigned Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations, urge the Administration to put an end to the raids led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targeting Central American children and families who recently came seeking protection from life-threatening violence in their home countries.

During this critical time when over 5 million immigrant students and parents are caught in limbo waiting for the implementation of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs, the Administration decides to move forward on widely condemned raids targeting another group of vulnerable children and families. ICE’s decision to target individuals, children, and families, some of whom are seeking asylum per reports is inhumane and only instills fear in ALL our communities.

When a country faces difficult challenges, we need real leadership from our government to make the right decisions for our diverse communities and families and for our country.

Sincerely,

Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO)
Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment (AFIRE)
API Resistance
APIs for Black Lives STL
APSA
Asian American & Pacific Islander
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago
Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles
Asian American Resource Workshop
Asian Immigrant Women Advocates
Asian Law Alliance
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
Asian Pacific Americans for Action, Cornell University
Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute
Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence
Asian Prisoner Support Committee
Asian Women's Shelter
ASPIRE-Los Angeles
Asian American Coalition, Virginia Tech
Apna Ghar, Inc. (Our Home)
Chhaya CDC
Chinese for Affirmative Action
Coalition of API Americans Collaborating Together to Unite the Southwest (CAACTUS)
Disciples Refugee and Immigration Ministries
DRUM - Desis Rising Up & Moving
Fairfax County NAACP
Filipino Immigrant & Workers Organizing Project
FIRE
Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries
GABRIELA D.C.
Gay Asian and Pacific Islander Men of New York (GAPIMNY)
George Mason University - Women & Gender Studies
Green Party
Healthy House Within a MATCH Coalition
Indo-American Center
Korean American Coalition to End Domestic Abuse (KACEDA)
Korean American Resource & Cultural Center (KRCC)
Korean Resource Center (KRC)
Lao American Association
Los Angeles Immigrant Youth Coalition
MEChA de Northwestern
Midwest Asian American Students Organization
Midwest Asian American Students Union
NA
National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON)
National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
Northwestern University Asian Pacific American Coalition
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA)
NAPAWF Boston
NU APAC
Office of Immigration - Archdiocese of Chicago and Interfaith Committee for Deporting Immigrants
OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates
Philadelphia South Asian Collective
Philadelphia Progressive SouthasianColllective
Queer Asian Pacific-Islander Alliance
RadAsians
Radical Asian Alliance (RadAsians)
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
South Asian American Policy & Research Institute
SEAC
South Asian Network
Trikone Northwest
University of San Francisco Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic
United Students Against Sweatshops, Virginia Tech
Vietnamese Social Services of Minnesota
Washington Dream Coalition
18 Million Rising

cc:
Esther Olavarria
Deputy Assistant Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20016

Serena Hoy
Senior Counselor, Office of the Deputy Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528

Jon Gurule
U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Assistant Director, Field Operations, Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations
Washington, D.C. 20536

Sarah R. Saldaña, Director
U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Washington, D.C. 20536

John Amaya
Counselor to the Director
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20529