Advocacy Sessions
Value Our Families Through Reunification
During this session, participants will learn how we can defend and strengthen our family immigration system to ensure increased family reunification of families across the US. We will discuss the current significant attacks on the family immigration system in an attempt to shift towards a merit based system that will focus on employment rather than family. We will discuss how this shift will disproportionately impact immigrant families from Africa, Latin America and Asia. Family immigration has long been a valued facet of our immigration system which highlights our nation’s emphasis on family unity and reunification.
Following this session, participants will:
Understand the importance of the US family immigration system and family reunification.
Understand more about the recent attacks of the family immigration and the ways in which they can advocate to strengthen the family immigration system.
Presenters
Vivian Chang, Civic Engagement Manager, Asian Pacific American Labor
Vivian Chang (she/her/hers) serves as the Civic Engagement Manager of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, overseeing APALA’s programs on voting, redistricting, immigration advocacy, and political engagement. Her role builds on her recent leadership of APALA’s field program in Nevada, coordinating and mobilizing AAPI communities for record voter turnout. She previously worked in federal science policy and served two years as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Philadelphia, Pa., and Moline, Ill. She is dedicated to advancing social and economic justice informed by the collective power of communities, and to improving physical environments. She holds an MPA from Princeton University and a B.S. and B.A. from Carnegie Mellon, where she dedicated time to cultivating AAPI community and building solidarity across communities of color. Vivian’s hometown is Columbus, Ohio, sprouting from dual Taiwanese and Buckeye traditions.
Daishi Miguel-Tanaka, Manager of Immigration Advocacy, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
Daishi Miguel Tanaka is the Manager of Immigration Advocacy at Advancing Justice | AAJC. He is responsible for assisting the development and implementation of AAJC’s immigration advocacy priorities to strengthen family immigration and access to status. He provides federal policy expertise to the Value Our Families Coalition and shapes legislative and administrative advocacy activities with coalition members. Daishi has previous experience with the ACLU of Southern California and the Immigration Center for Women and Children. He received his B.A. from Harvard University in Government. As a Filipino-Japanese undocumented activist, he co-led Harvard’s largest immigrant rights organization, Act on a Dream.
Watch Session
Click the play arrow in the lower lefthand corner of the video player, below, to watch the session.