View this email in your browser ([link removed])


** OCA Condemns Administration's New Threat to AAPI Citizens
------------------------------------------------------------
2 March 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Maddie Schumacher | Senior Policy and Advocacy Associate
202.223.5500 | [email protected]

Washington, DC - OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates objects to the US Justice Department’s creation of a Denaturalization Office for the purpose of stripping U.S. citizens of their U.S. citizenship. Historically, the office of Immigration Litigation has completed denaturalization cases with a 95% success rate ([link removed]) . Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants are more likely than the overall foreign-born population to be naturalized, with 59% having received citizenship ([link removed]) . Therefore, AAPI communities are the most vulnerable to denaturalization. Southeast Asian Americans especially are three to four times more likely to be deported ([link removed]) on account of old convictions, rather than current ones.

The new office’s purpose is to revoke citizenship from those who unlawfully obtained it in the first place; clearly a duplicate of the functions of the Office of Immigration Litigation. Fundamentally, they are tasked with investigating fraud. However, fraud is a broad category; and may even extend to minor errors made on a citizenship form. For this reason, Justice Department lawyers fear that the new office could mount attacks on naturalized citizens who have committed only petty crimes.

The creation of the Denaturalization Office fits into a broader anti-immigrant strategy by the Trump Administration. Stephen Miller, an aide who has driven much of the President’s immigration policy, has said that denaturalization could be used as a tactic in pushing back against immigration. While the Obama administration pursued denaturalization for those who had committed crimes, these cases have accelerated during the Trump administration. From 2017 to the present, case referrals to the Justice Department have increased by 600% ([link removed]) .

“With theImmigration Act of 1996 ([link removed]) , there already exists a double jeopardy for immigrants. The creation of a Denaturalization Office is another chilling message to immigrants: even if you become a United States citizen, there will always be the threat of deportation,” says OCA Executive Director Rita Pin Ahrens. “As a community, immigrants will continue to be second class citizens; the promise of security and safety with citizenship will never be fully extended to us.”

OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates is a national civil rights organization dedicated to improving the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).
###
View this statement online here ([link removed]) .

============================================================
** ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
Copyright © 2020 OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates, All rights reserved.
Thank you for signing up for the OCA National Center's Listserv.

Our mailing address is:
OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates
1322 18th St NW
Washington, DC 20036
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp
[link removed]