Our response to the DoJ's investigation of @splcenter.org: We will not be intimidated, even as the admin continues to deploy agencies to further its war against immigrants, racial and religious minorities, other marginalized people, and now the civil rights organizations fighting on their behalf.
Arrests of immigrants without criminal convictions by ICE have surged 770%, according to a new data analysis by UC Berkeley: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Read the full report at bit.ly/LivingatTheM...
Providers are stretched to capacity, but the community orgs trying to bridge the gap are doing it with almost no funding or institutional support.
A new AALDEF report, 'Living at the Margins: Barriers to Legal Support for NYC's Asian Communities', documents what it would take to change that.
Asian immigrants are among the largest groups in removal proceedings in NY, yet the city's immigration legal services system is largely out of reach for them. Most intake hotlines don't offer a single Asian language. Outreach to Asian communities is rare.
"...And this captured what I felt when I learned about the death of 56-year-old, nearly blind Rohingya refugee Nurul Amin Shah Alam in Buffalo, New York, after he was abandoned by U.S. Border Patrol agents."
Read the full op-ed in Slate Magazine by Me Me Khant, an exiled Burmese poet and advocate.
"When the Trump administration terminated Temporary Protected Status for Burma, a temporary immigration pathway that over 3,000 Burmese immigrants are relying on, a friend of mine remarked that we fled a tyrant only to run into the arms of a worse one..."
“Dignity is not a privilege—it’s a right.”
Narul Amin Shah Alam should still be alive.
Read more of Khin Mai Aung's powerful words here:
Whether in Buffalo, Minneapolis, or anywhere else, nobody deserves the callous disregard that killed Mr. Shah Alam.
The proposed New York for All Act would end this coordination, stopping local agencies in the state from colluding with ICE and CBP, whose rampage of violence against our communities continues to escalate unchecked.
Communities with limited resources and language access – including Rohingya refugees and other marginalized Asian immigrants – face amplified risks.
Instead, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office contacted DHS, even though no law required them to involve immigration agents. DHS took custody of him, determined they had no cause to hold him, and deliberately abandoned him to the elements. Their decisions killed him.
He wandered alone for five days in the cold before dying.
The timeline is clear. Two weeks ago after a year in detention, Mr. Shah Alam was released on $5,000 bail. He should have gone home then.
Nurul Amin Shah Alam should be alive.
DHS agents released Mr. Shah Alam outside a closed coffee shop on a freezing night with no money, no phone, and no interpreter. From arrest to abandonment, the system treated his disability, language barriers, and refugee status as someone else’s problem.
A nearly blind man, a refugee from Burma, is now dead after being abandoned by border agents at a coffee shop five miles away from his home in Buffalo, NY. His family was not notified of his release. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Ramadan Mubarak! Wishing a blessed Ramadan to all as we welcome this holy month of reflection, prayer, and community. 🌙🌅
This incident is a part of the ongoing terror ICE is doing in Minnesota and other parts of the country. It follows reports from Minnesotans including St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her that ICE is asking them "where the Asian people live."
Video from this weekend shows ICE detaining a half-naked, elderly Hmong man at gunpoint in St. Paul, Minnesota. ICE drove him around, questioned him, and only after fingerprinting him confirmed that he was a U.S. citizen with no criminal background. sahanjournal.com/immigration/...
"ICE’s racial profiling and punitive enforcement practices do not bring about security but instead inflict lasting traumas on families and on generations like mine."
Read Jeung's full article latimes.com/opini…
"The 5 deaths of Asian nationals in ICE custody in 2025 are not just isolated tragedies...Language barriers, delayed medical care and a lack of transparency inside detention centers have already had fatal consequences..."
State legislatures are reviving discriminatory land laws that place Asian Americans and people of Asian descent under undue suspicion.
CAPAC members met with @aaaj-aajc.bsky.social and @aaldef.bsky.social to discuss how we can fight against these xenophobic alien land laws.
We encourage community organizations to get in touch with us for partnership on additional translations to further expand language accessibility for the model contract.
This is what implementation looks like. This is what worker power looks like. And this is how we honor the promise of the NJ Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights.
Download the model contracts in English or Nepali at bit.ly/ModelContractNJDomesticWorkers
The passage of this law didn’t happen by accident — it was won through years of organizing and leadership by Adhikaar, domestic workers, and their allies. The law is in the books, but now with these model contracts, workers have the tools they need to advocate for themselves.
AALDEF and Adhikaar have developed model employment contracts— designed to be clear, accessible, and practical—for domestic workers in NJ. With this model contract, workers can confidently start a new job knowing their rights are secured from day one.
Two years ago today, New Jersey enacted the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights—a law that ensures critical protections for workers in the state, including the right to written contracts in English and the native language of the worker. But long, complex documents can still be a barrier.
Abolish ICE. AALDEF issued the following statement in response to the heinous murder of a woman in Minneapolis by ICE.
"ICE is a dangerous, violent agency that tears families apart and kills people.”
"Annie Lo, one of the report’s coauthors & staff attorney at AALDEF, credited NYC's rent regulation laws for the stark difference. But she said newer luxury developments around the neighborhood in Manhattan are exponentially higher than the area’s median rent, even for supposedly affordable units."
As we head into 2026, manifesting the strength and courage we need as we continue the fight to keep our community safe and whole. Wishing you all a Happy New Year!
