Demographics
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DEMOGRAPHICS 1 | INSIDE THE NUMBERS JUNE 2019 Asian Americans Advancing Justice is a national affiliation of five leading organizations advocating for the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and other underserved communities to promote a fair and equitable society for all. Advancing Justice—AAJC (Washington, DC) Advancing Justice—Asian Law Caucus (San Francisco) Advancing Justice—Atlanta Advancing Justice—Chicago Advancing Justice—Los Angeles This report was produced by the staff of the Demographic Research Project of Asian Americans Advancing Justice— Los Angeles and the immigration advocacy staff of Asian Americans Advancing Justice—AAJC. Data proofing was provided by Pamela Stephens. Copy editing was provided by Dorothy Taguchi at Linguistic Edge. Data design and layout were provided by GRAPHEK. About RISE Research Integration Strategy and Evaluation (RISE) for Boys and Men of Color is an $8 million field advancement effort that aims to better understand and strategically improve the lives, experiences, and outcomes of boys and men of color in the United States—that concluded in 2018. RISE spanned five fields (education, health, human services and social policy, juvenile and criminal justice, and workforce development) and focuses on four populations (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Blacks, Latinos, and Native Americans). RISE BMOC is a project co-led by Equal Measure, a national nonprofit evaluation and philanthropic services firm, and the University of Southern California (USC), Rossier School of Education, USC Race and Equity Center. Support for this project was provided by generous funding from The Atlantic Philanthropies, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Marguerite Casey Foundation, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and members of the Executives’ Alliance to Expand Opportunities for Boys and Men of Color. For more information, visit www.risebmoc.org. CONTENTS Welcome .............................................................................................................................................. 2 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................4 I. Who We Are Now: Demographic Data on Asian American and Pacific Islander Immigrant Community in the United States .......................6 Demographics ......................................................................................................................... 6 Economic Contributions ....................................................................................................13 Language .................................................................................................................................14 Education .................................................................................................................................15 Income ......................................................................................................................................16 Employment ............................................................................................................................17 II. How We Got Here: Discussion of Immigration Pathways ................................ 20 Family-Based Immigration ................................................................................................21 Employment-Based Immigration ...................................................................................23 Diversity Visa Program ......................................................................................................25 Humanitarian Relief: Refugees and Asylees ..............................................................27 Humanitarian Relief for Survivors of Domestic Violence, Trafficking, and Other Crimes ............................................................................................................29 Focus on Pacific Islanders ................................................................................................32 III. The Current Immigration Debate: Issue Briefs ..................................................36 Family Immigration .............................................................................................................37 Immigrant Workers .............................................................................................................42 Undocumented Immigrants .............................................................................................47 Rescission of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status ..................................................................................... 49 Muslim and Refugee Bans ............................................................................................... 54 Immigration Enforcement: Arrests, Detention, and Deportation .................................................................................................................. 60 Naturalization ........................................................................................................................68 IV. Looking Ahead: Policy Recommendations ........................................................72 Appendix ...........................................................................................................................................75 Glossary .............................................................................................................................................76 Technical Documentation ...........................................................................................................78 1 | INSIDE THE NUMBERS WELCOME WELCOME The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population is a majority Asian American immigrant community. Approximately two-thirds of Asian Americans and and Pacific Islander one-sixth of Pacific Islanders were born outside of the United States. While ours is a community shaped by immigration, we are often left out of policy perspectives are critical discussions and media narratives about immigration. to ensuring that policy makers and the public Asian American and Pacific Islander perspectives are critical to ensuring that have an accurate policy makers and the public have an accurate understanding of immigration understanding of issues. Taking into account AAPI perspectives to illuminate immigration data and immigration issues. policy analysis allows for a better understanding of what is at stake and why we must act to shape immigration policy in ways that are welcoming and supportive of our communities. Furthermore, at a time when immigrant communities are under attack, advocacy must include defending against policies that would harm our communities. Understanding AAPI immigrant communities Understanding AAPI immigrant communities also means understanding the also means considerable social and economic diversity that exists among the ethnic groups understanding the that make up our communities. The needs of the most disadvantaged AAPI considerable social and immigrants are often overlooked when policy makers base critical decisions on data economic diversity that that only capture the characteristics of our communities as a monolithic whole. exists among the ethnic Inside the Numbers: How Immigration Shapes Asian American and Pacific groups that make up Islander Communities is a much-needed resource supporting growing AAPI and our communities. immigrants’ rights movements with concrete and up-to-date data, background on immigration policy and analysis of current issues, and policy recommendations. This report aims to provide a fuller and richer portrait of how immigration has shaped and continues to shape our communities, and to provide policy analysis We extend our and recommendations to aid in our efforts to shape immigration laws and policies. appreciation to RISE We also hope that this report will serve as a resource for community leaders for Boys and Men of working on public education efforts and policy campaigns. Color for making this We extend our appreciation to RISE for Boys and Men of Color for making this report possible. report possible. We would like to thank Michelle Boykins, Bessie Chan-Smitham, Megan Essaheb, Marita Etcubañez, Jiny Kim, Meral Kocak, Lina Lalwani, Livia Luan, Yuchen Luo, Hannah Woerner, and John Yang with Asian Americans Advancing Justice—AAJC, and Shelly Chen, Heng Lam Foong, Jeffer Giang, Daniel Ichinose, Anthony Ng, Reshma Shamasunder, and Doreena Wong with Asian Americans Advancing Justice—Los Angeles for their contributions to the report. We also thank the Asian American Federation; Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center; Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon; Asian Pacific Islander Reentry and Inclusion through Support and Empowerment; AZ APIAVote Table; Council on American-Islamic Relations; Japanese American Citizens League, Arizona Chapter; MinKwon Center for Community Action; National Council of Asian Pacific Americans; National Korean American Service & Education Consortium; National Tongan American Society; New Mexico Asian Family Center; OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates; OCA Detroit; South Asian Americans Leading Together; Southeast Asia Resource Action Center; and VietLead for advising on this report. Finally, special thanks to our colleagues Pabitra Benjamin and Prarthana Gurung with