FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 23, 2020
Contact: Nikki Metzgar
(202) 599-7642 / nmetzgar@napawf.org

Washington, D.C. — On Wednesday, President Trump released an executive order temporarily barring the provision of most new green cards, effectively shutting down the immigration system. Among the more than one million immigrants who received green cards in 2018, 36 percent were from Asian countries and 53 percent were immigrant women. Under the order, sponsorship of adult children, siblings, and parents of U.S. citizens would also be halted, leaving Asian families stranded across continents. 

National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum Executive Director Sung Yeon Choimorrow issued the following statement in response:

“This order is a direct attack on Asian immigrants and our families, our rights, and our autonomy. Immigrants, especially immigrant women, are working on the frontlines of this crisis, ensuring we are fed and caring for the sick, and they don’t deserve to be demonized and indefinitely separated from their loved ones because of the country they were born in. 

Right now, Asian Americans are experiencing a surge in racist harassment as a direct result of xenophobia sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic and fueled by the President. People of color and immigrants aren’t punching bags — we’re parents, children, and siblings who have the right to be with our families. To treat us this way during this troubling time for us all reveals just how ineffective at leading during a crisis and cruel this administration is.”

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The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) is the only multi-issue, progressive, community organizing and policy advocacy organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and girls in the U.S. NAPAWF’s mission is to build collective power so that all AAPI women and girls can have full agency over our lives, our families, and our communities.