Challenging Deportation and Creating Communities of Care: Legacies of Asian American Activism

Abstract: Since the mid-1990s, the scale and frequency of U.S. deportations has been unparalleled, with the raw numbers of deportees significantly higher than in any other period in U.S. history. Disaggregated data of court-ordered removals since 1998 shows that persons from Laos, Vietnam, and Korea have higher average rates of court-ordered deportation compared to other Asian nationalities. Analysis of three historic Supreme Court cases shaping exclusionary immigration policies reveals how the state has repeatedly tried to harm, exclude, and target communities of color, especially Asian immigrants to the U.S. Asian American communities today are grappling with echoes of the exclusionary policies that Chinese organizations sought to mitigate in the late 1800s. Drawing from interviews with leaders of six contemporary Asian American anti-deportation organizations, this paper draws parallels between the struggles and activism by Asian American communities in the nineteenth century and the present. Highlighting current coalition building around mutual aid, legal support, and advocacy campaigns, the paper presents specific calls to action at the organizational, institutional, and individual levels, as well as resources for immediate assistance and information in this moment of mass deportation and state violence.