Blog
In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, APALC provided a free citizenship workshop for Chinese-speaking residents of Irvine and surrounding communities. Twenty-seven applicants for naturalization took advantage of the workshop, which was held May 18 at the Irvine Chinese School.
Capping off a three-month campaign to educate the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities about the municipal general election, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) congratulates all the candidates in the mayoral, council, city attorney, controller, and school board races for their efforts to represent their constituents through city office.
APALC is pleased to announce that Zulaikha Aziz has joined its impact litigation team as its newest member. Before joining APALC, Aziz specialized in human rights, women’s rights, and capacity-building projects internationally, with a focus on Afghanistan. She also provided legal services to Middle Eastern and Asian communities in Orange County.
APALC is excited to announce that its sister organization in San Francisco, the Asian Law Caucus (ALC), will join its litigation team to defend the rights of Hmong and Cambodian poker dealers in Fresno.
The Pro Bono Spotlight honors APALC’s attorney volunteers and the important work they do to help us fulfill our mission. This month, we recognize Todd Truitt, associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and a member of the firm’s Corporate Department. Since October 2012, Todd has volunteered dozens of hours at several of APALC’s onsite and offsite Deferred Action Clinics.*
by Hyunhye Seo
As an eight-year-old immigrant from Korea setting foot into an American third-grade classroom for the first time, I didn’t speak a word of English. I was thrown into a regular classroom without any language support or services. My school’s failure to help me learn English not only deprived me of the tools I needed to learn, but also those that I needed to navigate my new cultural and social world.
The work we do for the clients and communities we serve would not be possible without the efforts of our volunteers – this week and year-round.
Get involved! Join APALC by volunteering at one of our upcoming events!
Community Engagement
April has already been a momentous month for immigration reform, with the Senate finally releasing its long-anticipated bill. APALC and our allies in the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities have been hard at work, mobilizing to ensure our voices are heard on issues that matter most to us.
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Our mission is to advocate for civil rights, provide legal services and education, and build coalitions to positively influence and impact Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders and to create a more equitable and harmonious society.