Increase federal funding to support SEAA students’ success

SEAAs’ refugee history, their invisibility in education data and policy, and systemic racism create barriers to our students’ educational success. Our government must address the disparities that SEAA students experience and invest in their futures.

Key resources:

SEARAC Executive Director Quyen Dinh speaks at an AAPI rally led by NAKASEC to defend DACA.

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“My commitment to educational advocacy is shaped by my personal experience as a low-income, immigrant Southeast Asian student in the U.S public school system and my professional experiences as a teacher and youth facilitator. As a high school student, I experienced firsthand a lack of a culturally inclusive education and witnessed an unequal distribution of resources between my high school and the wealthier, predominantly white high school just across the bridge. Yet, I did not have the language to name what I was experiencing.”

SEARAC LAT 2019 participant

We need to be actively thinking about creative spaces and after-school programs that encourage participation from refugee parents in preparing their children for college. More importantly, we need to address language access. Without the ability to read documents or understand robocalls, parents are further barred from being informed on their child’s educational attainment and success.”

Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell
People pose, some jumping in the area, around a sign saying Made By Refugees

People Power in Action

Six people wear traditional attire adorned with flowers

Include Southeast Asian American ethnic studies in school curricula

Learning about the histories, culture, and experiences of our diverse communities, including SEAAs, benefits all students

Post-its and handwritten messages on a posterboard labeled with the year 1975

Increase federal funding for Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions

These colleges and universities are essential for increasing higher education access and success to low-income, first generation Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander students, including SEAAs.

SEARAC has just launched a new fundraising campaign on @wearechuffed, a crowdfunding platform for socially-conscious projects from around the world, to support our immigration policy advocacy and deportation defense work. We’re fighting back against ICE raids and kidnappings, speaking up against dehumanizing policies that terrorize our communities, and protecting Southeast Asian Americans’ right to family. Will you help us meet our goal of raising $100,000 to support this urgent work? 

Donate at the link in our bio!

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A recent PBS NewsHour story sheds light on the devastating impact of the US deportation machine on Southeast Asian refugees, their families, and communities. Alan Phetsadakone has lived nearly his entire life in the United States, but now faces deportation over a decades-old mistake. Though he served his time and worked hard to rebuild his life, his future remains uncertain. Many Southeast Asians live in fear of detention and deportation every day.
We must continue to rise up and demand an immigration system rooted in humanity, justice, and dignity.

Alan shares, “What I need now is just the support and the fight to prevail from this — from this immigration madness.” Watch the full video here: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/laotian-refugee-living-in-u-s-since-childhood-faces-threat-of-deportation

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