The Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center (APALRC) launched a multi-pronged education and advocacy initiative — The Census 2010 Community Education and Outreach Project — to mobilize Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) in the D.C. metropolitan region, particularly in Northern Virginia, to participate in the 2010 Census.  The main goal of the project is to increase the 2010 Census mail response-rate by limited-English proficient APA residents, who have been historically undercounted, by providing them with accurate census information in culturally appropriate and linguistically competent ways.  This initiative was launched via a subgrant of the Asian American Justice Center.

“Participating in the Census can ensure that benefits, funding, and services are geared toward the APA community,” stated Myron Dean Quon, APALRC Executive Director.  “Furthermore, this confidential process will provide disaggregated data for different Asian American and Pacific Islander ethnicities that are crucial to ensuring the local needs of the community are addressed.”

I would like to take this moment to thank you for your support of our efforts in ensuring access to justice for all.  Since 1998, we have provided legal advice and representation to hundreds of low-income, limited-English proficient (LEP) Asian Americans in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Northern Virginia in over twenty different Asian languages. 

In 2009, despite the economic downturn, we were able to assist close to 450 clients with the help of supporters like you.  Please take a moment to click on "2010 Annual Newsletter" to read about our most notable achievements and celebrate with us what we have accomplished together.
 
We welcome the year 2010 with much excitement and confidence as we grow our efforts in advancing the legal and civil rights of low-income, LEP Asian American community members through legal services, community education, and advocacy. 
 
We thank you for your continued support and wish you and your loved ones a very happy and prosperous new year!

Myron Dean Quon, Esq.
Executive Director

    In partnership with five other Asian Pacific Islander (API) organizations, APALRC led the first  API Citizenship Day event in Maryland with panelists from various government agencies including the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services– Baltimore Office and Maryland Governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs. 
 
Over sixty people of different ethnic backgrounds attended the event and volunteer interpreters assisted the panel discussion and individual consultations in many Asian languages including Hindi/Urdu, Korean, Mandarin Chinese,   and Vietnamese.  The panelists explained the naturalization requirements and processes from the initial submission of applications through citizenship interviews.  Pro bono immigration attorneys met with attendees who sought individual consultations.
 

APALRC board, staff, volunteers, and supporters came together on October 21, 2009 to celebrate the APALRC’s Eleventh Anniversary at the Equality Center in Washington, D.C.

• AsianWeek Coverage
• News Bangla Coverage

The Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center (APALRC), joined by CASA de Maryland and the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Ms. Nonceeya, a Thai speaking and limited English proficient immigrant, in the matter of Nonceeya v. Lone Star Steakhouse.  The Public Justice Center is acting as co-counsel in this appeal.  The APALRC’s brief, drafted by APALRC Staff Attorneys, Nadia Firozvi and Parag Khandhar, serves as an important opportunity to provide the necessary contextual information about the limited English proficient community and the Maryland judiciary’s responsibilities under the law as language barriers continue to prevent limited English proficient (LEP) litigants from accessing courts.

• Asian Fortune Coverage

    In 2009, APALRC held its largest ever interpreter training with fifty candidates, who had been selected out of over three hundred bilingual applicants.  Ms. Rosario “Angie” Carrera, a court-certified interpreter and Language Access Coordinator of the Office of the County Executive in Fairfax County, VA, led the rigorous two-day training held at the Thurgood Marshall Center in D.C. 

The trainees learned about the interpreter code of conduct, including the importance of impartiality, professionalism, commitment, and respect, in addition to practicing interpretation skills in smaller groups.  APALRC staff attorneys also shared their experiences working with low-income, limited-English proficient clients and discussed language access issues.
 
“The training was the most superbly organized and executed seminar I have ever attended. I think I learned a lot, not only in terms of the skill of interpretation, but also of the spirit of public service, which will certainly benefit me and whomever I will come to serve in the future,” reflected Yo Kimura, one of the trainees fluent in Japanese and English. 
 

Earlier this year, APALRC held several U-Visa Community Partner Trainings to educate community members of availability of and eligibility requirements for U-visa filings for victims of crime.
 
As part of this outreach initiative, APALRC has developed a brochure about the U-visa and translated the document into Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Urdu, and Vietnamese in  order to effectively reach out to different Asian communities and raise awareness of availability and benefits of a U-visa.

 

Historically, a number of reported crimes involving limited–English proficient Asian individuals has been significantly low despite the fact that they are often perceived as easy targets, largely due to factors like language and cultural barriers to reporting crimes, difficulty of navigating through the justice system, or fear of deportation.
 

On January 15, 2009, the Wah Luck House 800 6th Street Tenants' Association held its first general meeting led by the Board who were elected in August 2008. Located at the corner of 6th and H Streets in D.C., the Wah Luck House is home to primarily low-income, limited-English proficient Chinese seniors and families. In 1982, the District government constructed the 153-unit Wah Luck House as home for displaced families after a section of the historic Chinatown neighborhood was razed to make way for the city's first Convention Center. Since that time, ownership of the building has changed hands a number of times, sometimes even without the knowledge of the residents.

• ABC Channel 7 News Coverage
• Asian Fortune Coverage
• The Korea Daily Coverage
• The Korea Times Coverage

    In an important step toward ensuring equal access for limited-English speakers, the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center (APALRC) today announced details of one of the country’s only victorious language access rulings against a law enforcement agency.  APALRC filed the District’s first language access complaint against the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). In response, the D.C. Office of Human Rights (OHR) found MPD to be noncompliant with the D.C. Language Access Act.  The D.C. Language Access Act mandates that D.C. government agencies provide the public equal access to government programs, service and information, regardless of language ability, through interpretation and translation of all vital services and documents.