The Chinatown Coalition met at the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood center on the 14th for its October monthly meeting, speaking with Massachusetts Representative Michael Capuano on the upcoming State Election, discussing the Immigration Policy associated with the Asian American Community, and touching base on the Institute of Contemporary Art’s new programs.
Americans will vote on Nov. 2 in the congressional midterm elections. As a result of President Obama’s falling approval ratings and the stumbling economy, Democratic control of Congress is at stake. Michael Capuano, Representative in Congress for Massachusetts’ Eighth District (including Cambridge, Chelsea, Somerville and approximately 70% of Boston), emphasized at the meeting that this election would be very important for the Democrats to keep up the control.
“I don’t know how the election will turn out,” Capuano said. “We will lose some seats, and the next few years would be even tougher.” Capuano noted that he knew people were angry about the current situation and some even turned to Republicans, but as a representative, he didn’t have “a choice between perfect (system) and nothing,” but “a choice between imperfect (system) and nothing.” He then gave an example explaining that the only way to cut taxes while the State is experiencing deficits is to cut services.
“We haven’t made the progress we want to make,” Capuano said, “but at least I’m having honest real discussions.” He reiterated that the Democrats have taken actions to protect the economy and even made a major profit; they also have saved a lot of jobs to prevent people from unemployment by using the State’s Stimulus Money. “My answer is always that stepping forward is better than standing still,” Capuano said. But according to Capuano, the problem is that they haven’t made these efforts visible to the public. “That’s a huge political mistake,” he said. “When you take a tough political patch, you need to have the average person see, taste, feel and be able to legitimately measure the results of that difficult action.”
Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA)’s Policy Associate Samuel Tsoi presented at the TCC meeting about the immigration policies that affect the Asian American community and where the current legislations are. MIRA partners with 140 organizations including BCNC to advocate for the rights and opportunities of immigrants and refugees in Massachusetts.
There are currently about 1 million immigrants living in Massachusetts, which makes it the eighth largest state in the US with immigrants living in. In the state, immigrants make up 14.2% of the state population and 17% of the state’s workforce. Among this population, 40% of all immigrants come from Asia, of whom about 1.2 million are undocumented.
By briefly over viewing the history of Immigration Law, Tsoi explained different pathways to obtain permanent residency in the US, which includes family-based sponsorship, employment, Diversity Lottery, and refugees and asylees. However, with formal family sponsorship, the primary way of immigration, people still tend to wait a long time to get their applications for immigration approved.
National polices impacting immigrants include Comprehensive Immigration Reform and DREAM Act. The latter provides pathway to legal status for children who were brought to the US illegally at first, but have completed high school and are enrolled in college for at least two years or service in US military. This has been in the US Congress for over 10 years, but been really hard to pass.
Colette Randal and Monica Garza from the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston presented in the meeting promoting ICA’s ongoing education programs, exhibitions and performances to the Chinatown community. ICA offers free admission to families on the last Saturday of each month. And it provides a wide range of programs including video production courses with mentoring as well as scholarships to teenagers. For detailed information, please visit http://www.icateens.org.
On Oct 20th, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP)’s 20th Anniversary Celebration will be held at BCNC. http://www.aapipboston.eventbrite.com
Boston Redevelopment Authority Public Meeting for Notice of Project Change for “The Kensington” (659-679 Washington St.) will be held on Oct 28th at 6pm at the Metropolitan Community Room. Questions and comments should be addressed to Tai Lim, BRA Senior Project Manager at Tai.Lim.BRA@cityofboston.gov
Bo Zhang is a Sampan corresdeont.
