Policy Agenda
The Asian American Advocacy Fund advocates for federal, state, and local policies that will improve the lives of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and all immigrant populations in Georgia. We are fighting for a Georgia with equality, fair treatment, and self-determination for all.
Immigrant & Racial Justice
We are fighting for a world where race and immigration status have no bearing on how a person is treated or the opportunities they have.
Support family reunification & expansion of family-based immigration
Push for the passage of the federal Reuniting Families Act, which would shorten wait times and end annual caps for immigrants to bring their families to the U.S., as well as end discrimination against same-sex partners in the family reunification system.
Support and protect pathways to citizenship for all immigrants
Push for more Georgia cities to join the Cities for Citizenship (C4C) project, a national initiative designed to increase citizenship among eligible U.S. permanent residents and encourage cities across the country to invest in citizenship programs. Atlanta is currently the only Georgia city enrolled in the program.
Protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program while working on a pathway to citizenship.
Protect the Temporary Protective Status (TPS) programs while working on a pathway to citizenship.
End federal, state, and local-level surveillance of immigrants and communities of color
End the requirement that law enforcement officers check the immigration status of suspects who cannot provide identification upon request.
End Georgia’s participation in the federal program known as “Secure Communities”, which requires that all individuals who are arrested have their fingerprints run through a database that checks for immigration status.
Prevent ICE from using facial recognition software to delve into driver’s license databases to track and deport immigrants.
Regulate the use of facial recognition software so that ICE — or any other government agency — can’t use it to track and target immigrants.
Eliminate systems that cause mass incarceration and detention of immigrants and people of color
Advocate for the federal government to end the 287(g) program, which allows municipalities to assist ICE in investigating and detaining individuals suspected of immigration-related offenses.
Pressure Georgia municipalities to cease their participation in the 287(g) program.
End the mass detention of immigrants at the U.S. border.
Shut down immigration detention centers in Georgia to ensure that Georgia is not cooperating with ICE by detaining immigrants.
Ensure equality and due process in adjudication and enforcement of immigration laws
Provide legal representation for all immigrants in immigration court, especially children.
Advocate for the appointment of more judges to federal immigration courts to end the backlog of cases.
End detention of individuals while their cases are pending in immigration court.
Ensure that all immigration court documents are available in a language and format the individual can understand and that translation is available at all court proceedings.
Census, Redistricting & Voting Rights
Democracy works best when everyone is able to participate, and a participatory democracy is essential to ensuring that the needs of immigrants and communities of color are reflected in policy.
Ensure that all communities are accurately counted in the census
Support disaggregation of census data to help us learn more about Asian American communities.
Ensure that census takers are adequately trained, especially in interacting with communities of color.
Widely publicize the fact that the citizenship question will not be included on the census.
Census takers should be members of the communities they canvass.
Ensure adequate funding for the census, with an understanding that hard-to-count communities will require more resources to reach.
Eliminate barriers to voting and expand access to the ballot
Expand access to online registration for voters without a Georgia driver’s license.
Eliminate the exact-match policy which impacts thousands of voters of color.
Allow same-day voter registration which would expand access to the ballot.
Increase early voting opportunities to 45 days before Election Day.
Standardize the number of early voting sites for large counties like Gwinnett.
Allow voters to cast their ballot anywhere in their county on Election Day.
Ensure equal access to absentee and provisional ballots
Accept absentee ballots that have been postmarked on Election Day.
Create a user-friendly way for voters to request and track their absentee ballots.
Set guidelines for county election officials to expedite the processing of absentee ballots.
Create standard criteria for rejecting absentee ballots.
Create clear procedures for notifying voters if their absentee ballot is rejected and how they can correct their ballot.
Streamline the process for overseas & military voting.
Develop guidelines to ensure all poll workers are adequately trained in when to issue provisional ballots.
Use signs and poll workers to better inform voters of their right to a provisional ballot.
Ensure that polling places have enough provisional ballots on Election Day.
Standardize policies and procedures for accepting provisional ballots.
Ensure that voters who cast a provisional ballot receive written information about how to cure their ballot before the deadline.
Create an independent redistricting commission to ensure fair districts
Amend Georgia’s Constitution to create a nonpartisan, independent redistricting commission to draw Georgia’s electoral maps.
Create clear criteria for district lines and the ability to enforce those standards in court.
Create a public comment process to allow communities the opportunity to have input on the maps. Input must be taken into account, similar to the administrative public comment process.
Ensure that the process used to draw district maps is transparent and easily available to the public.
Broaden language access so all voters have access ballots or interpreters in their language
Update state law to require counties to provide language access at a lower threshold than is required by federal law.
Advancing Educational, Health & Economic Opportunity
All Georgians, regardless of their immigration status, should have access to the resources they need to thrive, and not just survive.
Ensure that undocumented immigrants have access to driver’s licenses
Ensure that immigrants are able to access public services
Advocate for greater funds to be allocated to programs that teach English to non-English speakers.
Ensure that accessing public assistance services will not jeopardize immigration status or pathways to citizenship.
Support workers’ rights and raise the minimum wage
Repeal the requirement that employers utilize E-Verify to verify employees’ immigration status as a condition of employment.
Raise the state minimum wage ($5.15/hour) and federal minimum wage ($7.25/hour) to living wages with automatic increases for inflation.
Require employers to make reasonable accommodations to meet the needs of pregnant employees.
Require paid family and parental leave.
Ensure that undocumented immigrants have affordable access to the Georgia University System
Repeal state laws that strip funding from any state colleges positioned as “sanctuary campuses” for undocumented immigrants.
Allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition for college education in Georgia.
Fight for undocumented students to have access to state and federal financial aid.
Repeal the University System of Georgia’s rule barring undocumented students from attending the state’s top schools: UGA, Georgia Tech, Georgia College & State University, and Medical College of Georgia.
Ensure access to affordable healthcare
Protect the Affordable Health Care Act from being repealed.
Combat efforts to limit access to quality and affordable health care.
Gather data on the unique health needs of immigrant communities and communities of color to understand, identify, and support strategies to eliminate health inequalities.
Allow undocumented immigrants to enroll in Medicaid
Expand Medicaid so all Georgians can have access to quality, affordable healthcare
Expand access to public transportation throughout the Metro area