Asian Groups Unite to Educate Residents on Impact of Prop. 187

As the November election draws near, a coalition of community groups has been pushing to inform, educate and register Asian American voters to oppose Proposition 187, the “Save Our State” initiative endorsed by Gov. Pete Wilson.

Organizations representing the Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese and Cambodian communities have united as Asian Pacific Americans Opposed to Proposition 187. The group aims to counter a misconception among some Asians that the proposition--which would bar anyone without proof of citizenship or legal resident status from attending public schools, using medical facilities or receiving public funds and social services--would not affect them directly.

“I think that people are beginning to become aware of S.O.S., but not so much aware of how it’s going to affect the Asian community,” said Chandler Im, a coordinator for the Korean American Inter-Agency Council.

“There is somewhat of a split within the Asian community,” Im said. “Those people who are legal residents . . . feel it’s not going to be detrimental to them. Since they are legal residents, they feel their rights won’t be violated.”

Sally Acosta, a retired Filipina immigrant who serves on the California Senior Legislature, is among those who feel that Asian immigrants have no need to worry so long as they are here legally.

“Asians who are legal residents will not be affected by Proposition 187,” Acosta said. “I do not feel we will be discriminated against just because we are Asian.”

But because the proposition calls for school, hospital and social services administrators to verify resident status and report those who are suspected of being undocumented--including the parents of American-born children--to immigration authorities, its opponents believe that anyone who appears foreign could face discrimination in seeking public services.

Miya Iwataki, a third-generation Japanese American who co-chairs Californians United Against Proposition 187 and helped found the Asian coalition in July, believes that greater outreach efforts are needed.

“I think our community does not realize how this will affect them,” she said. “They have not read the initiative themselves, so they don’t know the language is vague and actually states ‘reasonably suspect.’ Because ‘reasonably suspect’ is not defined, that means anyone who is foreign looking and speaks with an accent could be affected.”

Angelo Ancheta, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said many Asian Americans fail to see their connection to the initiative because they are misguided by campaign television images.

“It is a misconception that is widespread, unfortunately,” said Ancheta, an attorney who is a second-generation Filipino American. “Proposition 187 directly affects Asians, but the image they see in the mass media is that of Latinos sneaking across the border, so the image they associate with it leads them to think it doesn’t affect them.”

As a citizenship outreach worker for the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Catherine Pedroza has been involved in education efforts regarding Proposition 187 within the Asian community since midsummer. Many of those she has approached have been indifferent about the proposition, she said. Some have even said they are in favor.

Pedroza, the daughter of Filipino immigrants, said she believes that as in the similarly divided Latino community, the split is partly explained by a combination of misinformation and perceived class differences between longtime immigrants and recent arrivals. But Pedroza says she feels there is an even stronger factor--the desire that some Asian immigrants feel to blend quietly into mainstream society.

“What many Asian Americans tend to think is that once they come to this country, they are supposed to assimilate into American society,” Pedroza said.

“The model Asian immigrant does what is expected of him. So they distance themselves from immigrant culture and immigrant issues because that’s something they don’t want to be associated with anymore.”

Carolyn La, a staff attorney for the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, says that Asian immigrants with limited English skills could be especially subject to racially generated red tape.

“If they don’t have their residence documents, if they’ve lost them, they wouldn’t be able to articulate this,” La said. “They wouldn’t have the language skills to defend themselves.”