October 17, 2012

KALCA and the MinKwon Center team up for 2012 Voter Engagement

KALCA is collaborating with the MinKwon Center to coordinate 2012 Voter Engagement activities such as registering voters, phone banking, door knocking, and conducting voter education workshops, and we need your help. If you are able to volunteer a few hours of your time during the duration of now until November, we need people to assist us with calling registered voters and going door-to-door to remind them to vote. We will also need volunteers to help us with setting up and organizing our outreach programs and workshops during which we hope to educate people about the voter registration process and the importance of casting their ballot.

SAVE THE DATE

Saturday, October 27, time TBA, Door knocking in Flushing, Queens

Come join the KALCA Steering Committee members, interns, and volunteers as we partner up with the MinKwon Center for Community Action in Flushing, Queens to go door-knocking on residents’ homes. In community politics, door-knocking plays an essential role in raising voter awareness and encouraging people to go out and vote. Spend half a day learning what it takes to be an effective community organizer and make an impact in this election!

Please RSVP to [email protected] to sign up today

October 17, 2012

Voter Protection Volunteers Needed in PA

Are you interested in being a Voter Protection Volunteer for the presidential re-election campaign in Pennsylvania? Even though the Voter ID law has been enjoined, the need for a robust voter protection effort is now more important than ever. There will be confusion at the polls and the law may be misapplied on Election Day. Legal volunteers are necessary to help defend the right to vote for all eligible voters. In particular, we are looking for Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Khmer speakers.

Pennsylvania attorneys or law students, please sign up online at http://ofa.bo/palaw. For out-of-state attorneys and law students, please instead sign up here: http://ofa.bo/helppa. In order to confirm you for Election, we need you to sign up online! This will also ensure that we have all the information we need to advise you about training sessions, which will take place the week of October 22nd, and assign you to a polling place for Election Day.

Ellen Zeng
OFA-PA AAPI Vote Director
OFA-PA Deputy Voter Protection Coordinator
[email protected]

(408) 386-6638

October 17, 2012

AALDEF Night at the Theater: Hold These Truths

Join the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund for a night at the theater!

Hold These Truths

A one-man show inspired by the true story of Japanese American civil rights hero Gordon Hirabayashi. Agonizing over the forced removal of Japanese Americans to concentration camps during World War II, Gordon journeys toward a greater understanding of America’s triumphs – and a confrontation with its failures. www.EpicTheatreEnsemble.org/HoldTheseTruths

Monday, October 22, 6:30 PM*
Epic Theatre at the 14th Street Y
344 E. 14th Street, NYC

With a special Q&A after the performance with playwright Jeanne Sakata and former Acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal

Tickets: $35
To purchase tickets, call 212.966.5932 x212.

* * *

Jeanne Sakata made her playwriting debut with her solo play, Hold These Truths (formerly Dawn’s Light: The Journey of Gordon Hirabayashi), which received its world premiere in November 2007 in Los Angeles. The play was also the inspiration and theatrical centerpiece for the 2009 civil rights symposium on the Hirabayashi case at the University of Tennessee, “Civil Liberties, National Security and the Legacies of the Japanese Removal and Incarcerations.”

Neal Katyal is a partner at Hogan Lovells in Washington, DC. He previously served as Acting Solicitor General of the United States and as a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center. Katyal has argued several cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, including Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006), a constitutional challenge to the military tribunals at Guantanamo.

*Note early curtain time. The event will end in time for you to watch the presidential debate that evening!

October 17, 2012

USCIS Electronic Immigration System

On May 22, 2012, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) launched the first phase of our new electronic immigration system, known as USCIS ELIS. This new system brings the agency closer to realizing the web-based future of immigration services. Currently, USCIS ELIS is available for individuals who need to file a stand-alone Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status (Form I-539). Future releases will add form types and functions to the system, gradually expanding to cover all USCIS immigration benefits. More information about USCIS ELIS is available at www.uscis.gov/uscis-elis.

USCIS welcomes feedback from customers and stakeholders on USCIS ELIS and is hosting a series of engagements to share updates and discuss users’ experiences with the system. The conversation at each engagement will focus upon the following topics:

·        An overview of USCIS ELIS and recent updates;
·        How to electronically file a benefit request using USCIS ELIS; and
·        Customer feedback regarding their experiences with USCIS ELIS

The schedule for the USCIS ELIS engagements is as follows:

Location Date/Time

USCIS Washington Field Office Thursday, Oct 5
2675 Prosperity Avenue 10:30 am – 12:00 pm (Eastern
Fairfax, VA 20598

USCIS New York District Office Friday, Nov 2
26 Federal Plaza, Third Floor, 10:00 am – 11:30 am (Eastern)
Room 3-300
New York, NY 10278

USCIS Los Angeles District Office Thursday, Nov 8
300 N. Los Angeles St., Room 1001 1:00 – 2:30 pm (Pacific)
Los Angeles, CA 90012

To Participate in a Session:

These engagements are in person only. If you wish to attend, please email the Public Engagement Division at [email protected] no later than the day before the session. In the subject line of your email, please reference the following:

·        For the Oct 25 engagement, reference USCIS ELIS – DC
·        For the Nov 2 engagement, reference USCIS ELIS – NYC
·        For the Nov 6 engagement, please reference USCIS ELIS – LA

Please include your full name and the organization you represent in the body of the email. Following your registration, we will provide an email confirmation. Also, be sure to bring government-issued photo identification and plan to arrive at least 15 minutes early to complete the security process.

Kind Regards,
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services