UCLA RELEASES AAPI NEXUS JOURNAL SPECIAL ISSUE ON IMMIGRATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 18, 2012
Editorial contact: Melany Dela Cruz-Viesca, melanyd@ucla.edu, 310-825-2974 For review copies, contact: Barbra Ramos, aascpress@aasc.ucla.edu, 310-825-2968
Los Angeles – The UCLA Asian American Studies Center announces the publication of Asian American Pacific Islander Nexus Journal: Policy, Practice and Community Special Issue on Immigration. Guest editors Edward J.W. Park (Loyola Marymount University) and John S. W. Park (UC Santa Barbara) have assembled the newest research on immigration policies into a collection of essays which, “tie together some of the most important overlaps between immigration studies and Asian American Studies, and present a compelling portrait of how Asian American communities have continued to change as a result of on-going migration trends. These essays remind us that new Asian migrants have enlarged and complicated the very definition of the term, ‘Asian American,’ and they tell important stories about how class, immigration status, and settlement patterns have altered the communities and regions that have been so central to Asian American Studies scholars.”
In Wei Li and Wan Yu’s research article entitled, “Between China and America: Contemporary Migration Policies and Flows,” they reveal the shifting migration patterns between China and the U.S. as a result of China’s economic development. Their essay examines inter-related policies implemented by the Chinese government that encourage reverse and return migration of Chinese American academics to China where their opportunities appear more open.
Jane Yamashiro’s resource paper, “Asian Ethnic Return Migration Policies and Asian American Capital and Labor: The Cases of Korea, China, Japan, and Vietnam” shows how Japan and South Korea have also stimulated the “return” of Japanese Americans and Korean Americans respectively in hopes of economic growth and development through a comparative examination of the Immigration Control Act in Japan and the Overseas Korean Act in South Korea.
In the United States, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities have continued to grow, creating new challenges for community-based organizations keeping up with growth and demand for services. Erwin de Leon’s resource paper, “Community-Based Organizations and Immigrant Integration in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area,” discusses community-based Asian American organizations in the D.C. metropolitan region and their work to help foster the integration of the increasing AAPI immigrant population. De Leon’s piece represents an important resource in addressing the gaps in major policy and service areas, including health care, poverty, worker’s rights, community development, and housing, that these organizations, coalitions, and networks must address in this period of economic contraction and recession.
Sudarat Musikawong and Chanchanit Martorell’s practitioner essay, “The Importance of Ethnic Competency: The Thai Case of Labor Trafficking and Temporary Worker Visa Immigration/Migrations,” is based in Los Angeles, where Thai migrants have been settling for over three decades. Musikawong and Martorell review cases of human smuggling and involuntary servitude, and the critical role played by the Thai Community Development Center, an ethnic-specific community-based organization, in Thai labor anti-trafficking advocacy practices. Musikawong and Martorell argue the ongoing importance of ethnic-specific organizations like the Thai CDC, which fulfill a critical role for the new Asian immigrant communities in which they’ve been embedded.
In Anna Kim’s research article, “Labor Market Migrations: Immigrant Intersections in the Informal Economy,” she highlights the lived realities of poorer immigrants who are often unable to look beyond their present realities due to the pressures of the low-wage labor market. Kim conducts an ethnographic study of immigrant workers in Koreatown, a region that would undoubtedly collapse without low-wage immigrant laborers. Kim’s study suggests that for the very poor, activists should focus on policies to defend the dignity of all laborers, by providing living wages for everyone and by protecting against egregious forms of abuse, irrespective of status or ethnicity.
Tracy Buenavista’s research article, “Citizenship at a Cost: The Relationship between Military and Immigration Policies,” exposes the relationship between military and immigration policies through the examination of such policies as the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) Program, and the proposed federal Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act that have disproportionately targeted undocumented Asian immigrant youth. Buenavista argues that the militarization of immigration has led these youth to see enlistment and participation in war as one of the few viable options to remain in the United States. Buenavista implores readers to consider the imperial legacies of these patterns and to imagine alternatives to the militarization of American citizenship.
AAPI Nexus is published twice a year: Spring and Fall. Copies are $13.00 plus $5.00 for domestic shipping and handling. Sales tax may apply for California residents, please contact the Center Press for more detailed ordering information. Annual subscriptions for AAPI Nexus are $35.00 for individuals and $175.00 for libraries and other institutions.
Orders can be made via phone, email, and mail to the UCLA Asian American Studies Center Press, 3230 Campbell Hall, Box 951546, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1546. Phone: 310-825-2968. Email: aascpress@aasc.ucla.edu. Please make checks payable to “UC Regents.” VISA, MASTERCARD, and DISCOVER are also accepted; include expiration date and phone number on correspondence.