
This isn’t your grandmother’s politics. 18 Million Rising launched in September as a social media campaign advocating on behalf of undocumented Asian immigrants to demand immigration reform.
The hashtag was simple and the goal just as modest. Using #18millionhearts,18 Million Rising set out to collect 1,000 signatures on Valentines Day. It’s part of a coalition of civil rights organizations that includes the Asian Law Caucus and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC).
“We want to make the maximum reduction in the size of the undocumented population,” said Christopher Punongbayan, Deputy Director of the Asian Law Caucus, told Hyphen Magazine, “We also want to base our immigration system on family, compared with other industrialized nations who base their immigration on the needs of the economy.”
While recent polls show the majority of Americans support a path to citizenship, some of what 18 Million Rising is advocating could prove controversial. The group supports a path to citizenship for those with just minor criminal offenses. You can read more about that in Hyphen Magazine.