Immigration
About
For the past 7 years, NP’s Immigration Committee has been busy organizing the Nikkei community to support immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Nikkei Progressives members rally to shut down Adelanto
Principles guiding our work
Everyone has basic human rights: to protect one’s self and family from violence and persecution, to escape poverty and to work for a better life. Immigrants are in integral part of our country’s history, our families and communities and contribute greatly to society.
We strongly reject Trump’s anti-immigrant hate and racial profiling and are disgusted at the lengths to which his administration will go to kidnap immigrants and make them disappear, tearing apart families and traumatizing children. As a community that was once targeted for family separation, mass removal and incarceration, we believe Japanese Americans must speak out against the attacks on immigrants today.
Our work falls in different areas
Advocacy – We supported state legislation such as the Vision Act, that would have stopped the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from tipping off immigration authorities when people are released from prison. We mobilize for marches and rallies to oppose policies that are destroying our democracy, terrorizing immigrants and punishing marginalized communities.
Shut Down Adelanto Coalition – As Coalition members, we have been fighting to close the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County. Privately run by GEO, Adelanto has a deplorable record of toxic chemical usage, rotten food, poor health care and even physical and sexual abuse. Under Trump, Adelanto and Desert View Annex next door are being filled to capacity, with new detainees coming in from and being sent to detention facilities in Texas, Louisiana, Florida and other states.
We participate in a Visitation program at Adelanto/Desert View, which may provide the only source of contact and moral support for people inside, often far away from their families. Through the Visitation program, we also learn about the current conditions inside which can provide useful information for future advocacy.
Helping Protect immigrants under siege by Trump and ICE – Since June 2025, the Trump administration has gone on a major offensive to round up, detain and deport immigrants. NP is part of the LA Rapid Response Network and committee members have gone through Know Your Rights and First Responders training. In partnership with Little Tokyo Service Center, we have offered Know Your Rights workshops to both Japanese and Spanish speaking workers and managers in Little Tokyo and to the Japanese speaking community.
Individual Campaigns - We support pardon campaigns, such as for Sithy Bin, who won a gubernatorial pardon in April 2025 and for Ligaya Jensen, a Filipina immigrant who has spent more years in immigrant detention than in prison. At times, we also accompany folks to their ICE check-ins and wait for them to come out of their hearings.
Education – about the immigration issue and engaging the Nikkei community is an important part of our committee’s work. We write articles for both the mainstream and social media. In April 2025, NP/ Immigration Committee organized a major press conference bringing together community partners to condemn Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. We also table at community events and speak at workshops, pilgrimages and mass rallies and are preparing video that highlight immigrant experiences.
Solidarity Building - Our Committee has also helped NP build ties and solidarity with our friends from API Rise (Reentry & Inclusion Through Support & Empowerment) and Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ICIJ). We plan to do more of this in the coming months through reaching out to organizations in various API communities.
Material Aid and Fundraising – We have collected donations of clothing, toiletries, suitcases and shoes and delivered them to Adelanto and to a partner in Chula Vista who delivers the items to shelters in Tijuana. In February 2025, we held the first ever “Little Tokyo Estate Sale” which raised funds for Eaton fire victims and legal defense for immigrants.
With immigrants today being forced to stay home out of fear of being kidnapped by ICE, NP will join many other groups supporting them through delivering groceries and supplies.
The Immigration Committee meets regularly every other Sunday at 9:00 a.m. for one hour by Zoom. Please join us! Reach out to nikkeiprogressives@gmail.com if you are interested in learning more and getting involved.
Highlights from our past work
September 2019 - we held a major concert, “We Got Your Back…Pack” to a sold-out crowd at the Aratani Theater raising enough funds to make donations to immigrant rights groups and to furnish over 400 backpacks with toiletries, hats and gloves.
October 2021 – NP was presented with the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice’s “Inland Community Ally Award.”
2022 and 2023 – the Immigration Committee hosted ICIJ’s Resilient Voices -- folks formerly incarcerated at Adelanto -- in Little Tokyo to learn about our Nikkei community and history.
April 2023, we conducted a major donation drive in Little Tokyo, partnering with Terasaki Budokan to collect over 400 pairs of shoes and toiletries donated to immigrants in Tijuana.
June 2024, NP members were part of a delegation to visit congressional members and staff in Washington, D.C. to push for the closure of Adelanto Ice Processing Center.
March 2025 – NP initiated and organized a major Nikkei community press conference to denounce the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act by President Trump.
