nwasianweekly.com
Feb. 24, 2007

Photo by Assunta Ng

Legislative Day participants carried signs in support of refugee and immigrant issues on Feb. 20 at the Capitol grounds.

A historic first at the Capitol

By Carol N. Vu
Northwest Asian Weekly

Hundreds of people whose lives began in distant lands, some of whom came to America to flee repressive governments, arrived by the busload in Olympia to make their voices heard on Tuesday.

Timid? Apathetic? Quiet? Unwilling or unable to speak their minds? Not these immigrants and refugees.

Stereotypes were put to rest when nearly 800 people flooded into the state Capitol the morning of Feb. 20 for Refugee and Immigrant Legislative Day, the first of its kind in Washington. Sixteen buses, almost all filled to their capacities, made the trek to Olympia.

At the rally, many participants waved neatly designed signs demanding job skills and job search training, ESL classes and other social services that help refugees and immigrants become self-sufficient in this country. In unison, they cheered loudly to make sure lawmakers heard their empowered voices.

For this group of historically marginalized people, the goal was simple: to remind lawmakers that everyone counts.

“We are sending a strong message that we want to have more say in our lives,” said Someireh Amirfaiz, who worked for two years to make this Legislative Day a reality.

Her original idea was to join with Asians and Pacific Islanders at their Legislative Day, an annual event for the past 11 years. Amirfaiz was turned down, but she quickly realized the benefits of organizing a separate Legislative Day for the population she works with. Russians and Somalians, for example, wouldn’t get the translation they need if they attended Asian Pacific American Legislative Day, she noted.

“We have common struggles, but different needs,” said Amirfaiz, executive director of the Refugee Women’s Alliance (ReWA), headquartered in Seattle.

At ReWA’s main office, about 60 percent of clients are Asian or Pacific Islander.

Tuesday’s crowd reflected the diversity of immigrants and refugees in the state. Eleven different languages were spoken by the participants. “This is a nice rainbow,” one immigrant remarked as she surveyed the crowd.

Multiple speakers said they were heartened to see so many children in the audience. Another priority issue of this Legislative Day was the disaggregation of educational data. According to Amirfaiz, 85 percent of refugee and immigrant children fail the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL), but there’s no data on which ethnicities need the most help.

“If we don’t have that, how can we demonstrate need? It’s crucial in terms of finding out why immigrant and refugee children are failing,” she said.

Feb. 13 brought 1,100 people to the Capitol for APA Legislative Day. About 2,000 attended African American Legislative Day on Feb. 12. Many were also expected to show up for Hispanic Legislative Day Feb. 21.

Gov. Christine Gregoire spoke to all those groups, but not at Immigrant and Refugee Legislative Day. Sen. Steve Hobbs (D-Lake Stevens) and Rep. Eric Pettigrew (D-Seattle) were the elected officials who addressed the crowd.

I’m not here with refugees or immigrants; I’m here with Americans, Hobbs announced to the crowd.

After the morning rally, some participants broke off to attend previously scheduled meetings with lawmakers.

Other speakers included Abdullahi Jama, senior organizer of the Hate Free Zone; Van Dinh Kuno, executive director of Refugee and Immigrant Services Northwest; Peter Gishuru, president of the African Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest; and Jesus Rodriguez, leadership program manager for the Non-Profit Assistance Center.

When the idea for Refugee and Immigrant Legislative Day came up, some refugees weren’t up for it, according to Amirfaiz. Some refugees were scared because they didn’t want to be part of a public demonstration — the kind that would land them in jail, or worse, in their native countries.

Initially, the refugees asked to not have their photos taken at Legislative Day. But they warmed up, Amirfaiz said, after being assured that they wouldn’t get in trouble with the law.
For many refugees and immigrants, it was their first lesson in civic engagement, in learning how democracy works in America.

“From this day on, you will not be invisible in our great state of Washington,” Assunta Ng, the emcee and an immigrant, told the crowd. “You have shown great courage by participating in this Legislative Day. … This is a great beginning for all of us.”

Amirfaiz said she intends on organizing another Refugee and Immigrant Legislative Day next year. “We’re planning to go on as long as we can,” she said.

Carol N. Vu can be reached at carol@nwasianweekly.com.

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