What I do all day?
Some of you have asked, "what do you do at work?" A question I ask myself on a daily basis...
In a nutshell, one of the "things I do" is advance policies that protect the rights of immigrants (particularly newcomers) to access critical public services. That generally means 1) making sure agencies aren't doing wack things to people based on immigration status, and 2) expanding language assistance so people can access important public services and participate fully in civic life--you know, little things like call 911 and vote. For the most part, my recent work has focused on 2. So now you know. On occassion, I get to rant and rave in public about these things.
Today's San Francisco Chronicle features an op-ed written by my colleague Phil Hwang at the Lawyers' Committee and yours truly.
It's a piece urging the San Francisco Police to get their act together and move on a language access policy. I have refrained from bombarding my friends with random requests to join CAA or sign this that or the other thing. Every once in a while, I intrude on Lunamania to make a plug--but very rarely. However, this thing has consumed much of my work life the last year and I am compelled to make a plug. It requires no money and will take 15 seconds. What and why?
As some may note, "the police suck, why should we care whether people can call the police?" True, the police can be brutal. In 2003 and again in 2004, after being called to the scene by immigrant San Franciscans, the police shot 2 people. Both were immigrants and were seeking mental health services. In both cases, the police allowed the situation to escalate to shootings due to the lack of language assistance. Police have interrogated children without interpreters or parents present; interviewed batterers rather than victims of domestic violence, relied on children as interpreters, the list goes on. It's also important to remember that police render life-saving services on a regular basis. Immigrants are disproportionately high victims of crimes and it's the responsibility of the police and other public agencies to engage in effective community based policing. That, of course, requires being able to communicate with people. So, we've been trying to hold the police accountable and I hope you'll lend a hand too.
Please consider signing this petition and sending a quick letter to the editor thanking them for running the op-ed.
The email to the editor does not have to be detailed, just a simple, "Thanks for the language access op-ed. My breakfast cereal was much tastier when accompanied by this insightful piece, " or "It's so important that issues impacting immigrant communities are highlighted in the Chron. I now have a reason other than Bad Reporter to read this paper."