Rubin Fortunato Celebrates Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

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Patricia Tsipras

May 16, 2024

This month, we celebrate Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) in the United States.

The month of May was chosen as AANHPI Heritage Month to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843 and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869.  Most of the workers who laid the tracks were immigrants from China.

According to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau survey (2022), the U.S. population includes 26.5 million people of AANHPI heritage.  The AANHPI community currently faces many critical issues, and they intend to advocate for several of them at the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s (NAPABA) 13th annual Lobby Day (May 21-22, 2024) in Washington, D.C.  For Lobby Day, the NAPABA community travels from across the U.S. to Capitol Hill to demonstrate the strength of the AANHPI community and to advance issues facing the AANHPI community.  Among the issues to be discussed are:

• Anti-Asian Hate. The AANHPI community will advocate for opposing anti-Asian rhetoric; supporting legislation to preempt discriminatory alien land laws[1]; supporting legislation to teach AANHPI history in K-12 education; and supporting mental health resources in the AANHPI community.
• Civil Rights. The AANHPI community will advocate for supporting voting rights legislation, such as the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act[2]; supporting the rights of the LGBTQ+ community; and supporting funding for legal services and public defenders.
• Immigration. The AANHPI community will advocate for supporting the right to counsel for individuals navigating the immigration system; and protecting the rights of asylum seekers.

For questions about Lobby Day, email lobbyday@napaba.org.

Rubin Fortunato supports NAPABA and its vision to achieve optimal representation and influence of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander attorneys in every facet and level of the legal profession and beyond, and we were proud to show our support through a financial donation for Lobby Day.

[1]              Alien land laws are legislative attempts to discourage Asian and other immigrants from settling permanently in U.S. states and territories by limiting their ability to own land and property.

[2]              The bill would restore and strengthen parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and, in particular, its requirement for certain jurisdictions to seek federal approval before enacting certain changes to their voting laws.