LOS ANGELES (AP) – Asians have been slower to sign up for President Barack Obama’s reprieve for young immigrants in the country illegally, and community advocates are ramping up efforts to reach thousands more who are eligible for his expanded immigration plan.
Many advocates have blamed the paltry turnout among young Asian immigrants for the administration’s 2012 program on the stigma of being in the country illegally in their communities, where many feel lacking proper immigration papers is culturally shunned.
Now, advocates worry Obama’s new program for the parents of American citizens and legal residents will be an even tougher sell as older generations of Asian immigrants are already working and supporting their families and may be even more reluctant to reveal their immigration status to friends and neighbors, let alone the federal government.
“There is this model minority myth that Asians are supposed to be successful immigrants,” said Anoop Prasad, senior staff attorney at Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco. “What does it say about you if you say: ‘Actually, I am having a lot of problems. I am not making it like everyone else in America thinks we should be?'”
Roughly 5 million immigrants are expected to qualify for Obama’s plans to give work permits and temporary protection from deportation to the parents of U.S. citizens and legal residents and many immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. While most applicants are expected to be Hispanic, nearly half a million of those who qualify are Asian, according to the Washington-based Pew Research Center.