Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)

IDENTIFICATION: New York-based nongovernmental organization established to foster Asian American civil rights through the provision of legal services, advocacy, and education

DATE: Established in 1974

LOCATION: New York, New York

ALSO KNOWN AS: Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund; AALDEF

SIGNIFICANCE: Before the establishment of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), no reliable sources of assistance were available for special legal issues faced by the Asian American community in the eastern United States (US). Because of language barriers, racial discrimination, and other considerations, Asian Americans were often among the “forgotten” ethnic groups with limited access to those in power.

The first major influx of immigrants into the US from Asian countries, particularly China, began during the mid-nineteenth century with the discovery of gold and the building of transcontinental railroads. Following the repeal of various nineteenth-century exclusionary laws, the influx began to increase anew. By the end of the twentieth century, the Asian American community was growing rapidly, mainly through immigration. By 2022, it had reached a total of some twenty-four million people, and it continued to be the fastest growing racial and ethnic group in the US. Despite these developments, Asian immigrants were still to be found working in unsafe sweatshop conditions during the early twenty-first century and often had nowhere to turn for legal help. Human smuggling continued to be a problem, and its unfortunate victims could not seek redress from the appropriate authorities because they faced imprisonment or deportation. These were, and continue to be, some of the constituencies served by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

AALDEF Priorities and Services

Among the important issues addressed by AALDEF for the benefit of immigrant and lower-income members of the Asian American community are voting rights, economic justice, employment (including hiring discrimination and labor and workplace rights), education, civil rights, anti-Asian violence, affirmative action, police misconduct, government benefits, and immigration issues, including naturalization assistance and human trafficking. The organization works with a relatively small permanent staff, a few of whose members are lawyers, and a contingent of several hundred volunteers, including attorneys who serve pro bono. They work with Asian American communities across the US, assisting an estimated twenty thousand annually without government funding but with support from foundations and corporations.

AALDEF provides its legal services free of charge to those unable to afford them and litigates cases that may have a wide-ranging impact on the Asian American community. The organization also provides legal training workshops for community organizers, community education that may impact thousands of people at the grassroots level, training of students for potential careers in public interest law, and efforts to influence governmental policy to ensure equality for Asian Americans.

The fund also coordinates with other ethnically based interest groups, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, to maintain hard-won gains in civil rights. It is also a founding member of the Public Interest Law Center in New York City.

One example of the assistance AALDEF provided occurred in connection with the events of September 11, 2001, including the terrorist destruction of New York City’s World Trade Center towers. This disaster affected the Asian American community as seriously as members of other ethnic groups. Particularly hard-hit were residents and workers in New York’s Chinatown, especially those in the restaurant and garment industries. AALDEF provided legal services to at least five hundred displaced workers and used a $100,000 grant to hire additional caseworkers for outreach to the community.

Twenty-first Century Activities

In 2008, AALDEF won a settlement of $4.6 million in back wages for thirty-six Chinese immigrant workers at a Manhattan restaurant. During that same year, it organized the first National Asian American Education Summit to unite youth advocates and students from across the US to discuss strategies for improving public school education. AALDEF represents clients in school districts nationwide and files amicus briefs in education-related court cases, including those pending before the US Supreme Court. Some of these cases concern controversies about English proficiency criteria for non-native English speakers.

Another example of AALDEF activism occurred during the 2008 presidential election. With record turnouts from first-time Asian American voters and those who had recently become American citizens, there were numerous problems with inadequate language assistance, misspelled names on election rolls, lack of appropriate materials in voters’ native languages, and even evidence of anti-Asian hostility. AALDEF dispatched more than 1,400 attorneys, volunteers, and law students to polling stations in areas with large Asian American populations to hear complaints and gather exit-polling data.

The 2008 national election also generated hundreds of complaints about voting problems registered on the AALDEF hotline. In 2009, the fund presented a policy report and recommendations about Asian American voter participation to a committee of the US Congress. It identified obstacles to voting in eleven states and the District of Columbia. During the same year, AALDEF filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court regarding the enforcement of voting rights supposedly guaranteed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The fund also worked during the US census years to ensure that Asian American immigrants would be fully counted. 

In 2024, the AALDEF celebrated fifty years of service to and advocacy for Asian American civil rights. One of the high-profile issues tackled by the AALDEF in the 2020s included participating in efforts to protect New York City’s Chinatown from proposed residential and commercial development, such as the proposed 76 Place area. Working with the Save Chinatown Coalition, the AALDEF planned a march and rally. In addition to its efforts to protect Chinatown, in July 2024, the AALDEF produced webinars related to redistricting and defending the Voting Rights Act. Also, in the wake of an uptick in violence against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, the AALDEF produced a toolkit that addressed anti-Asian violence. 

Bibliography

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), www.aaldef.org. Accessed 28 Aug. 2024.

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Asian American Access to Democracy in the 2008 Elections. New York: Author, 2009.

"Asian Americans: A Survey Data Snapshot." Pew Research Center, 2024, www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2024/08/06/asian-americans-a-survey-data-snapshot. Accessed 27 Aug. 2024.

Kim, Hyung-chan. A Legal History of Asian Americans, 1790-1990. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1994.

Redondo, Brian. Left in the Margins: Asian American Students and the No Child Left Behind Act. New York: Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, 2008.