Welcome to AAJC!

Founded in 1991, the Asian American Justice Center works to advance the human and civil rights of Asian Americans, and build and promote a fair and equitable society for all.

The Asian American Justice Center is one of the nation's leading experts on issues of importance to the Asian American community including: affirmative action, anti-Asian violence prevention/race relations, census, immigrant rights, immigration, language access, television diversity and voting rights. Our expertise is widely acknowledged: in the media, by the public and lawmakers at the very highest tiers of government.

Since our founding, along with our affiliates – the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles, the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco and the Asian American Institute in Chicago – we have enacted a sweeping range of programs on critical national issues that enrich, enhance and serve our communities all across the country.

To do this, we promote civic engagement by empowering Asian Americans with the tools and support to best participate in the democratic process, while shaping the policies and programs that most affect their communities at the local, regional and national level.

We work to forge strong and safe communities by building community leadership and combating hate crimes, while promoting social understanding between the diverse racial and ethnic groups we represent, as well as their neighboring communities.

We are committed to creating an inclusive society by helping Asian American and other minority groups to successfully challenge discriminatory barriers to fair and equal access to justice in the courts, jobs in the marketplace as well as government programs, benefits and forms of assistance at every level.

SPECIAL REPORTS

Up For Grabs: America's Swing Vote  Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have proven to be the ultimate swing voters in American elections for the past 20 years – they have not consistently voted with any one political party – yet the outreach from political parties and mainstream candidates has been minimal. However, this year AAPIs are taking action, engaging in critical policy discussions and demonstrating that those that ignore the AAPI community do so at their own peril. The Asian American Justice Center created Up for Grabs: America’s Swing Vote, which unfolds the diversity of the AAPI minority group, our needs and how our influence and community continues to grow at unprecedented rates. It’s time for our community to take action and for our political parties and candidates to take note!

Overlooked: The Asian American Contractor Experience Asian American businesses are among the strongest contributors to our nation’s economy. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2007 Survey of Business Owners, the number of Asian–owned businesses increased 40.4 percent to 1.5 million between 2002 and 2007, increasing at more than twice the national rate. Asian–owned businesses also generated $507.6 billion in receipts, a 55.4 percent increase from 2002. Despite these gains, Asian Americans continue to experience barriers to entry and unequal access to business opportunities, particularly in the world of government contracting. Read more.