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OCA Factsheet on Cabinet Nominees: Sessions and DeVos
The processes to confirm Sen. Jeff Sessions for Attorney General and Betsy Devos for Secretary of Education are already underway. Who are these individuals and what do they mean for the AAPI community?
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Jeff Sessions, Nominated for Attorney General
What does the Attorney General do? The Attorney General is the United States' chief law enforcement officer and head of the Department of Justice, which enforces civil rights legislation.
Who is Senator Sessions? Senator Sessions is the senior senator from Alabama. Seen as a hero of the alt-right (white supremacist) and anti-immigrant movements, his record is troubling for many Civil Rights organizations. Senator Sessions historically has not supported legislation and regulations that would protect the AAPI community or other vulnerable communities.
- Opposed immigration reform 2007 and 2013, and associates himself with anti-immigrant groups identified as anti-immigrant hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center, such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
- Offered an amendment to the 2013 immigration bill that would have gutted the family reunification system. Countries in Asia are four of the top five senders of immigrants through this avenue.
- Opposed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, which expanded federal hate crimes to include perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and disability.
- Voted against the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), that would have extended protections to same sex couples and extend temporary visas to immigrant victims of domestic violence.
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Betsy DeVos, Nominated for Secretary of Education
What does the Education Secretary do? The head of the Department of Education, is charged with upholding an inclusive and diverse system of high-quality public education, including the 2.6 million Asian Americans currently in public schools.
Who is Betsy DeVos? Betsy DeVos is well-known proponent of charter school and voucher school programs, particularly in the state of Michigan. DeVos has never held a position in public schools teaching, counseling, or administration of schools.
- As chair of the American Federation for Children, she advocated for the use of public funds to pay for private school tuition in the form of vouchers, which diverts funds from high need public schools to private schools. From 2007 to 2011, the number of Asian Americans in poverty increased by 37 percent and Pacific Islander poverty increased by 60 percent, which far surpasses the national average of 27 percent. Since vouchers often do not cover the full tuition, the people who need public funds the most are the most likely to not benefit at all from voucher programs.
- She also supports charter school programs that are not obligated to comply with federal anti-discrimination laws. A U.S. Department of Education report found that 85% of large central city private schools would "definitely or probably" not be willing to participate in a voucher program if they were required to accept students with special needs, including limited English proficiency. As 1 in 3 AAPIs are Limited English Proficient, civil rights enforcement in schools is a top priority for our community.
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At her Senate hearing, DeVos appeared to not understand that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was a federal law. IDEA ensures that students with disabilities are given a free and appropriate education in public schools.
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She also refused to back equal accountability for federal funds given to schools, which would leave the door open to government waste and unequal education outcomes across the public, voucher, private, and charter schools that are currently funded by the federal government.
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What Can I Do?
Both Jeff Sessions and Betsy Devos have a history or working against Asian American communities when it comes to immigration, education, and social justice. These individuals should not be allowed to have the ear of the President and take our country backwards to a time where many in our country did not have equal rights. Find your Senator online and tell them you are calling on behalf of OCA and to oppose the appointment of DeVos and Sessions! Click HERE to find your Senator.
Sample Script for Jeff Sessions:
Hello, my name is ________________ and I am a constituent of Senator ____________.
I am calling today to voice my opposition to the nomination of Jeff Sessions to the position of attorney general. Jeff Sessions has a long history of opposition to basic civil and immigrant rights. He has opposed family reunification through opposing immigration reform, which is how many AAPIs (or my father, mother, uncle) immigrated to the United States. And he has also voted against an amendment to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that extended temporary visas to undocumented victims of domestic violence.
I urge Senator _____ to oppose his nomination and solely support an attorney general that supports the enforcement of civil rights for all.
Sample Script for Betsy DeVos:
Hello, my name is ________________ and I am a constituent of Senator ____________.
I am calling today to voice my opposition to the nomination of Betsy DeVos to the position of Secretary of Education. She has supported voucher models that disparately affect low income Asian American and Pacific Islander students. Also, with a majority of our community attending public schools, we cannot support a nominee who has never attended public schools and does not understand the needs of our country's public school system. Finally, she has a history of supporting strongly anti-LGBTQ organizations.
I urge Senator _____ to oppose her nomination and support a Secretary of Education that has a vast experience with different school models that protect the civil rights of all of America's children.
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