OCA Seeks Expansion of In-Language Federal Resources for Asian Louisianans In Wake of Ida

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 31, 2021

Media Contact:
Andrew Peng, Communications Associate
andrew.peng@ocanational.org

Washington, D.C. — On Tuesday, OCA-Asian Pacific Advocates called on federal agencies responding to Hurricane Ida to provide in-language resources for impacted Asian Americans in Louisiana throughout the recovery process, noting that vulnerable immigrant communities could potentially be targeted by misinformation or costly scams in the absence of accessible guidance from FEMA and the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Earlier this month, FEMA—the lead federal agency responsible for supporting Americans during and after disasters—published a webpage and graphics on Hurricane Ida with translations available in Simplified Mandarin and Vietnamese. But as Louisiana looks to rebuild, many communities within the state’s diverse and rapidly-growing Asian American population would benefit from resources in additional languages to support their recovery, such as Lao or Tagalog.

“Because a significant number of Asian Americans are Limited English Proficient (LEP), language access at all points of the recovery process is crucial,” said OCA’s National President Linda Ng. “We hope that FEMA, the Small Business Administration, and other federal agencies will be proactive and deploy in-language resources to help impacted Louisianans rebuild their homes and small businesses.”

“While a majority of websites for federal agencies remain English-only, the Biden administration has already shown that it has the capacity and willingness to increase language access for Asian American communities,” said OCA’s Deputy Executive Director Thu Nguyen. Amid the yearlong surge in anti-Asian violence, the president announced in March that the U.S. Department of Justice updated its hate crime resources portal to include resources in several frequently spoken Asian languages.

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Founded in 1973, OCA–Asian Pacific American Advocates is a national, member-driven civil rights organization dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). Learn more about our work at ocanational.org/about.