The challenge

Dale Asis describes his city this way: “Behind the facade of Chicago's glistening skyscrapers, neat flowerbeds and affluent neighborhoods that ring the downtown area, lies a sea of segregated immigrant neighborhoods where people do not realize that they face the same problems and issues.” For many of these immigrants, isolation from mainstream America is profound. Less than 55 percent of Korean, Chinese, Caribbean, and Latino non-citizens speak English proficiently. In addition, according to the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations, almost 20 percent of Asians and 35 percent of Hispanics live in poverty.


Seeds of commitment

Asis is an immigrant son of Filipino parents, and he continues to live in an immigrant neighborhood in Chicago. “I have seen first hand how my family, my neighbors and my community seem to be 'invisible' and have not had the ability to speak up and be heard,” he says. “In my experience, many immigrants and refugees do not have a voice in their own communities.” He compares the new immigrant experience to that faced by European immigrants a century ago. “At that time, European immigrants congregated into similar ethnic neighborhoods.” Despite early hardships, they eventually flourished and assimilated into the fabric of America. “Today, the colors of faces and the smells of food in ethnic neighborhoods have changed, but the struggles and social problems are strikingly similar. Deep inside me burns the idea that a sense of justice must prevail and that my family and thousands of other immigrants and refugees must overcome barriers and achieve the American dream.” He has found, in fact, that this inner fire is part of the American Dream – perhaps the most important part. In 1995, Asis was a top salesman for Nordstrom, an upscale retailer, winning its highly coveted Customer Service All Star Award. But neither that success nor the high standard of living he had achieved was enough. “I felt that there must be something more in life.” He began to spend his days off volunteering for the Chinese Mutual Aid Association teaching English and citizenship. He found his calling, “not enriching myself, but spending my life serving and helping others.”


Achievements

In 1998, he became the coordinator of the Coalition of African, Asian, European and Latino Immigrants of Illinois (CAAELII), a newly formed collaboration of several agencies serving immigrants and refugees in Chicago. Today, he serves as director. Before CAAELII, different ethnic groups faced the same problems but seldom worked together to develop joint programs because of cultural and language barriers. Under Asis’s leadership, the partnering immigrant and refugee groups jointly develop curricula, participate in teacher exchanges and work together on common problems that affect immigrants and refugees. CAAELII partner agencies serve the lowest income immigrants and refugees, teaching the basics of U.S. history and civics – knowledge needed to pass the Immigration and Naturalization Service (I.N.S.) examination. The program also realized that education was only one requirement for successful transition. “Immigrants and refugees must also deal with a slow, inefficient and unresponsive I.N.S. bureaucracy,” according to Asis. After documenting 1,031 instances of cases being lost or delayed – often for years – without cause, he organized a petition campaign among CAAELII partner agencies and other organizations for I.N.S. reform. The petition, with more than 19,000 signatures, was presented to members of the Illinois congressional delegation during a highly publicized press conference. Subsequently, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky announced a congressional hearing to investigate the Chicago I.N.S. office. Following the hearing, CAAELII advocated for the creation of an Independent Monitoring Board to act as a watchdog group and push for reform at I.N.S. Recently, the 44 organizations that supported the petition campaign elected the first members of the Independent Monitoring Board under the administration of CAAELII. So far, the board has sent approximately 800 documented cases to I.N.S. and members of Congress detailing the experiences of immigrants and refugees “caught in a seemingly endless I.N.S. backlog,” says Asis.

CAALEII continues to educate and help immigrants work with the system. In 2000, its partner agencies taught 2,100 immigrants and refugees the basics of U.S. history and civics. The partners also helped 1,441 immigrants and refugees prepare documentation, write letters to the I.N.S., and provided transportation and escort to I.N.S. offices. The CAAELII Technology project provides computers, Internet access, training and technical assistance to all partner agencies. CAALEII has been recently awarded a $100,000 grant from the A.O.L. Foundation, one of only 12 awarded throughout the country, to improve Internet access among immigrants and refugees. CAALEII is currently building a Web site in 11 different languages to help bridge the digital divide. The partnership has also started a traveling computer-training lab using networked laptop computers that will be moved from neighborhood to neighborhood – a far less expensive and more efficient way to teach computing than creating a stationary computer school.


His leadership style

Asis's strength is his ability to bring diverse communities together to achieve a common goal. He speaks four languages (Tagalog, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and English), and is personally connected to the communities with which he works. It’s not unusual for immigrants from China, Cambodia, Guatemala, Mexico, Ethiopia, and Eastern Europe to attend a CAAELII meeting. The participating groups speak a multitude of languages, live in disparate neighborhoods and belong to distinct ethnic backgrounds – yet a strong relationship exists among them. Juan Salgado, former organizer with the Industrial Areas Foundation, explained how Asis and CAAELII have been successful where other coalitions in Chicago have failed: "Dale doesn't fit the prototype of an organizer. He doesn't agitate strongly.” Rather, he moves slowly, quietly, never proposing to speak before all ethnic groups have contributed. “I am privy to the meeting of the directors and he tries to move as one. It takes a great level of patience. I’ve learned over the years that's what the coalition needed.”


The future

Dale Asis hopes to build a national immigrant and refugee network, but his dedication is rooted in the neighborhoods he serves. CAAELII is creating a critical mass of community power at the community level through a long-term effort to develop and train leaders within various ethnic immigrant neighborhoods to become ambassadors for their own communities. As Grace B. Hou, executive director of the Chinese Mutual Aid Association, explains, Asis has created a process that will shape the future by creating new leaders. Asis’s approach, she says, is to "develop different generals, not just soldiers."


More about Dale Asis

“He came here as an 11-year old. He knows what his mother went through to support the family. He has the sense that there needs to be justice for the communities he works with. He's extremely emotional about it; it's not an intellectual exercise for him at all. It concerns the struggle for dignity, respect, inclusion. In his testimony in city council about the 1996 Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, he was in tears as he was describing a particular case. He said that this law would place immigrants as the targets of punishment, and they are just people like you and me – there was a sense of humanitarianism that he was able to express and to pull out of other people.”
– Tim Bell, adult education director, Erie Neighborhood House

“The Independent Monitoring Board plans to establish a database of botched and delayed cases so it can make a stronger argument for reform. This time we want to change the I.N.S. – and not through just anecdotal information,” said Asis, as he looked out over the cafeteria at Truman College, where 45 volunteers speaking 10 languages took information from frustrated immigrants.”
– Chicago Tribune, November 13, 2000

“Under Dale’s direction, CAAELII has trained dozens of citizenship teachers and has helped thousands of immigrants and refugees reach their dream of becoming U.S. citizens… [Because of Dale Asis’ work,] immigrants and refugees throughout Illinois are again hopeful that I.N.S. will resume processing their long ignored cases.”
– Grace B. Hou, executive director, Chinese Mutual Aid Association, Chicago