Take Action – Sikhs Can’t Wait Another 14 Years for ERPA!

Take Action – Sikh Americans Can’t Wait Another 14 Years for ERPA! 

Senator Ben Cardin (MD) and Representative John Conyers (MI) introduced the End Racial Profiling Act (ERPA) (S. 1056 and H.R. 1933) on April 22, 2015. This bill will stop racial, religious, and other profiling by law enforcement around the country. For the bill to become law and protect communities, including Sikh Americans, your Congressman and Senator need to add their support to the bill.

We are joining a coalition of civil rights advocates, including the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), The Dream Defenders, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, The Sikh Coalition, Muslim Advocates, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) in a Week of Action in order to make sure our voices are heard. ERPA was first introduced in 2001, and Sikhs and other religious and minority communities cannot wait another 14 years for Congress to to take a stand against racial and religious profiling.

TODAY, May 18, use our Take Action Tool to tell your Senator and Representative that you want them to support ERPA and stop profiling now!

On Twitter and Facebook, join us and our allies and post the following or your own message starting on Tuesday, May 19 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

• Now more than ever we need to pass the End Racial Profiling Act, read more: http://www.civilrights.org/archives/2015/1521-ERPA-reintroduction.html  #passERPA
• I can’t wait another 14 years for ERPA. #passERPA
• Even better, take a photo and post it to social media just like Jasjit Singh of SALDEF. Tag @SALDEF on Twitter, and we’ll share your photos starting on Tuesday May 19th.

Together, let’s stand united and tell Congress that we need ERPA now!

SALDEF’s Law Enforcement Partnership Program (LEPP), established in 1999, features a national network of trainers with cutting-edge curriculum in order to reach more than 100,000 law officers around the country. In just the past 5 months, SALDEF has conducted trainings for the New Jersey state police, Harris County Sheriff’s Office in Texas and the Amtrak police in Washington, DC.

Did you know that as a result of LEPP:

• SALDEF co-produced On Common Ground, a law enforcement training program with the Department of Justice. It has been used to train more than 40,000 employees at the TSA in one year.
• In the Fall of 2014, SALDEF certified 15 new Law Enforcement trainers, quadrupling the organization’s ability to provide Sikh Awareness trainings to law enforcement around the country. These new trainees are already training officers in New Jersey and have secured trainings in Orange County, California.
• As a result of creating long-term relationships through trainings, SALDEF worked with the Washington Washington Metropolitan Police Department, California’s Riverside PD, and Harris County Sheriff’s Office to allow for accommodations of religious articles so Sikhs can serve freely.
• And in recognition of its more than decade long partnership, SALDEF was recognized with the TSA’s first Community Partnership Award at their National Conference in 2013.

We need your support to ensure that our LEPP network in 16 states: California, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Washington D.C., can continue to thrive. Support us TODAY.

SALDEF Advocate May 2015: SALDEF Strengthened Through Your Support

APAICS Will Honor SALDEF With Achievement Award at Annual Gala On May 14, 2015 the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies will honor Jasjit Singh and SALDEF, alongside former President George H.W. Bush and MSNBC news anchor Richard Lui, at their annual national Gala in Washington, D.C. Surgeon General Vice Admiral Dr. Vivek Murthy will give the Gala’s Keynote Address. (Photo: SALDEF Executive Director Jasjit Singh, APAICS President/CEO S. Floyd Mori, and MSNBC news anchor Richard Lui) SALDEF will receive the Community Achievement Award, and this would not have been possible without the insight, support, and inspiration that the Sikh American community gives to us everyday. The entire SALDEF staff also ask that you join us in recognizing Jasjit Singh’s contributions as executive director and his six years of of service at SALDEF as he receives this award. Please join us and give back to SALDEF TODAY in recognition of this service.   SALDEF Team Holds Three Major Conversations at National South Asian Summit On May 10-13, two hundred South Asian advocates and leaders gathered in DC for the fifth biennial South Asian summit, “Claiming Our Power” hosted by South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) at American University School of Law in Washington, D.C. SALDEF’s Policy Director Navdeep Singh spoke on the Sikh community’s point of view in regards to hate crimes, while Education Director Jyotswaroop Kaur presented at NSAS’s Poster Session on SikhLEAD and the first-ever public perception assessment of Sikh Americans in our history: Turban Myths.   SALDEF’s Communications team, Sona Simran Kaur and Sumeet Kaur, alongside Executive Director Jasjit Singh, held a media training for SAALT attendees and discussed how Sikhs are generating Sikh American awareness through media throughout the country.     Vaisakhi Renews our Spirit This Vaisakhi, SALDEF’s Executive Director wrote on the establishment of the Khalsa and introduced members of our community to Medium and discussed Vaisakhi’s importance to the International Business Times. On April 23, alongside SikhLens and other community leaders, Singh also spoke about the significance of Vaisakhi—and how the values of Vaisakhi influence SALDEF’s work and the SikhLEAD youth leadership program—to more than 200 people at Chapman University in Los Angeles. (Photo courtesy of SikhLens)   SikhLEAD Continues to Shine Generating Significant Sikh Awareness, One Campus at a Time SALDEF congratulates SikhLEAD graduates across the nation for holding Turban Tying days and Langars, giving their fellow students a memorable way to learn about Sikh Americans. Sikh students associations at Columbia University, UC Berkeley, UNC-Chapel Hill, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, among others, held events. Guneet Kaur and students reported that at UNC-Chapel Hill they tied more than 300 turbans and had even more students ask to learn about Sikhism.     SALDEF SikhLEADer Selected for Truman Scholarship SALDEF SikhLEADer Harmann Preet Singh has been awarded the prestigious Truman Scholarship. Selected from 688 candidates, Singh, the first SikhLEADer to win the award, interned at the White House and helped organize Langar on Capitol Hill, as part of SikhLEAD’s Washington Internship Program last summer.   SikhLEAD is Growing! This year—for the first time—SikhLEAD is hosting a New Jersey specific Internship Program for state residents only. SALDEF’s New Jersey SikhLEAD Internship Program is an 8-12 week N.J.-based program that allows students and recent graduates to explore a potential career track, create a network of professional and personal contacts, develop real-world skills, and gain experience that will open doors in the future. Applicants will be placed in the New Jersey state legislature and local government agencies.   Recognition for Sikh Community Leader Dr. Harvinder Singh Chadda, of Port Orange, Florida, was honored by the FBI on May 1, for his work with the Florida Field Office and longstanding efforts to build community relationships with local law enforcement. Chadda also specifically partnered with Navtej Singh, SALDEF’s Regional Director, in early 2013 to serve as an advocate for Kanwaljit Singh, who was shot in the torso and leg while driving home from his Daytona Beach based convenience store with his 13-year-old son.   SALDEF Stands for Religious Pluralism SALDEF joined civic, community and faith leaders on April 21 in downtown Los Angeles to take a stand against persecution and hate, encouraging governments to understand that threats against one faith group are threats to everyone. The event was organized by the City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission and Council Member Mitch O’Farrell.   Don’t miss out…. Join Team SAIJ, American Idol contestant, Gurpreet Singh Sarin, and Captain America, Vishvajit Singh, on May 16 at Seneca Creek State Park for a 5K walk/run to fund promising research for all boys with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy from 8 a.m. to noon. TEAM SAIJ is an extension of the strength and superpower of Saij Singh of Potomac, Maryland, who was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) in 2008. Get your tickets here. Image credit: Vishvajit Singh, Sikhtoons       SALDEF will speak at a media and data panel as part of NCAPA 2.0 Policy Briefing & 2nd Annual AAPI Research and Data Summit on May 14. Journalists, agency officials and allied groups are welcome at the conference.     Honor your Mom this Mother’s Day and support SALDEF! If you are purchasing a gift for your Mom on Mother’s Day, consider shopping on Amazon Smile. Amazon Smile will make a donation to SALDEF for every purchase you make (after you designate SALDEF as your charity).   And there’s a great way to honor Mom without spending money! Kaur Life wants to honor Sikh mothers (and mother-figures) this year too—with a photo contest.  Submit “vintage,” or throw-back photos of your mom (or Sikh women) until Mother’s Day, May 10, 2015, and you might win $100 to donate towards a Sikh project on Dasvandh Network.