The episode features a panel discussion from the Asian Prisoner Support Committee and 18 Million Rising about their present campaign to demand a pardon for the APSC4. We hear from the APSC4: Kee, Bun, Maria and Peejay. They are four staff members with the Asian Prisoner Support Committee—and all are at risk of deportation. They talk about the work of the Asian Prisoner Support Committee as well as their personal stories of incarceration and release. As people with precarious immigration status, they face “double punishment.”
According to Solidarity Across Borders and No One is Illegal Montreal, Double Punishment is the unjust policy used against non-citizens after already being punished by the criminal justice system. The policies surrounding Double Punishment are racist and create a two-tier justice system in which immigrants face far more disastrous consequences for committing crimes than citizens.
In the cases of the APSC4, they are asking to be pardoned by the State of California Governor Gavin Newsom so they can stay with their families in community.
We also talk briefly at the end of the show about trauma, incarceration, and healing.