Cal Defense
is a community-driven initiative founded by Southeast Asian (SEA) and Asian American organizers affected by deportation to support individuals and families impacted by the crimmigration system.
We build the community power needed to keep families together through education, organizing, and advocacy.
While immigrant rights and criminal justice organizations exist across California, there is a dearth of services, education, and resources serving SEA communities in the Sacramento and Central Valley regions. Cal Defense was launched in 2025 in response to this moment to protect our communities and ensure that no one experiences detention and/or deportation alone.
We are grounded in care, dignity, trust-building with impacted communities and the belief that our communities deserve safety, healing, and belong here at home in California.
Immigration in Southeast Asian Communities
Our families are being ripped apart. Our loved ones and community members have been taken from their homes, in front of their children, detained at their regular ICE check-ins, and even on their way to work. Some have even received letters by mail with instructions to self-deport. And, yet, many are ready to fight back to keep their families whole.
Across the country, ICE arrests of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities have increased 10-fold from 247 to 2,985 between 2024 to 2025. Over 76% of all SEA removal orders are because of contact with the criminal legal system. In fiscal year 2025-2026 alone, over 1,852 SEA individuals have been deported - an increase of about 886% from 2021-2024, with many taking place in Sacramento and the Central Valley.
Thousands of Southeast Asian refugees in California continue to be at imminent risk of ICE detention and deportation, often due to decades-old past convictions. They came to the US as child refugees fleeing war and genocide in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. They grew up in under-resourced communities, and are often survivors of violence, poor health, and poverty and are now at risk of permanent, and forced, separation from their families.
What We Do
Cal Defense works directly with SEA community members and their families who are impacted by the threat of detention and deportation. We listen to their needs, share with them their options, support pardon and post-conviction relief efforts, connect them to legal and community resources, and help families understand their options and to advocate for themselves.
Much of our work is about trust building - showing up consistently, walking alongside families through difficult moments, creating opportunities for impacted communities to build and exercise their leadership and collective power.
Develop and Advance Pardon Campaigns
We work directly with SEA community members and their families seeking deportation relief through advocating for gubernatorial pardons. This includes supporting directly impacted individuals and their families with applying for the pardon, developing the pardon campaign toolkit, gathering support, and preparing directly impacted individuals and their families to fully participate in the advocacy for their liberation by sharing their stories, meeting with community and elected officials, and making the ask for support.
Navigate Post-Conviction Relief
We walk alongside directly impacted individuals and their families, supporting them to understand their options, and connect them to public defender offices and other trusted attorneys to pursue potential post-conviction relief. We ensure families know how to access resources that may already be available to support them.
Build Community Power
We organize directly impacted individuals and families to advocate for themselves, tell their stories, and engage with the larger community and decision-makers to create long-term solutions to a broken legal system. We build fellowship and spaces for individual and collective healing and support.
Build Collective Power
Ending deportation will require major shifts on immigration policy and the criminal justice system. We are building regional networks and actively engaged with statewide coalitions including the Clemency Coalition and Pardon Refugees Coalition to strategize and impact change at the state and local level.
Get Support
If you or a loved one is facing deportation or navigating post-conviction relief, you are not alone in this. We will walk alongside you and connect you to support.
Contact us by filling out this form below. This information is kept confidential.
Get Involved
These moments are filled with grief and can feel daunting, but this work is something we can all do together. When you support us, you are investing in a future where people are treated with the care and dignity they deserve.
Cal Defense isn’t just a resource – it’s a lifeline. Your contribution ensures that no person or family is left in the dark to face this alone. It ensures that we can walk alongside anyone facing deportation or navigating post-conviction relief for years to come.