The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) was founded in 1974 to protect and promote the civil rights of Asian Americans through litigation, advocacy, education, and organizing. AALDEF was the first legal rights organization on the East Coast focused on serving Asian Americans. It offers legal assistance and policy recommendations within every level of government on critical issues affecting Asian Americans. AALDEF has been instrumental in fighting to reform immigration, education, and language access policies; to defend affirmative action, and voters’, tenants’, and workers’ rights; and to prevent anti-Asian violence, police misconduct, and human trafficking.The AALDEF Records largely cover legal cases related to restaurant and garment workers, but also include immigration case files.
To learn more about the contents of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund Records, located at the NYU Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, view the collection’s finding aid.