In honor of National Volunteer Month, we introduce some of our dedicated AIUSA volunteers. In this blog, Jonathan Lam, New York Refugee and Migrant Rights Community Organizing Coordinator and former Youth Collective Member, shares his experiences from Amnesty International USA’s Human Rights Conference and Annual General Meeting.
Speaking in front of the Washington Monument at a rally organized during Amnesty International USA’s Human Rights Conference and Annual General Meeting (AGM) made me reflect on why I got involved in this work in the first place.
For me, human rights work has never been something abstract. It has always been personal, shaped by my family, my community, and the places where I’ve organized.
As the child of Vietnamese refugees, my understanding of human rights started at home.
My parents were very young when they fled Vietnam. They experienced displacement and recall hearing bombs dropping at midnight. They were boat refugees who witnessed human trafficking and kidnapping at sea and the dangerous routes refugees had to take to seek safety. They lived in a refugee camp on a small Malaysian Island called Bidong, and after two years, settled in the U.S.
Growing up in a predominantly immigrant community of color in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, I saw how systems of inequality show up every day, whether through immigration enforcement, racial injustice, increasing gun violence or lack of access to resources.
Those experiences led me to organizing. Through my work, especially organizing around immigrant rights in cross-racial contexts, I’ve learned that advocacy is not just about speaking up, but it’s about listening, building relationships, and showing up consistently for communities. This is critical towards movement building, healing and remaining resilient even when times are scary like now.
What the AGM Represents
Each year, Amnesty International USA brings together members, youth activists, and organizers from across the country for its AGM. People come together not just to learn about different human rights issues but also to organize, build connections, and think about how we can grow as a movement.
For some, AGM is their introduction to Amnesty. For others, it’s a chance to reconnect with people and issues they’ve organized with and on before. For me, AGM has been where I’ve grown over time, both as an activist and as someone learning how to build collective power.
Growing Through the Movement
My first AGM experience was in 2024 in Washington, D.C.
That year, I lobbied with AIUSA for the Safeguard Act. It was an exciting first for me engaging in policy advocacy, visiting congressional offices, talking with staffers, and understanding how storytelling and policy intersect. That experience taught me how to move from awareness into action.
During that same AGM, I also led a workshop on immigrant rights with Amy Fischer, AIUSA’s Director of Refugee and Migrant Rights, hosting a panel of directly impacted individuals. Hearing from people who had experienced detention and hostility at the U.S.-Mexico border grounded that entire conversation, and it reinforced how I still approach organizing. This directly reminded me that human rights work cannot exist without centering directly impacted communities.
At the following AGM, I spoke about how we can defend immigrant rights in the early stages of a new political moment, especially during the first 100 days of the Trump administration. That conversation was rooted in urgency, but also in strategy. It was important not only to empower and mobilize AIUSA activists but to give our movement hope for a future where we can continue organizing for change. I also had the honor, last year at AGM, to be awarded as the Inaugural AIUSA Trailblazer in Activism and Organizing Award recognizing my efforts in leading New York’s Refugee and Migrant Rights Task Force Group.
Showing Up Across AGM
This year, I had the opportunity to show up at multiple AGM events.
I spoke at the rally in front of the Washington Monument, where activists gathered to ring the alarm bell of authoritarian practices and call for accountability and justice. I spoke about my parents and their experiences as Vietnamese refugees. Their displacement, their resilience, and everything they had to navigate to rebuild their lives. And how heartbreaking it is that more than 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War, we are still seeing the rise in detentions, deportations and family separation facing Southeast Asian communities and families like mine. I also talked about the lives of those currently detained and the harmful narratives that have shaped anti-immigration policies. And then hundreds of us rang hundreds of bells—our voices, our attention, and our mobilization coming together.
As an organizer in New York City, I’ve worked directly with immigrant communities, including formerly incarcerated people of color at risk of deportation. I know firsthand that these are not just policy issues, but these are real people with family, with stories and a real purpose in rebuilding their lives. So I also brought this perspective into the workshop “Alligator Alcatraz: Dismantling the Deportation Machine,” where we discussed immigration enforcement and the systems that continue to impact immigrant communities.
At the Youth Caucus, I witnessed the energy and leadership that members, especially young people, bring to this movement. Over 200 youth activists were not just there to attend the conference, but they asked questions, led conversations, and thought critically about how we move forward during a time when civic spaces are shrinking.
Being at the AGM, surrounded by people from around the country, both young and older activists, I thought about how these experiences came together. Every person brings something different, but collectively, every person contributes to something larger: A movement rooted in solidarity.
There was a time when communities like mine weren’t included in these spaces. Attending the AGM for several years now, I’ve realized not only are we present, but we are actively shaping the direction of the work.
After the AGM
We are organizing during a time when human rights are being challenged in multiple ways. From immigration enforcement to restrictions on civic engagement, these issues require attention and action.
But at the same time, the AGM reminded me that this movement continues because people keep showing up. Not because it’s easy, but because it’s necessary. Especially as I reflect on my family and community, there was a time when they were not included in organizing and civic spaces. We must show up for our families, communities and ourselves.
The work does not end when the conference ends. The conversations, the relationships, and the ideas continue in the work we do afterward. Whether someone has been involved with Amnesty for years or just joined, there is an opportunity to engage and contribute.
At the end of the day, Amnesty International is not defined solely by events or campaigns. It is defined by the people who continue to organize, advocate, and push for change in their communities.
Interested in attending a future Amnesty International USA Human Rights Conference & Annual General Meeting? Become a member!