Welcome to the Twin Cities Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). JACL is a national membership organization whose mission is to secure and maintain the human and civil rights of Americans victimized by injustice.
JACL derives its effectiveness through its strategically located regional offices, which serve the needs of the organization’s members and help maintain the well-being of all Americans.
In addition to its national headquarters in San Francisco, the JACL has regional offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington D.C.
The Pacific Citizen, publishing news and information for and about the Asian American community since 1929, is a production of the JACL Los Angeles office.
2023 – A Year In Review
JACL National Convention 2023
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TCJACL is helping @releasemn8 raise funds to respond to the ongoing attacks on the Twin Cities AAPI Community. Please consider buying some of their awesome merchandise or making a donation!![]()
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MN8 has been fighting for the rights and protection of AAPI immigrant communities for years now, serving in particular the large Hmong and Southeast Asian communities in the Twin Cities. It hasn't gotten much attention in the news, but ICE has particularly been targeting anyone who looks Asian in their attempt to deport refugees and asylum-seekers back to the countries they have been seeking asylum from all these years. And MN8 is the primary group that is out in this community, helping individuals get help, and providing so many of the responder and observer trainings that TCJACL and other orgs are relying on.![]()
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MN8 has done an incredible job of responding to the surge of impacted individuals needing direct assistance, mutual aid, and legal services, but they are just a small team of 5 that our help to keep up. We are asking for you to join us now and do what you can.![]()
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Link in the bio or bonfire.com/store/mn8
2026 High School Graduate (Entering Freshman) Scholarship ![]()
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The 2026 scholarship application period is open. Completed applications and transcripts will be required to be postmarked no later than Friday, April 3, 2026.![]()
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Scholarship recipients must be current JACL members. Regular/Individual, Student/Youth, or Couple/Family membership status is required. Individual membership of a parent does not qualify the student to receive a scholarship. If, for financial reasons, the scholarship applicant would like to be considered for a one-time membership grant, contact scholarship@tcjacl.org before submitting the application.![]()
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In addition to completing the application form and submitting a transcript, students must write a short essay titled “How JACL Has Affected My Life Or The Lives Of People I Know.” The essay should explain how JACL has affected the applicant, or how the applicant has directly observed JACL affect a family member, or someone they know in the community. Specific examples and personal observations should be used to explain why this experience is meaningful to the applicant. The essay should focus on real people and real experiences rather than broad or academic descriptions of the history or mission of the JACL.![]()
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Applicants are evaluated based on scholastic achievement, extra curricular activities, community service, and the quality of their essay.![]()
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To recommend someone for a scholarship, please contact Pam Ohno Dagoberg (scholarship@tcjacl.org).
One Fighting Irishman: Twin Cities Premiere Film Screening![]()
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February 19, 2026![]()
6:00 - 8:00 PM![]()
Minnesota History Center![]()
345 W. Kellogg Blvd. St. Paul, MN 55102
651-259-3000 | infodesk@mnhs.org![]()
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Link in the bio!![]()
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ONE FIGHTING IRISHMAN is a 30-minute film that tells the story of San Francisco civil rights attorney Wayne M. Collins’s passionate and uncompromising defense of the Constitution that drove him to spend 23 years successfully representing more than 5,000 Japanese Americans who renounced their American citizenship while imprisoned at the embattled Tule Lake Segregation Center, considered the worst of America’s ten WWII concentration camps.![]()
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The Film will be screened in the 3M auditorium at 6:00 pm. Panel discussion and reception to follow. Featured panelists include: Sharon Yamato (writer, journalist and independent filmmaker), Wayne Merrill Collins (Berkely attorney and son of Wayne Mortimer Collins, who took over his father’s practice), Hiroshi Shimizu (chair of the Tule Lake Committee, vice president of the Crystal City Pilgrimage Committee, and board president of the Japanese American National Library); and Carol Reitz (president of the Bainbridge Island Japanese American community, and board member of the Suyematsu Farm Legacy Alliance in Bainbridge Island, Washington).
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To request an accommodation or for inquiries about accessibility, please contact engagement@mnhs.org. ![]()
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This event is coordinated in partnership with the Twin Cities Japanese American Citizens League. Sponsored by the TCJACL Suzukamo funds. Funding provided by the State of Minnesota’s Legacy Amendment, through the vote of Minnesotans on Nov. 4, 2008, and our generous donors and members.
Get @reshare_app • @kanshaproject 🚨 Application form for the 2026 Kansha Project is NOW LIVE! 🚨 Apply today through the link in our bio! Application deadline is March 1st at 11:59pm CST 📝![]()
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📣 Calling all self-identified Japanese American/Nikkei youth (ages 18-25) from the Midwest! 📣 The Kansha Project is a JACL Chicago founded in 2011 that connects self-identified Japanese American/Nikkei youth with their identity, history, and community. This is your chance to deepen your roots and make lasting connections 🌸![]()
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👉 Follow us for more content on what the program has done for past Kansha participants and see what’s in store for your future 🤩 Or if you just want to just support us!![]()
@kanshaproject ![]()
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#kanshaproject #jaclchicago #japaneseamerican #jacl #community
Get @reshare_app • @jacl_national JACL joins the Minneapolis community and countless other communities, organizations, and individuals in mourning the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. We also join in the collective outrage over their deaths at the hands of federal agents. ![]()
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We must take action. ![]()
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Visit the link in bio for the full statement and to send a message to your Senators urging them to vote NO on expanding DHS/ICE/CBP Funding.![]()
@jacl_national
Get @reshare_app • @bsu_umn @libsa.umn @esa_ofmn @ssa.umn ![]()
ENDORSE THE NATIONWIDE SHUTDOWN!![]()
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We need to spread this shut down as far and wide as possible. Go to nationalshutdown.us to endorse the shut down happening on January 30th! The only way for us to get justice for Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and the countless people murdered by ICE is for the shut down to go national.![]()
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NO WORK. NO SCHOOL. NO SHOPPING. VOTE NO TO ICE FUNDING.