#384 3/24 Webinar; Mayor Kaohly Her; WP: America Needs Immigrants; Ohio Bill; Equity Pulse+

In This Issue #384

·       03/24 Webinar: Mass Surveillance and the ICE Crackdown: What the AAPI Community Needs to Know

·       Remarks by St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her

·       George Will: America Needs Immigrants

·       Ohio Alien Land Bill (HB1) Faces Strong Community Opposition

·       Equity Pulse: Is Your Citizenship at Stake?

·       News and Activities for the Communities

03/24 Webinar: Mass Surveillance and the ICE Crackdown: What the AAPI Community Needs to Know

On March 24, 2026, starting at 7:00 pm ET/4:00 pm PT, APA Justice, Asian American Advancing Justice | AAJC, Asian American Scholar Forum, and Committee of 100 will co-host a webinar on “Mass Surveillance and the ICE Crackdown: What the AAPI Community Needs to Know.”

Moderator: Michael German is a Retired Fellow in the Brennan Center for Justice's Liberty and National Security Program.  His work focuses on ensuring that the U.S. government respects human rights and fundamental freedoms in its pursuit of national security — including reforming the surveillance and intelligence systems that have too often been turned against the very communities they were meant to protect. He is a former FBI Special Agent and one of the nation's leading voices on law enforcement and intelligence oversight. Before joining the Brennan Center in 2014, he served as Policy Counsel for National Security and Privacy at the ACLU's Washington legislative office.

Speakers:

·       Kaohly Her, Mayor, St. Paul, Minnesota. She was elected St. Paul's first woman and first Asian American mayor in 2025. Mayor Her was born in the mountains of Laos and came to the United States as a refugee at age three. A strong work ethic, her family's tenacity, and support from her community propelled Mayor Her to the highest levels of the Minnesota state government and now to City Hall.  She served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2019 to 2025.

·       Saira Hussain, Senior Staff Attorney, Electronic Frontier Foundation. Saira litigates at the intersection of racial and immigrant justice, government surveillance, and technology, with cases challenging border searches of electronic devices, police surveillance of protesters, and law enforcement sharing of license plate reader data with ICE. Previously a Staff Attorney at the Asian Law Caucus, she focused on separating federal immigration enforcement from local law enforcement through litigation, advocacy, and coalition-building. She holds undergraduate and law degrees from UC Berkeley.

·       Xiaoxing Xi, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Physics, Temple University.  A leading expert in superconductor technologies, Professor Xi was arrested in May 2015 by armed FBI agents in front of his family on false charges of sharing sensitive technology with China — dropped just four months later. His case, involving warrantless surveillance under Section 702 of FISA and Executive Order 12333, became a landmark in the fight against racial profiling of Chinese American scientists. He filed suit challenging the prosecution and discriminatory targeting, and in 2020 received the Andrei Sakharov Prize from the American Physical Society for his advocacy for open scientific exchange.

·       John Yang, President and Executive Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC.  At Advancing Justice | AAJC, John leads the organization’s efforts to fight for civil rights and empower Asian Americans to create a more just America for all through public policy advocacy, education, and litigation. John is an experienced attorney with over two decades of policy, litigation, and corporate expertise.  He graduated with honors from George Washington University Law School.

REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/3N5BbEy

RESOURCES:

·       APA Justice: Timeline Visualization of U.S. Mass Surveillance

·       APA Justice: Warrantless Surveillance

Remarks by St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her

During the APA Justice monthly meeting on March 2, 2026, Mayor Kaohly Her reported a troubling escalation of immigration enforcement in Minnesota, particularly targeting AAPI communities—including many law-abiding residents and citizens who are not criminals or national security threats. She cautioned that conditions are “far worse than what you see on the news,” describing individuals with valid documentation, long-time lawful status, and deep community roots being detained or swept into enforcement actions. Many were transferred to out-of-state detention facilities and later released once their lawful status was verified—only to be left to make their own way home.

These were residents who had complied with federal check-ins for years, maintained steady employment, paid taxes, and raised families, yet were suddenly portrayed as public safety threats. Mayor Her emphasized that some had decades-old convictions or had been wrongfully convicted as minors tried as adults, or accepted plea deals years ago without fully understanding immigration consequences. Many had since rebuilt their lives, contributing meaningfully to their communities, and were not violent offenders or national security risks.

Mayor Her also expressed concern that ICE enforcement actions are sometimes carried out by agents insufficiently trained to properly assess complex immigration documentation. She described situations in which individuals presented valid paperwork, yet agents either could not interpret it correctly or proceeded with detention pending later review. She underscored that lawful residents—including U.S. citizens—were often detained first and sorted out later.

She described the systematic nature of targeting, noting that Hmong, Southeast Asian, and Korean communities were disproportionately affected. Agents went “door-to-door asking who the Asian neighbors were and where they lived,” and enforcement ramped up months before it drew broader attention. The community’s hyper-invisibility meant early incidents received little public notice, and protective measures had to be organized at the grassroots level, including accompaniment to federal check-ins, coordination with local churches, and establishing networks to support residents detained out-of-state. Mayor Her also linked the escalation to the shooting death in Minneapolis shortly after she took office, noting that broader visibility of these threats only came after incidents affecting other communities.

In response, the City of St. Paul enacted ordinances limiting ICE activity on city property, requiring agents to display identification, and prohibiting face coverings to reduce confusion with local law enforcement. The city provided support to small businesses impacted by enforcement actions—some of which saw revenues drop 60–70%—backed legal challenges, coordinated community safety efforts, and organized strategies for protests and large gatherings to ensure constitutional rights were observed.

At the state level, collaboration with the governor and attorney general expanded clemency hearings—from one per year to four per year, with eight reviews of paperwork annually—resulting in hundreds of pardons for immigrants whose past or unjust convictions had placed them at risk despite years of lawful conduct. Mayor Her highlighted that these measures “meant the world” to affected families and reinforced her central message: the individuals being detained are community members—not criminals or national security threats—and deserve fairness, competence, and due process.

Watch a video of her remarks at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q-kw22N_Yg (11:29)

George Will: America Needs Immigrants

In a compelling Washington Post opinion, conservative columnist George Will makes an empirically grounded and deeply human case against the Trump administration's mass deportation policy — arguing that America needs immigrants as much as they need the blessings of American liberty.

Will opens with a simple but powerful image: a regular at a neighborhood diner shows up one Sunday to find Jose, his waiter of 20 years, gone — deported. "Suddenly, the immigration issue has a face, and complexity." It is a reminder that behind every immigration statistic is a person woven into the fabric of American life.

The data Will reports is striking. As of 2023, only 27 percent of the foreign-born population were undocumented, while more than half of all immigrants had become U.S. citizens. Prior to the Biden-era surge, 43 percent of undocumented immigrants had been in the country for at least 20 years, about a third were homeowners, and their 5 million U.S.-born children were citizens. As Will puts it plainly: "Talk of sending them 'home' is nonsensical. They are home."

The economic case is equally compelling. A Cato Institute report covering 1994 to 2023 found that immigrants generated more in taxes than they received in government benefits at all levels, creating a cumulative fiscal surplus of $14.5 trillion in real 2024 dollars — equivalent to 33 percent of total inflation-adjusted deficits over that period. Immigrants make up nearly 24 percent of STEM workers, almost 16 percent of nurses, and over 28 percent of health aides — a workforce indispensable to an aging America whose birth rate has fallen below the replacement level. Between 2022 and 2023, for the first time since census data began being collected in 1850, immigration accounted for the entire U.S. population growth.

Will closes where he began — at the diner. "That fellow having brunch at the diner will still get his waffles. But he will miss Jose, and millions like him, in more ways than he can easily imagine."

For the AAPI community, Will's column resonates deeply. Asian Americans are among the immigrants who have built this country's scientific, medical, and economic foundations — and are among those most vulnerable to the surveillance, profiling, and enforcement policies that Will rightly calls "stomach-turning." His voice, from the right of the political spectrum, is a reminder that the case for immigrant dignity and the case for American prosperity are one and the same.

Read George Will’s Washington Post opinion: https://wapo.st/4uv76yT

Read Cato Institute’s report on Immigrants’ Recent Effects on Government Budgets 1994-2023:  https://bit.ly/4cGL3yW

Ohio Alien Land Bill (HB1) Faces Strong Community Opposition

The Ohio House Public Safety Committee will hold its fourth hearing on House Bill 1 (HB1) on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, 9:30 am in Room 114 of the Ohio State House, focusing on the substitute bill (sub-bill) they passed on November 19, 2025. This bill shares the same title as its senate companion bill, Senate Bill 88 (SB88): “Ohio Property Protection Act,” and is one of the alien land bill or laws tracked by the Committee of 100 that are aimed at restricting land or property ownership based on national origin, raising serious concerns about violations of federal and state laws, especially the U.S. Constitution and the Fair Housing Act. 

What is extraordinary in the Ohio HB1 and SB88 is they impose restrictions on property ownership within a 10-mile (HB1) or 25-mile (SB88) radius around an overly broad list of items categorized as “critical infrastructure”, which includes daily utilities like telecommunications lines, power grids, water and sewer systems, television and radio facilities, and fiber-optic networks. Below is a map illustrating the restricted areas within a 10-mile radius around these “critical infrastructure” items, essentially “blanket the entirety of the State of Ohio,” as the sponsor of SB88, State Senator Terry Johnson said. 

To date, the Ohio HB1 and SB88 combined have received 14 proponent testimonies, and 296 opponent testimonies - reflecting strong opposition among Ohioans. Community members and organizations pointed out that even though the Ohio HB1 and SB88 were framed as security measures, they would not meaningfully enhance public safety. Instead, they would penalize individuals who are legally present in the United States, harm Ohio’s reputation as a fair and business‑friendly state, and undermine the constitutional and economic principles that have long supported our state’s growth. 

Justice for Ohio, a civil rights and advocacy organization, encouraged  concerned individuals, businesses and organizations to submit opponent testimonies and send letters to legislators and ask them to reject Ohio House Bill 1.

Equity Pulse: Is Your Citizenship at Stake?

On April 1, 2026, the Supreme Court will hear arguments that could redefine what it means to be a U.S. citizen. It is a battle Chinese Americans have fought before. In 1898, Wong Kim Ark 黄金德 sued for his right to reenter the United States after being denied because of his Chinese ancestry. His Supreme Court victory established birthright citizenship as we know it.

Now, that precedent is under attack in Trump v. Barbara.

Join attorneys Wendy Feng, Arjun Shenoy, Tony Wang, Jennifer Wu on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. ET / 12:00 p.m. PT, as they break down the legal arguments and discuss what this case could mean for AAPIs and civil rights. They were directly involved in the drafting of the two amicus briefs filed by the AAPI community in this case.

Even if you are a U.S. citizen today, this case could affect generations to come. Hear from top legal experts, ask questions, and engage on a constitutional right that now hangs in the balance.

The “Equity Pulse” series hosted by the Committee of 100 highlights real-world policy impacts on AAPI communities and what we can do to challenge inequities.

Registration link: https://committee100-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/9617732618234/WN_R6dq-FEaQVilfADvTmqmIg

News and Activities for the Communities

1. APA Justice Community Calendar

Upcoming Events:

2026/03/17 Equity Pulse: Is Your Citizenship at Stake?

2026/03/19 AAUC Town Hall: In Challenging Times, Our Voices Matter

2026/03/24 Mass Surveillance and the ICE Crackdown: What the AAPI Community Needs to Know

2026/03/25 The Perpetual Foreigner Stereotype: New Data on Asian American Experiences

2026/04/06 APA Justice Monthly Meeting

2026/04/08 Perspectives on Careers in Arts and Entertainment

2026/04/14 Recollections, Pioneers and Heroes - Anla ChengVisit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details.

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APA Justice Task Force is a non-partisan platform to build a sustainable ecosystem that addresses racial profiling concerns and to facilitate, inform, and advocate on selected issues related to justice and fairness for the Asian Pacific American community.  For more information, please refer to the new APA Justice website under development at www.apajusticetaskforce.org. We value your feedback. Please send your comments to contact@apajustice.org.