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#217 11/6 Meeting with Rep. Andy Kim; Call for Action; 10/2 Meeting Summary; 2030 Census; +

In This Issue #217

·       2023/11/06 APA Justice Monthly Meeting

·       Call for Action: Sign-on Letter to Congress to Oppose Reauthorization of Section 702 or Make Major Reforms

·       2023/10/02 APA Justice Monthly Meeting Summary Posted

·       What The Next Census in 2030 Could Look Like

·       News and Activities for the Communities

 

2023/11/06 APA Justice Monthly Meeting

The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held via Zoom on Monday, November 6, 2023, starting at 1:55 pm ET.In addition to updates by Nisha Ramachandran, Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC); Joanna Derman, Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC; Gisela Perez Kusakawa, Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), confirmed speakers include:

· Andy Kim, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, who has announced his candidacy to run for the Senate seat in New Jersey, will talk about issues and concerns of the people of New Jersey and the nation. 

· Gene Wu 吳元之, Member of the Texas State House of Representatives on education and coalition building efforts on the alien land bills (and other anti-immigration bills) in Texas and beyond.

· Dr. Sergio Lira, Co-Vice President, Texas Multicultural Advocacy Alliance (TMAC); President, Greater Houston, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), on his tireless efforts to grow a multicultural advocacy alliance with the AAPI community in Texas and more.

· Cindy Tsai 蔡欣玲, Interim President and Executive Director, Committee of 100 (C100) on recent C100 activities including the community playbook, allyship between marginalized groups, and The Yellow Whistle.  

· Andy Li, President, API Coalition; President, Civic Leadership USA, on the First National API Elected Officials Summit in San Francisco on November 18-19, immediately following the Asia-Pacific Economic Corporation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit and CEO Summit.  

The virtual monthly meeting is by invitation only. If you wish to join, either one time or for future meetings, please contact one of the co-organizers of APA Justice - Steven Pei 白先慎, Vincent Wang 王文奎, and Jeremy Wu 胡善庆 - or send a message to contact@apajustice.org

 

 

Meet and Know Congressman Andy Kim

 

In the aftermath of the riots on the U.S. Capitol in January 2021, a Congressman crouched down on his knees and filled trash bags with debris in a near empty rotunda and then the adjacent rooms, including the National Statuary Hall and the Capitol crypt downstairs.  It was Congressman Andy Kim in the blue jacket.

According to NBC News, many people labeled Andy a “true patriot.”  While Andy said he didn’t dwell much on the symbolic heft of his actions, the term was on his mind.  “I feel blessed to have this opportunity as a son of immigrants to be able to serve in Congress,” he said. “Democracy to me is this place of opportunity that is affording me a chance to do something extraordinary.”In 2018, Andy became the first Asian American to represent New Jersey in Congress.Six months after his cleaning up the U.S. Capitol at midnight following the January 6 insurrection, Andy gave up the blue suit he wore on that day for public good again - this time for the Smithsonian Institution as part of its collection of items from the riot. “This suit of mine that’s with the Smithsonian now is not because of some high achievement that I've reached in this country. It was because I unfortunately was at the site of one of the most tragic events in our American democracy,” Andy, the son of Korean immigrants, said. “The values it tries to bring about are very much ones that are rooted in my immigrant family. Having humility, having respect for this country that gave us the opportunities that we've had.”He added: “I hope other Asian Americans see in that suit the same thing that I see, which is, hope for the kind of future in this country that many of us either immigrated to this country for, or grew up in this country with.”Andy talked to APA Justice at its September 2021 monthly meeting.  A summary of his remarks is posted here: https://bit.ly/3kg687M.  His talk starts at the 15:07 of this video: https://bit.ly/3ki3jmI  

We warmly welcome the return of Congressman Andy Kim to speak at the APA Justice monthly meeting on November 6, 2023.

Call for Action: Sign-on Letter to Congress to Oppose Reauthorization of Section 702 or Make Major Reforms 

In partnership with American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), APA Justice calls for concerned individuals to sign on a letter calling for the end of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) unless there is fundamental reform to the law.  Current authority for Section 702 will expire on December 31, 2023.Concerned individuals may complete and submit the letter electronically at https://bit.ly/3EFkg3R.  You have the option to add a personal message in the text box.  The online form will require you to fill in your name and address.  It will automatically send the letter to your two senators and one representative.  It is that easy.

Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) and Stop AAPI Hate, Advancing Justice | AAJC, and Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) led a coalition of over 60 organizations and sent a compelling message https://bit.ly/3LkEmnt to Congress: Reform Section 702.  The coalition also produced a fact sheet https://bit.ly/49cRF3L to explain what Section 702 is and how warrantless surveillance has inflicted serious harm to marginalized communities including Chinese Americans."Asian Americans have a history of being subjected to racial profiling and discrimination, often rooted in stereotypes and misconceptions. Authorities like Section 702 that lack proper oversight and targeting criteria can exacerbate these issues, leading to unjust scrutiny of innocent individuals within the Asian American and AMEMSA communities," the fact sheet said. Concerned organizations are urged to sign on to the coalition letter by contacting Andy Wong andywong@caasf.org, CAA Managing Director of Advocacy, and Joanna Derman jderman@advancingjustice-aajc.org, Program Director at Advancing Justice | AAJC.Concerned individual will now have a chance to express their opposition to reauthorization of Section 702 without comprehensive reforms.  APA Justice urges you to sign on to the ACLU letter today at https://bit.ly/3EFkg3R and include references to the coalition letter https://bit.ly/3LkEmnt and fact sheet https://bit.ly/49cRF3L

2023/10/02 APA Justice Monthly Meeting Summary Posted

The October 2, 2023, APA Justice monthly meeting summary is now available at https://bit.ly/40gnN2q.

We thank the following speakers for their updates and discussions:

·       Casey Lee casey.lee@mail.house.gov, Policy Advisor, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) substituted for Nisha Ramachandran nisha.ramachandran@mail.house.gov, Executive Director, CAPAC, and provided updates from CAPAC.

·       Joanna Derman, Director, Anti-Profiling, Civil Rights & National Security Program, will be reporting on behalf of Advancing Justice | AAJC going forward. She reported on two events - one titled “Total Information Awareness: The High Costs of Post-9/11 U.S. Mass Surveillance” at Brown University and the other a webinar titled “State Legislatures 101 – How They Work and How You Can Make an Impact.”

·       Gisela Perez Kusakawa, Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), gpkusakawa@aasforum.org reported on an upcoming launch of a new AASF website and its first 2022 to 2023 annual report, listening sessions with federal agencies, and the upcoming release of educational materials on Dr. Xiaoxing Xi's case and Section 702 warrantless surveillance.  Gisela also reported on AASF partnership with US-Asia Law Institute of NYU Law School, an upcoming session with Drs. Gang Chen and Xiaoxing Xi at the NAPABA conference, and an event at the Georgetown Law Center on combating the rise of anti-Asian bias in America.

·       Clay Zhu 朱可亮, Partner, DeHeng Law Offices 德恒律师事务所; Founder, Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance (CALDA) 华美维权同盟 reported on the recent developments of the Florida alien land bill lawsuit, as well as a webinar with Florida state legislators hosted by the Florida Asian American Justice Alliance (FAAJA).

·       Nancy Chen, Founding President, Chinese American Women in Action (CAWA) provided a report on her vast experience as Regional Administrator of the Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor; Director of U.S. Senator Paul Simon’s Chicago Office; and Director of Asian-Pacific American Outreach at President Bill Clinton’s White House Office of Presidential Personnel.  After her retirement, Nancy founded CAWA and continues to stay involved in matters of importance to the community in Naperville, Illinois, and the nation.  APA Justice will assist Nancy to organize a town hall meeting for Rep. Bill Foster on specific issues such as alien land laws and other laws and policies would have the impact on Asian Americans.  Rep. Foster is the only Ph.D. Physicist in Congress.

·       Andy Wong, Managing Director of Advocacy, Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), reported on the delivery of a coalition letter to Congress in partnership with Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC and AASF to express the collective opposition to the reauthorization of section 702 unless there are comprehensive reforms.  CAA and Stop AAPI Hate have also launched the Stop the Blame campaign in response to the ongoing rise of anti-Asian political rhetoric and legislation which is harming innocent Asian Americans and immigrants.

·       Haipei Shue 薛海培, President, United Chinese Americans, reported on the Appeals Curt hearing of Professor Franklin Tao 陶丰 in Denver and the administrative trial of New York Police Department Officer Baimadajie Angwang 昂旺 in New York City.

Read the 10/2 meeting summary: https://bit.ly/40gnN2q. Read past monthly meeting summaries: https://bit.ly/3kxkqxP

 

What The Next Census in 2030 Could Look Like

On October 28, 2023, the New York Times reported on how census categories for race and ethnicity have evolved over the last 230 years and how they have shaped American identities. 

By sifting through copies of each decennial census from 1790 through 2020, the report found that almost none of them categorized race in the exact same way. Each change indicated an incremental shift in how the nation perceived racial and ethnic identities at that time. The first census in 1790 separated free “white” people from other free people and enslaved people. In 1890, the census identified African Americans by the fraction of their African heritage: “Black,” “mulatto,” “quadroon” and “octoroon.” These terms stamped in old documents are a stark reminder of U.S. history.  The antiquated term “Negro” was used in nine decennial censuses until 2010.Some of the changes reflected the country’s anxieties over immigration. For example, the government added the category “Chinese” in the 1870 census, after many immigrants from China had come as railroad workers and anxieties over immigration from China rose. With the year 1970 came a significant shift in the census, when people were allowed to choose their race, rather than having a census taker do so. The census is now a marker of self-identification instead of an outsider’s perception. With 24 decennial censuses so far, race options have changed more than a dozen times, as new groups have been added and others deleted.The latest overhaul would allow more race and ethnicity options for people to describe themselves than the 2020 census did. One of the biggest changes would be to combine race and ethnicity into a single question. “Hispanic or Latino” would become one of seven race and/or ethnicity options, rather than in a separate origin question as it is now.  A check box for “Middle Eastern or North African” would also be added. If approved, the new forms would be adopted across all surveys in the country about health, education and the economy. The Biden administration’s Office of Management and Budget has asked for feedback on this plan, which it could implement and add to all federal forms as early as next summer and then be used for the 2030 census.

Read the New York Times report: https://nyti.ms/46Yng84

 

News and Activities for the Communities

1.  APA Justice Community Calendar

Upcoming Events:2023/11/01 Asia Society - A Conversation with Gary Locke 2023/11/02 Chinese American Museum - Saving America's Chinatowns2023/11/05 Rep. Gene Wu's Weekly Town Hall Meeting2023/11/06 APA Justice November 2023 Monthly Meeting2023/11/09-12 NAPABA Convention2023/11/11 Association of Chinese Professionals 2023 MetroConVisit https://bit.ly/45KGyga for event details.

 

2.  Nomination of Dr. Monica Bertagnolli Advances

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee advanced the nomination of Monica Bertagnolli to lead the National Institutes of Health by a vote of 15-6, with ranking member Bill Cassidy, R-La., voting for President Joe Biden’s nominee and Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., opposing it.  Watch the HELP Committee proceedings: https://bit.ly/479cYBx

October 31, 2023

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