#245 4/8 Monthly Meeting; Bridge Collapse; Census Changes; Stephen Roach; UMichigan Post; +

In This Issue #245

· 2024/04/08 APA Justice Monthly Meeting

· The Bridge Collapse in Baltimore is an Immigration Story

· Next U.S. Census Will Have New Check Boxes

· Stephen Roach: American Sinophobia

· US Universities Secretly Turned Their Back on Chinese Professors under DOJ's China Initiative

· News and Activities for the Communities

2024/04/08 APA Justice Monthly Meeting

The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held via Zoom on Monday, April 8, 2024, starting at 1:55 pm ET. In addition to updates by Nisha Ramachandran, Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC); Joanna YangQing Derman, Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC; and Gisela Perez Kusakawa, Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), confirmed speakers are:

· Robert Underwood, Commissioner, President's Advisory Commission on AA and NHPI; Former Chair of CAPAC; Former President of University of Guam

· Yvonne Lee, Commissioner, USDA Equity Commission; Former Member, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

· Chenglong Li, Zhong-Ren Peng, and Jiangeng Xue, Officers of Florida Chinese Faculty Association and Professors of University of Florida

· David Inoue, Executive Director, Japanese American Citizens League

· Cindy Tsai, Interim President and Executive Director, Committee of 100

The virtual monthly meeting is by invitation only. It is closed to the press. 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.

On March 29, 2024, NBC News reported on the protest by professors, students and advocates across public university campuses in the Florida who say the State Bill 846 could keep graduate students from "countries of concern" out of their schools. A civil lawsuit, Yin v. Diaz (1:24-cv-21129), was filed on March 25, 2024. Gisela, Joanna, and Professors Li, Peng, and Xue will give reports on the March 26 rally in Gainesville, Florida, at the April 8 monthly meeting.

The Bridge Collapse in Baltimore is an Immigration Story

According to Reuters and multiple media reports, they came to the United States seeking a better life. They found themselves laboring on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, fixing potholes under the cover of night, only to tragically lose their lives in the Baltimore harbor.All six victims of the bridge collapse were immigrants from Mexico and Central America, engaging in the type of strenuous work often undertaken by immigrants. At 1:30 a.m. EDT on March 27, 2024, a container ship collided with a support pillar of the bridge, causing it to collapse and sending the workers plummeting into the icy waters of the Patapsco River.Despite police managing to close bridge traffic moments before the collision, the maintenance crew had no time to reach safety.Some were not surprised that all of the victims were immigrants, even though they account for less than 10% of the population in Maryland's largest city."One of the reasons Latinos were involved in this accident is because Latinos do the work that others do not want to do. We have to do it, because we come here for a better life. We do not come to invade the country," said Lucia Islas, president of Comité Latino de Baltimore, a nonprofit group.Government and industry figures show that Hispanics are over-represented in high-risk jobs: 51% of construction workers, 34% of slaughterhouse workers and 61% of landscaping workers.The tragedy coincides with a U.S. presidential election where immigration is a key issue.

According to Reuters, President Joe Biden's administration has grappled with a surge in border crossings, while Republican candidate Donald Trump has employed racist rhetoric against immigrants, referring to them as "animals" and "not people" on the campaign trail and has said he would dramatically ramp up deportation if re-elected on November 5.The tragedy illustrated the contributions that migrants make to the U.S. economy, President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador said. “This demonstrates that migrants go out and do risky jobs at midnight. And for this reason, they do not deserve to be treated as they are by certain insensitive, irresponsible politicians in the United States,” he said.Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Inquirer castigated the right-wing lawmakers and pundits who have whipped up native-born Americans over immigration, calling immigrants sex traffickers and fentanyl dealers, and even “animals.” The workers who died in the bridge collapse “were not ‘poisoning the blood of our country,’” Will Bunch wrote, “they were replenishing it…. They may have been born all over the continent, but when these men plunged into our waters on Tuesday, they died as Americans.”Historian Heather Cox Richardson quoted Republican President Ronald Reagan, “we lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people—our strength—from every country and every corner of the world. And by doing so we continuously renew and enrich our nation…. Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we're a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.”The tragedy prompts reflection on the broader immigration debate, challenging stereotypes and underscoring the humanity and contributions of immigrants to American society.

· 2024/03/29 Los Angles Times: The Baltimore bridge collapse reminds us immigrants often do unheralded and dangerous work

· 2024/03/28 MSNBC: The Baltimore bridge collapse victims were all immigrants. Here’s why we can’t ignore that

· 2024/03/28 Fox News: Mexico president says Baltimore bridge collapse shows migrants 'do not deserve to be treated as they are'

· 2024/03/28 CNN: The true face of immigration

· 2024/03/28 Philadelphia Inquirer: A ship crashed Into a Baltimore bridge and demolished the lies about immigration

· 2024/03/28 Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American

· 2024/03/28 Maryland Matters: The bridge collapse is an immigration story

· 2024/03/27 CBS News: Key Bridge collapse victims were 'hard workers,' says organization aimed at helping immigrants

· 2024/03/27 Democracy Now: Baltimore Key Bridge Collapses, Killing Six Immigrant Workers Who Had No Access to Emergency Warnings

· 2024/03/27 Washington Post: Bridge collapse brings stark reminder of immigrant workers’ vulnerabilities

Next U.S. Census Will Have New Check Boxes

On March 28, 2024, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) unveiled revisions to Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity.

As reported by NPR, these revisions signify an expansion of the checkboxes for race and ethnicity on the next U.S. census in 2030 and future federal government forms.

Under the approved proposals, participants will now encounter a new response option for "Middle Eastern or North African" (MENA) and a reformatted question that includes a "Hispanic or Latino" box under the category "What is your race and/or ethnicity?" There will be instructions that say "Select all that apply."This marks the introduction of the first entirely new racial or ethnic category required on federal government forms since 1977.Advocates for these changes emphasize the importance of updated racial and ethnic data in various aspects, including redrawing voting district maps, enforcing civil rights protections, and informing policymaking and research to better reflect people's identities today.A sea change is underway as federal agencies, as well as state, local governments, and private institutions participating in federal programs, adapt their forms and databases to align with the new statistical standards.By late September 2025, federal agencies must submit public action plans to OMB, aiming to have all of their surveys and statistics in compliance with the new requirements by late March 2029.

For over three decades, advocates for Arab Americans and other MENA groups have campaigned for their own checkbox on government forms, reflecting the diverse identities within these communities.Recent research indicates that many individuals of MENA descent do not identify as white, challenging the previous federal government classification that included individuals with origins in Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.In the last major changes to its standards in 1997, survey participants were allowed to report more than one race and splitting the "Asian or Pacific Islander" category into "Asian" and "Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander," which OMB has now shortened by removing the word "Other."Read the NPR report: https://n.pr/3xmB27c

Stephen Roach: American Sinophobia

In a recent opinion published in Project Syndicate, Professor Stephen S. Roach, a Yale University faculty member and former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, addresses the escalating Sinophobia in America and its potential consequences. He is also author of a book titled "Accidental Conflict - America, China, and the Clash of False Narratives."Roach argues that the bipartisan nature of America's Sinophobia is transforming fear into perceived fact, heightening the risk of accidental conflict with China, which could inadvertently provoke the very aggression the U.S. seeks to prevent.He traces the origins of this sentiment back to the early 2000s, when concerns about national security led to suspicions surrounding Huawei's technological advancements, ultimately resulting in sanctions against the company. Since then, Sinophobia has expanded beyond technology to encompass various sectors, including trade and military tensions.Roach also cited China to be equally guilty of its own strain of “Ameri-phobia” – demonizing the US for its accusations of Chinese economic espionage, unfair trading practices, and human rights violations. He highlights the reciprocal nature of fear between the U.S. and China, with both countries demonizing each other based on false narratives.This escalating fear, Roach warns, parallels the red-baiting tactics of the early 1950s in the U.S., now manifesting in unsubstantiated accusations against China by politicians like Representative Mike Gallagher.Roach underscores the absence of concrete evidence supporting many of these allegations, attributing them to the bipartisan politicization of deductive reasoning and America's historical intolerance of alternative ideologies.

Roach argues that instead of succumbing to fear, the U.S. must confront its own challenges, such as trade deficits and technological shortcomings, without scapegoating China. He emphasizes the need for rational leadership and quotes President Franklin D. Roosevelt's famous dictum, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," urging the U.S. to rise above the politics of fear and uphold its global leadership responsibly.Read the Project Syndicate essay: https://bit.ly/3xhFAvK

US Universities Secretly Turned Their Back on Chinese Professors under DOJ's China Initiative

According to a University of Michigan report, American universities have increasingly distanced themselves from Chinese professors targeted under the China Initiative and similar federal agency investigations, often pressuring them to resign voluntarily or retire early.At a recent panel discussion on the China Initiative and its aftermath, hosted by the University of Michigan, panelists shared their experiences, insights and lesser-known facts.Gang Chen, one of the professors charged under the China Initiative, expressed gratitude for the support he received from MIT. “I’m the lucky one,” Chen said. Chen was one of the professors charged under the China Initiative, a program launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2018 to counter economic espionage from China. Despite the initial purpose, the program primarily focused on cases involving researchers who had failed to disclose ties with China, such as receiving grants, spending sabbaticals or summers, or receiving honorary appointments from Chinese institutions. All charges against Chen were dismissed.Peter Zeidenberg, a lawyer representing scientists and academics accused of economic espionage, highlighted how universities typically distance themselves from accused professors. Instead of acknowledging their awareness of the professors' connections with China or providing proper disclosure training, universities often shift blame to the accused. Universities often deflected blame, telling granting agencies, “It was him. He did it. Go get him,” Zeidenberg said.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the largest funder of academic biomedical research on the U.S. Under the China Initiative, NIH started investigating whether federal funds were used properly by faculty. This included examining whether the funds were used to do work in China due to faculty’s undisclosed connections with Chinese institutes. As a result of this investigation, 44% of the 255 professors where NIH asked universities to investigate lost their jobs.“Most of those affected were tenured professors,” said Ann Chih Lin, University of Michigan associate professor of public policy and director of the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies.According to Lin, NIH made it clear that if they could not resolve concerns regarding a faculty member and a grant, NIH would not only require universities to repay the grant, but also investigate universities’ entire portfolio of NIH grants. Fearing the loss of grant money, universities often approached the implicated professors and encouraged them to resign voluntarily or retire early. This strategy aimed to avoid a public disciplinary hearing or grievance process, which could bring unwanted attention to the case. Professors involved in such investigations typically refrained from discussing their cases to protect both themselves and the universities, often choosing to depart quietly.While the Department of Justice terminated the China Initiative in 2022 amid criticism, the damage has been done. In addition to losing talent, recent research by RuiXue Jia, associate professor of economics at the University of California San Diego, indicates reduced productivity among U.S. scientists with Chinese collaborators, particularly in fields receiving pre-investigation NIH funding. Moreover, the cessation of the China Initiative does not signal the end of repercussions, as federal granting agencies continue their investigations, perpetuating potential harm.Read the University of Michigan report: https://bit.ly/3PJLb4f

News and Activities for the Communities

1. APA Justice Community Calendar

Upcoming Events:2024/04/02 AA and NHPI Higher Education Leadership Development Summit2024/04/07 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/04/08 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/04/17 Racially Profiled for Being A Scientist: A Discussion of the US DOJ's China Initiative2024/04/18 Corky Lee's Asian America: Fifty Years of Photographic Justice2024/04/19 Committee of 100 Annual Conference and Gala2024/04/19 Appeals Court Hearing on Florida SB 264Visit https://bit.ly/45KGyga for event details.

2. 04/09 China Town Hall

On April 9, 2024, a hybrid two-part program, China Town Hall, will be held at the Newton City Hall Memorial Auditorium, Newton City, Massachusetts.The first part of the program features Dr. Kurt Campbell, Deputy Secretary of State, in a national webcast hosted by the National Committee on US-China Relations (NCUSCR). This part of the program starts at 7 pm ET and is scheduled for one hour. Register here: https://bit.ly/4afaDae. The second part of the program is a local conversation with Newton City Mayor Ruthanne Fuller giving welcome address and opening remarks by Professor Min Ye of Boston University and Congressman Jake Auchincloss. Discussions will follow with Professor Lisong Liu of MassArt serving as moderator. This part of the program is co-hosted by NCUSCR and the New England Chinese American Alliance. It is scheduled to start at 8:00 pm ET for 90 minutes. Join the Zoom meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/w/87627173939#success

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April 1, 2024

#245 4/8 Monthly Meeting; Bridge Collapse; Census Changes; Stephen Roach; UMichigan Post; +

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