Newsletter - #243 Florida Rally Today; AAJC Updates; History in California; Corky Lee; Mexico Brief; + #243 Florida Rally Today; AAJC Updates; History in California; Corky Lee; Mexico Brief; + In This Issue #243 · Rally Today: Florida Professors and Advocates Demand Board of Governors Address SB 846 · Advancing Justice | AAJC Updates from March APA Justice Monthly Meeting · Humanity in Confronting History in California · Fifty Years of Photographic Justice: Corky Lee’s Asian America · Mexico Files Amicus Brief; Chinese Crossing Southern Border · News and Activities for the Communities Rally Today: Florida Professors and Advocates Demand Board of Governors Address SB 846 On March 26, 2024, professors, students, and advocates will host a rally before the Florida Board of Governors meeting at the University of Florida. Asian American scholars and local and national community members will gather to demand that the Florida Board of Governors address their concerns with SB 846, which restricts Florida’s public colleges and universities from hiring graduate students and researchers from certain “countries of concern,” including China and Iran. The legislation, which took effect on July 1, 2023, further restricts Florida’s public colleges and universities from participating in partnerships or agreements with individuals or entities from these countries. It has raised concerns on academic freedom and impacts on the Asian American community not just in Florida but nationwide. The law has created confusion and a chilling effect on researchers, and could lead to broader harms on scientific innovation and the pipeline of scientific leadership in Florida and the U.S. At this rally, students and professors will share personal stories about the negative impact of the legislation on themselves, peers, and their local community, as well as the fearful environment that it has fostered especially at a time of increased anti-Asian hate and violence. National representatives are flying in from across the country to support local community members and to voice that what is happening in Florida could have a rippling effect across the country. Vincent Wang , Co-Organizer of APA Justice, will speak at the rally, which will be held at Reitz Union, North Lawn, University of Florida Gainesville Campus, on March 26, 2024, starting at 12 noon ET. The "We Belong" Yellow Whistles will be distributed during the rally. Please join.Read the media advisory: https://bit.ly/3PEyOq9 Breaking News: Academics challenge Florida law restricting research exchanges from prohibited countries like China According to AP on March 26, 2024, two graduate students from China whose studies were put on hold, and a professor who says he is unable to recruit research assistants, sued Florida education officials, trying to stop enforcement of a new state law which limits research exchanges between state universities and academics from seven prohibited countries.The law is discriminatory, unconstitutional and reminiscent of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which instituted a 10-year ban on Chinese laborers immigrating to the United States, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Miami. The new law also usurps the power of the federal government, which has exclusive authority over immigration, national security and foreign affairs, the lawsuit said.Read the AP report: https://bit.ly/3PEfkCd Advancing Justice | AAJC Updates from March APA Justice Monthly Meeting During the APA Justice monthly meeting on March 4, 2024, Joanna YangQing Derman , Director, Anti-Profiling, Civil Rights & National Security Program, Advancing Justice | AAJC, reported that the House cancelled a much anticipated vote on Section 702, the circumstances around which are highly problematic. The key takeaways include: 1. The House Intelligence Committee, led by Chairman Mike Turner , reneged on a pre-negotiated deal to move FISA reauthorization and reform to the House floor; 2. The House Judiciary Committee, which has primary jurisdiction over Section 702, submitted amendments to the base bill and testified in favor of their amendments while the House Intelligence Committee failed to even appear. Chair Turner and other House Intelligence Committee members also cryptically hinted at a so-called destabilizing foreign military capability that they heavily implied was related to Section 702, but it was later identified to be completely unrelated. Chair Turner undermined national security and wrongfully created national panic. It was clearly designed to scare members ahead of the plan to vote on Section 702, which was ultimately taken down. The White House and members of Congress and Civil Society have all been appalled at this behavior and issued statements to that effect. But in terms of next steps, Advancing Justice | AAJC will, in coalition with other AAPI organizations, prepare to defend against any efforts to jam Section 702 reauthorization into any imminent must-pass legislation. To that end, Joanna learned that 702 reauthorization is not in the first minibus and will continue to stay vigilant and monitor. Joanna deferred to Thông Phan to report on the state alien land laws. Advancing Justice | AAJC is tracking land-law-related language in the national security supplemental. It appears that a narrowly tailored version of the Rounds amendment was ultimately dropped, and the national security supplemental at the time of reporting looks to be less harmful.A summary for the meeting is being prepared at this time. 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 . Humanity in Confronting History in California According to AP , in May 2021, Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe had issued a formal apology for Antioch’s mistreatment of early Chinese immigrants, including the torching of Chinatown and driving out its residents, which has been documented by local newspapers and historians. Thorpe’s actions led to major cities like San Jose, Los Angeles and San Francisco passing similar resolutions.The 2021 apology has also led to local residents and historians delving deeper into the past and working to establish a Chinatown Historic District, complete with murals and museum exhibits highlighting the history and accomplishments of the community in Antioch.Before getting involved with the Antioch Historical Society and becoming committee chair for its Chinese History Project, Hans Ho said he had no idea a Chinatown once existed there. Chinese people were undoubtedly treated as second-class citizens, said Ho, who emigrated from Hong Kong in the 1960s. He was also one of the representatives from the Chinese American community to receive Thorpe’s apology, an act that moved him to tears.Chinese laborers were among the early population in Antioch, which was named in 1851. They likely numbered just under 100, said Lucy Meinhardt , an Antioch Historical Society Museum board member. They worked in farms, canneries and mines. They helped build river levees and established a Chinatown where the city’s downtown now stands. Today, the city of more than 111,000 is 25% white while Asians make up 12%. Hispanic and Black residents are 35% and 20% of the population, respectively. Even creating a space for some materials related to Chinese residents at the Antioch Historical Society Museum has gotten pushback. “(One board member) said that they wanted this to be an ‘American’ museum,” said Dwayne Eubanks , a past president of the historical society, who is African American. “I took umbrage to that.” He held up a picture of his father in his Army uniform and told the man: “This is an American.”On March 16, 2024, Eubanks, Meinhardt and Ho all attended the May We Gather event in Antioch, which organizers described as the first national memorial service and pilgrimage in response to anti-Asian violence. Attendees, including the three local residents, walked meditatively with Buddhist monks, nuns and lay leaders, around the city block where Antioch’s Chinatown stood 150 years ago.Read the AP report: https://bit.ly/49elUGm According to NBC News on March 6, 2024, In 1939, the Dongs, a Chinese American family in Coronado, California, found themselves unable to rent a house amid racially restrictive housing laws that favored white buyers and renters. Emma and Gus Thompson , a Black entrepreneurial couple in town, allowed the family to rent and eventually buy their Coronado property when nobody else would. Now, to thank the Thompsons for helping them get a toehold in American society, the Dongs are donating $5 million to Black college students using proceeds from the sale of the house. “It may enable some kids to go and flourish in college that might not have been able to otherwise,” Janice Dong , 86, said about the plan to sell the family home they later purchased, as well as an adjacent property. The Dong family will also work to have San Diego State University’s Black Resource Center named after Emma and Gus, who was born into slavery in Kentucky. Lloyd Dong Jr. , 81, said the Thompsons gave their family a start with the land, and it is time for them to do the same for others. “Without them, we would not have the education and everything else,” Lloyd Dong Jr. said. The Dong family’s roots in California date back to the late 19th century. Lloyd Dong Sr. was a farmer in the Central Valley before he moved to Coronado to become a gardener. In 1939, Gus and Emma Thompson gave the Dong family a place to stay, a promise to sell them the land and a chance to build a better life. It was a time in Coronado, a resort city known for its opulent hotel and white sand beaches on the San Diego Bay peninsula, when people living on the margins of society found it difficult to live within city limits. Racially restrictive housing covenants prohibited immigrants and people of color from renting and buying in Coronado.The Dong and Thompson families were on the same side of history. They were people trying to make it in a land that didn’t see them as full citizens. It wasn’t abnormal then to have marginalized individuals living together and supporting one another.Read the NBC News report: https://nbcnews.to/3vAdCL7 Fifty Years of Photographic Justice: Corky Lee’s Asian America Corky Lee 李扬国 (1947-2021), known also as "Asian American Photographer Laureate," was a Chinese American activist, community organizer, and photojournalist. He called himself an "ABC from NYC ... wielding a camera to slay injustices against APAs." Corky documented Asian American and Pacific Islander communities for fifty years, breaking the stereotype of Asian Americans as docile, passive, and, above all, foreign to this country. A selection of the best photographs from his vast collection will be officially released on April 9, 2024. It covers his start in New York’s Chinatown in the 1970s to his coverage of diverse Asian American communities across the country until his untimely passing in 2021. Read about the book: https://www.corkylee.org/about-1 . The link also provides information about a national book tour starting at the Chinese American Museum in Washington DC on April 11, and including New York events at the Asia Society on April 18 and Chinatown on May 4, as well as stops at Boston, Los Angeles, Oakland, Pasadena, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle. For more information, contact Tina Wang , National Book Tour Coordinator, at wangxintian0928@gmail.com . Mexico Files Amicus Brief; Chinese Crossing Southern Border According to CNN on March 21, 2024, Mexico is warning a federal US court in a friend-of-the-court brief that if its judges permit a controversial Texas immigration law known as SB 4 to take effect, the two nations would experience “substantial tension” that would have far-reaching consequences for US-Mexico relations.“Enforcement of SB 4 would inappropriately burden the uniform and predictable sovereign-to-sovereign relations between Mexico and the United States, by criminalizing the unauthorized entry of noncitizens into Texas from outside the county and creating diverging removal requirements between and among individual states and the national government,” they wrote in the brief. “Enforcement of SB 4 would also interfere with Mexico’s right to determine its own policies regarding entry into its territory, undermine U.S.-Mexico collaboration on a legal migration framework and border management, and hinder U.S.-Mexico trade,” the attorneys told the court.Mexico said it was backing the law’s challengers, which include the Biden administration. Its attorneys argued in the brief that the law – if allowed to take effect – “will be applied in a discriminatory manner.”Mexico’s 11 consulates in Texas have been ordered to provide protection and guidance and have made legal support available for any Mexican nationals across the state who “starts to have a problem,” under the new law, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena said.Read the CNN report: https://cnn.it/497YaDR . According to a 60 Minutes report on February 4, 2024, about 37,000 Chinese nationals trying to escape repressive politics and a bleak economy, headed to the U.S. via the southern border in 2023. This is about 1.5% of the total of 2.5 million. It is an increase from 323 in 2021.According to the South China Morning Post on February 15, 2024, from a high of 2.2 million temporary visas granted to Chinese nationals in 2016, only about 160,000 were granted in 2022, a fall of more than 90%. This has led some Chinese citizens to take desperate measures to enter the US for a better life. News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2024/03/26 Rally: Florida Professors and Advocates Demand Board of Governors Address SB 8462024/03/28 CSIS: U,S,-China Scholarly Recoupling: The Path Forward2024/04/02 AA and NHPI Higher Education Leadership 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 JusticeVisit https://bit.ly/45KGyga for event details. 2. AA & NHPI Higher Education Leadership Summit WHAT: AA & NHPI Higher Education Leadership Development Summit WHEN: APRIL 2, 2024, 8:30 - 5:15 pm Pacific Time WHERE: UC Berkeley - Martin Luther King, Jr. Building, 2495 Bancroft Way Berkeley, CA 94704 HOSTS: White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders; U.S. Office of Personnel Management DESCRIPTION: The White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) is dedicated to advancing educational equity and opportunity for all Americans. In 2024, we are continuing to bring together students, faculty, and administrators from across the country to highlight the critical role that Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs) and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions (ANNHSIs) play in increasing access to higher education and promoting workforce development. REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/3Vncrco Back View PDF March 26, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #112 FBI/DOJ Accountable? Xiaoxing Xi/OSTP; Science Needs Affirmative Action; COMPETES Act #112 FBI/DOJ Accountable? Xiaoxing Xi/OSTP; Science Needs Affirmative Action; COMPETES Act Back View PDF February 9, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #179 05/01 Meeting; Florida Rallies; CALDA; Indiana Hate Crime; Economic Peace Terms; News #179 05/01 Meeting; Florida Rallies; CALDA; Indiana Hate Crime; Economic Peace Terms; News In This Issue #179 2023/05/01 APA Justice Monthly Meeting 2023/04/29 Florida Rallies; CALDA Issues Statement Indiana Woman Charged with Federal Hate Crime in Bus Attack America Has Dictated Its Economic Peace Terms to China Activities and News for the Communities 2023/05/01 APA Justice Monthly Meeting The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held on Monday, May 1, 2023, starting at 1:55 pm ET. Erika L. Moritsugu , Deputy Assistant to the President and Asian American and Pacific Islander Senior Liaison, will deliver a special message from the White House to start the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Brenna Isman , Director of Academy Studies, National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), will provide a brief description of the history, mission, and purpose of NAPA, its "Grand Challenges" campaign for public administration, and its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) efforts and commissioned studies. Paula Williams Madison , Paula Williams Madison, Former Print and TV Journalist, Retired NBCUniversal executive and GE Company Officer, Former Vice President of the Los Angeles Police Commission and owner of The Africa Channel, will provide a recap of the April 17 Roundtable and share the possible next steps for this important work that may have long-lasting impact to the AAPI community and the American society overall.Updates will be provided in the meeting by: Nisha Ramachandran , Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC); John Yang 杨重远 , President and Executive Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC; and Gisela Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum.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 . 2023/04/29 Florida Rallies; CALDA Issues Statement 1. 2023/04/29 Florida Rallies A 6-city rally is being organized by The Florida Asian American Justice Alliance to oppose the unfair and discriminatory Florida Senate Bill 264 and House Bill 1355 on Saturday, April 29, 2023, starting at 11:00 am ET. Tallahassee . 400 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399 Jacksonville . Memorial Park, 1620 Riverside Ave, Jacksonville, FL 32204 Miami . Torch of Friendship, 301 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL 33126 Other cities are Gainesville, Orlando, and Tampa. For more information about the rally and how to get involved, please contact Jin at faaja.org@gmail.com . 2. CALDA Issues Statement Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance (CALDA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the fight against systematic racial discrimination for Chinese Americans. According to statement released by CALDA on April 23, 2023,"Our specialty is filing legal actions to invalidate laws, policies, or practices that are racially biased against Chinese Americans. Two years ago our founders successfully obtained a preliminary injunction in court against President Trump for his WeChat ban, and forced the federal government to pay nearly one million dollars for our attorney fees in the lawsuit. Recently we have filed legal actions to expose the racial bias behind several federal agencies’ unfair investigation of Chinese American scientists. In the last several months, we have been monitoring the situation in Texas, Florida, South Carolina and other southern states for their bills banning Chinese Americans from acquiring or owning real estates.These bills are racist, no matter what 'legitimate' purposes that the state legislators claim to serve. They are no different from the so-called 'alien land laws' that many states passed more than a hundred years ago to ban Asian people from owning land. All of the alien land laws were struck down by courts or repealed by the states subsequently. CALDA has decided to take on the same legal challenge in court if the current bills are passed.These bills are a blatant violation of the Equal Protection clause of the U.S. Constitution by singling out Chinese Americans for unequal treatment. They also violate the federal Fair Housing Act for discriminatory practices. CALDA has already started the preparation of the legal challenges, and is now working with ACLU and several major law firms to join forces. Our plan is to file lawsuits as soon as any of these bills are passed, and we will not stop fighting until all of these laws are overturned."Read the CALDA statement: https://bit.ly/3oHzyAj Sunday Strategy Town Hall Meetings Opposing Alien Land and Other Discriminatory Bills For the past two months, a strategic town hall meeting has been held every Sunday under the organization and leadership of Professor Steven Pei , Inaugural Chair of United Chinese Americans and Co-Organizer of APA Justice. Frequent participants include community organizers of protests in not only all four major cities in Texas, but also Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee as well as supporters from California and other states. Paula Madison , retired media executive, and Gene Wu , Texas state representative, led recent discussions in very productive meetings with Florida community leaders and organizers. A media training by Gene Wu and Helen Shih of Texas followed just before the Florida hearing on April 19, 2023, despite the short notice and allowed speaking time (30 seconds per testifying person). Organizations and individuals interested in participating in future town hall meetings should contact Steven Pei at peiuh8@gmail.com . Indiana Woman Charged with Federal Hate Crime in Bus Attack According to a report by AP on April 21, 2023, Billie R. Davis , 56, of Bloomington, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Evansville on a charge of willfully causing injuries to the victim due to her race and national origin.” Davis, who is white, is accused of repeatedly stabbing the 18-year-old woman about seven times with a folding knife on January 11 as the victim, from Carmel, Indiana, waited to get off a bus in downtown Bloomington. WRTV-TV has reported that Davis told police she stabbed the woman multiple times in the head because it “would be one less person to blow up our country.” Asian Americans have increasingly been the target of racially motivated harassment and assaults in recent years, particularly since the coronavirus pandemic began, with many worrying that anti-Asian rhetoric linked to fraught relations between the U.S. and China could lead to more violence. Read the AP report: https://bit.ly/3V8st7Z In early January, local prosecutors told NPR that Davis was not charged with a hate crime because Indiana is one of four states that lack a comprehensive law. David Goldenberg , the Midwest regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the lack of comprehensive hate crime laws in the state has major consequences. "Prosecutors need to prosecute these incidents as hate crimes when they are," Goldenberg told NPR in January. "The thing about hate crimes is it affects not only the individual victim but it affects the entire community." Read the NPR report: https://bit.ly/3Lrtsx2 America Has Dictated Its Economic Peace Terms to China According to an opinion in Foreign Policy by Adam Tooze , the Director of the European Institute at Columbia University, on April 24, 2023, after a rash of sanctions and overtly discriminatory legislation, with action on U.S. investment in China pending, and with talk of war increasingly commonplace in the United States, the Biden administration knows that it needs to clarify its economic relations with the country that is the largest U.S. trading partner outside North America. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has made her first major statement on economic relations with China since 2021. Judged by the tone, her message is intended to clarify and calm the waters of speculation and debate about motives and intentions. In the current situation, however, it is far from clear whether clarity actually contributes to calm.“The United States remains the most dynamic and prosperous economy in the world.” So, Yellen insists, America has no reason to seek to “stifle China’s economic and technological modernization” or to pursue a deep decoupling. Even when the Biden administration professes to be confident about America’s economic prospects, Yellen insists: “As in all of our foreign relations, national security is of paramount importance in our relationship with China.”At one level, this is obvious. No public official will ever say anything else. Security is the basic function of states. But everything depends on the scope of your vision of national security and the level of trust. And if you have to state the priority of national security in foreign relations out loud, you know you have a problem.So a strong and self-confident America has no reason to stand in the way of China’s economic and technological modernization except in every area that America’s national security establishment, the most gigantic in the world, defines as being of essential national interest. For this to be anything other than hypocrisy, you have to imagine that we live in a goldilocks world in which the technology, industrial capacity, and trade that are relevant to national security are incidental to economic and technological modernization more broadly speaking.Yellen pays lip service to that goldilocks vision, by insisting that U.S. measures against China will be tightly targeted. But, as everyone knows, those targeted measures have so far included massive efforts to hobble the world leader in 5G technology, Huawei, sanctions against the entire chip supply chain, and the inclusion of most major research universities in China on America’s entities list that strictly limits trade. The upshot is that America welcomes China’s economic modernization and will refuse the lure of the Thucydides trap so long as China’s development proceeds along lines that do not infringe on American leadership and national security. And America’s attitude will be all the more benign the more successful it is in pursuing its own national prosperity and preeminence precisely in those areas.Read the Foreign Policy opinion: https://bit.ly/41CwSlW Activities and News for the Communities 1. Xenophobia in America WHAT: Xenophobia in America with historian and author, Erika LeeWHEN: April 26, 2023, starting at 7:30 pm WHERE: In Person at Temple Emanu-El at 756 East Broad Street, Westfield, NJ 07090 and livestreaming WHO: Kol Tzedek Speaker: Erika Lee, Regents Professor, the Rudolph J. Vecoli Chair in Immigration History, the Director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota, and the President of the Organization of American Historians. Beginning July 1, 2023, Lee will join the History Department at Harvard University as the the inaugural Bae Family Professor of History. REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/3AqMyNh DESCRIPTION : The Kol Tzedek Speakers Series is an annual program addressing various topics of critical importance to the betterment of our world and how we can move forward with hope and action. This year, we are thrilled to present this program in person for the very first time. The lecturers we consider will be acclaimed authorities from their respective fields of specialization. The Hebrew term Kol Tzedek means righteous voice. 2. Bill to Teach Hmong and Asian American History in Wisconsin According to AsAmNews on April 22, 2023, a new bill in Wisconsin would require schools to teach Asian American, and specifically Hmong American history. Senate Bill 240 was introduced by Republican Senator Jesse James of Altoona and other lawmakers in early April. The bill was referred to the Committee on Education on April 14. It has received bi-partisan support so far. A total of 19 states now require Asian American studies to be taught in public schools. Wisconsin could be the next state to mandate an AAPI studies curriculum. Read the AsAmNews report: https://bit.ly/41MD3Um Subscribe to The APA Justice Newsletter Complete this simple form at https://bit.ly/2FJunJM to subscribe. Please share it with those who wish to be informed and join the fight. View past newsletters here: https://bit.ly/APAJ_Newsletters . Back View PDF April 25, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Learn More Contact Us Government Add a Title

A group of Chinese citizens who live, work, study, and raise families in Florida filed a lawsuit to combat Florida’s discriminatory property law, SB 264. May 22, 2023 Legal Docket : SHEN v. SIMPSON (4:23-cv-00208) On May 22, 2023, a group of Chinese citizens who live, work, study, and raise families in Florida, as well as a real estate brokerage firm in Florida that primarily serves clients of Chinese descent, filed a lawsuit to combat Florida’s discriminatory property law, SB 264. Signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the legislation unfairly restricts most Chinese citizens — and most citizens of Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, Russia, and North Korea — from purchasing homes in the state. Unless the courts act, the law became effect on July 1, 2023. The plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Florida, DeHeng Law Offices PC 德恒律师事务所, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP , in coordination with the Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance 华美维权同盟 (CALDA). The lawsuit argues that SB 264 will codify and expand housing discrimination against people of Asian descent in violation of the Constitution and the Fair Housing Act. It will also cast an undue burden of suspicion on anyone seeking to buy property whose name sounds remotely Asian, Russian, Iranian, Cuban, Venezuelan, or Syrian. Gov. DeSantis has argued that this law is necessary to protect Florida from the Chinese Communist Party and its activities. But this misguided rationale unfairly equates Chinese people with the actions of their government, and there is no evidence of national security harm resulting from real estate ownership by Chinese people in Florida. Florida’s dangerous new law recalls similar efforts over the past century to weaponize false claims of “national security” against Asian immigrants and other marginalized communities. In the early 1900s, politicians across the country used similar justifications to pass “ alien land laws ” prohibiting Chinese and Japanese immigrants from becoming landowners. These racist policies not only hurt immigrants financially, but also severely exacerbated violence and discrimination against Asian communities living in the United States. Over time, these laws were struck down by the courts or were repealed by state legislatures because they violated the Constitution’s equal protection guarantees. A group of Chinese citizens who live, work, study, and raise families in Florida filed a lawsuit to combat Florida’s discriminatory property law, SB 264. Previous Next Lawsuit Against Florida Senate Bill 264

Newsletter - #149 Events/Conferences; Update on Arrowood; Hateful Trump Name-Calling; New from the Fed #149 Events/Conferences; Update on Arrowood; Hateful Trump Name-Calling; New from the Fed Back View PDF October 7, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #266 Franklin Tao Wins Appeal; NBER Study; 1990 Workshop Video; Wisconsin Farmland; + #266 Franklin Tao Wins Appeal; NBER Study; 1990 Workshop Video; Wisconsin Farmland; + In This Issue #266 · Professor Feng "Franklin" Tao Wins Appeal · Study Shows Drastic Decline in US-China Scientific Exchange · 1990 Institute Teachers Workshop on U.S.-China Relations · WPR : Fears of China-owned Farmland in Wisconsin and US are Exaggerated · News and Activities for the Communities Professor Feng "Franklin" Tao Wins Appeal According to Reuters, Science, and multiple reports, on July 11, 2024, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver overturned the lone conviction of former University of Kansas (KU) Professor Feng "Franklin" Tao for making a false statement related to work he was doing in China.Professor Tao was one of the first academic scientists charged under the now-defunct China initiative launched in November 2018 by then-President Donald Trump to combat Chinese economic espionage. In 2019, DOJ had relied on information provided by one of Tao’s former colleagues — a visiting scholar at KU angry with Tao amid an authorship dispute. The colleague had demanded $300,000 from Tao or she would tell the FBI that Tao was a spy.The FBI investigation found no evidence of espionage involving Professor Tao. However, while still a tenured KU faculty member, he was arrested in August 2019 and spent 1 week in jail. In April 2022, a federal jury convicted him of three counts of wire fraud as well as making a false statement to KU about his ties to Fuzhou University in connection with grants from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The university fired him after the jury decision, but 5 months later U.S. District Court Senior Judge Julie Robinson threw out the fraud convictions, citing a lack of evidence. And in January 2023 she rejected the government’s request for jail time and a stiff fine as a penalty for the false statement conviction. Professor Tao was sentenced to time served and a two-year probation, which was later reduced to one year. Professor Tao appealed the jury’s decision on this last remaining count, and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled in a 2-to-1 decision that Professor Tao was right. “We reverse his conviction … and agree with Tao that the government offered insufficient evidence for a rational jury to find that his statement to his employer was material to any DOE or NSF decision” affecting the status of his grants. U.S. Circuit Judge Nancy Moritz , wrote for the majority. Professor Tao is one of many China Initiative cases against U.S. academics that have fallen apart in court. President Joe Biden ’s administration officially ended the program in February 2022. But Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have campaigned for it to be reinstated.Professor Tao said in a statement issued by United Chinese Americans (UCA) after the appeal victory, "Today, I come to you with a mix of heavy and joyous feelings to update you on the outcome of our four-year struggle. The Tenth Circuit Court has removed the last remaining charge against me. These four years of fighting against ten baseless charges have been an unimaginable battle. Without the just legal assistance of our lawyers, Peter Zeidenberg and Mike Dearington , I could not have achieved today's victory. "I want to express my gratitude to our Chinese and Asian communities (including UCA, AAJC, Committee 100, APA Justice, Asian American Scholar Forum, CALDA, AFI, OCAA...) and the many Chinese friends who supported me. I am especially thankful for UCA's continued support and encouragement over these years. Special thanks go to UCA President Haipei Shue and his team for their tremendous support. Without President Shue's personal encouragement and support, we could not have fought to this day!" 2024/07/13 AP: Court voids last conviction of Kansas researcher in case that started as Chinese espionage probe 2024/07/12 CALDA: 陶教授无罪，华人无罪 2024/07/12 Science: Court exonerates Kansas professor in China research fraud case 2024/07/12 Kansas Reflector: Federal appellate court tosses final conviction in case against former tenured Kansas professor 2024/07/11 俄州亚太联盟 OCAA: 罪名被推翻，陶峰教授赢了！ 2024/07/11 美國華人聯盟 UCA: 快讯 | 华裔学者陶丰胜诉，联邦上诉法院推翻定罪 2024/07/11 Reuters: Kansas researcher wins reversal of conviction in Trump-era China probe APA Justice: Feng "Franklin" Tao 陶丰 Study Shows Drastic Decline in US-China Scientific Exchange In its June 2024 issue, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) published a working paper titled Building a Wall Around Science: "The Effect of U.S.-China Tensions on International Science Research." The paper examines the impact of rising U.S.-China geopolitical tensions on three main dimensions of science: STEM trainee mobility between these countries, usage of scientific works between scientists in each country, and scientist productivity in each country. The paper examines each dimension from a “U.S.” perspective and from a “China” perspective in an effort to provide evidence around the asymmetric effects of isolationism and geopolitical tension on science.The paper finds that between 2016 and 2019 ethnically Chinese graduate students became 16% less likely to attend a U.S.-based Ph.D. program, and that those that did became 4% less likely to stay in the U.S. after graduation. In both instances, these students became more likely to move to a non-U.S. anglophone country instead.Second, the paper documents a sharp decline in Chinese usage of U.S. science as measured by citations, but no such decline in the propensity of U.S. scientists to cite Chinese research. Third, the paper finds that while a decline in Chinese usage of U.S. science does not appear to affect the average productivity of China-based researchers as measured by publications, heightened anti-Chinese sentiment in the U.S. appears to reduce the productivity of ethnically Chinese scientists in the U.S. by 2-6%.The results do not suggest any clear “winner,” but instead indicate that increasing isolationism and geopolitical tension lead to reduced talent and knowledge flows between the U.S. and China, which are likely to be particularly damaging to international science. The effects on productivity are still small but are likely to only grow as nationalistic and isolationist policies also escalate. The results as a whole strongly suggest the presence of a “chilling effect” for ethnically Chinese scholars in the U.S., affecting both the U.S.’s ability to attract and retain talent as well as the productivity of its ethnically Chinese scientists.According to a report by the University World News on July 11, 2024, in almost every area, the NBER paper shows that “geopolitical tensions at a much lower level than the formal expulsion of academics or violent warfare can lead to a significant shift in scientist mobility”. Professor Britta Glennon , who teaches management at the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) and is one of the study’s four co-authors. “Over the past few decades, science has become more international across many dimensions. Science used to be concentrated in the West, but today there is a much more international scientific community," she said. “For instance, many academics are immigrants, so right there you have a very international community. There are many more international collaborations than there used to be. And, increasingly, citations in papers are from papers produced in other countries. Our study demonstrates in quantifiable terms how this large international scientific community is affected by the geopolitical tensions between the United States and China, which, from a scientific standpoint, are the major players." For their analysis of mobility using the Open Research and Contributor ID (ORCID), on which academics post their curricula vitae, Glennon and her colleagues constructed a database of 836,495 CVs in STEM fields (out of ORCID’s 14 million CVs).Using machine learning methods that infer ethnicity from names, they were able to classify scientists as being “ethnically Chinese”, which was the treatment group. The control group for those analyses was the non-ethnically Chinese complement, which was drawn from graduate students and professors in UK universities.The Pew Research Center reported in 2020 that anti-Chinese sentiment had risen 11 percentage points, from 55% to 66% in the five years since Trump began his first campaign for the presidency, which included significant anti-Chinese rhetoric, and the COVID-19 crisis, which Trump blamed on the Chinese calling it “the China virus”. Glennon and her colleagues also reference the 2021 study, “Racial Profiling among Scientists of Chinese Descent and Consequences for the US Scientific Community”, that found that Chinese scientists “reported considerable fear of US government surveillance” at almost five times the rate of non-Chinese scientists: 50.7% vs 11.7%. An additional chill was Trump’s “China Initiative”. Some 5,000 agents were assigned to the initiative tasked with preventing China from stealing technologies that were vital to America’s economic and military interests. In July 2020, FBI director Christopher A Wray stated that the bureau was “opening a China-related counterintelligence case every 10 hours”. As of September 2021, federal prosecutors had charged 28 researchers under the China Initiative. Of these, there had been about a dozen convictions or guilty pleas. Of the dozen or so Chinese professors or professors of Chinese descent, the government had convicted only four – none for espionage or theft of trade secrets or intellectual property.President Joe Biden ’s justice department closed down the initiative in February 2022.Read the NBER paper : https://bit.ly/4602fKc . Read the University World News report: https://bit.ly/4bLXfKp . 1990 Institute Teachers Workshop on U.S.-China Relations Political campaigns have and continue to portray China through an adverse lens, affecting decades-long efforts to build constructive relations with national and global implications.On June 20, 2024, the 1990 Institute hosted a Teachers Workshop on "U.S.-China Relations: Untangling Campaign Rhetoric and Understanding Policy." APA Justice was one of the co-sponsors for the workshop.China scholars from Yale Law School, the University of Pennsylvania, and New York University’s Steinhardt School spoke at the workshop, providing context with an overview of the history of U.S.-China relations and then delved into issues affecting this global relationship during this election year, including trade, technology, and Taiwan.Watch a recording of the workshop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8AisB1NZYo (video 1:30:03). Read the curated resources and lesson plans in the 1990 Institute's Reference Library. WPR : Fears of China-owned Farmland in Wisconsin and US are Exaggerated According to Wisconsin Public Radio on July 10, 2024, lawmakers and citizens are raising concerns about Chinese companies purchasing U.S. land. But a new analysis paints a different picture of who owns and leases American farmland.Wisconsin is among more than two-thirds of all states that are considering or have enacted laws limiting or banning foreign ownership of land. A Wisconsin state statute restricts foreign private investment in land. Wendon Zhang , an assistant professor of economics with Cornell University, and two other researchers recently published an article — “ Mapping and Contextualizing Foreign Ownership and Leasing of U.S. Farmland ” — in the 2024 Journal of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. In an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio , Zhang said his recent research found that China and other “adversarial countries” hold zero acres of land in the “Lake Region” of the U.S., a space that includes Wisconsin. His team found that Canada, Denmark and Portugal are the top three holders of Wisconsin’s foreign-held land.“The bottom line is, if you’re concerned about significant Chinese holdings of agricultural land in Wisconsin, the evidence seems to say the contrary,” Zhang said.The U.S. has 3.4 percent of all privately-held agricultural land owned or long-term leased by foreign companies. That percentage in Wisconsin is 2.4 percent. Eighty-five percent of all land in Wisconsin that has a foreign interest is forest land. So it is not cropland, not pasture land. It is actually nearly 400,000 acres of forest land, predominantly with Canadian ownership. When you are looking at the adversary countries — China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela — based on the public records voluntarily reported to USDA, all these countries do not hold any agricultural land in Wisconsin.However, Zhang also found that more than 51 percent of Wisconsin’s foreign-held agricultural land is categorized without a prominent country code, meaning investors in a particular property come from multiple countries. Zhang said it’s possible China or other countries might hold shares small enough in some types of holdings to fall outside of what is reported to the government, leaving them underrepresented in USDA data.Read the Wisconsin Public Radio report: https://bit.ly/3S3bwvc . Read the journal article: https://bit.ly/3xTZq0N News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2024/07/15 APIAVote: RNC Convention, AAPI Briefing &Reception, Milwaukee, WI2024/07/16-17 National Science, Technology, and Security Roundtable - Capstone2024/07/17 C100 Career Ceiling Summit: Creating a Level Playing Field2024/07/25-28 Leadership Convention by NAAAP (National Association of Asian American Professionals) 2024/07/27-28 Asian American Pioneer Medal Symposium and Ceremony2024/08/04 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/08/05 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/08/19 DNC Convention, AAPI Briefing & Reception, Chicago, ILThe Community Calendar has moved. Visit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. Back View PDF July 15, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #51 "Is This Patriot Enough?"; National Day Of Action And Healing; Upcoming Events #51 "Is This Patriot Enough?"; National Day Of Action And Healing; Upcoming Events Back View PDF March 29, 2021 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #108 Happy New Year! We Are All Gang Chen; OSTP & DOJ; Op-Ed/Anming Hu/Simon Ang; HPD+TYW+ #108 Happy New Year! We Are All Gang Chen; OSTP & DOJ; Op-Ed/Anming Hu/Simon Ang; HPD+TYW+ Back View PDF January 24, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

August 26, 2018 On August 26, 2018, CBS 60 Minutes rebroadcast " Collateral Damage " nationwide with updates on the stories of Sherry Chen and Professor Xiaoxing Xi. Bill Whitaker reported on these and other innocent Chinese Americans wrongly accused of espionage-related crimes as the U.S. steps up the fight against Chinese theft of U.S. trade secrets and intellectual property. 60 Minutes Overtime, titled " The Spy Who Wasn't, " further describes that "[a]s innocent Chinese Americans are being accused as spies, the impact on them and their families lasts far beyond the legal fees and dropped charges." Sherry Chen and Professor Xiaoxing Xi are not the only Asian American victims of racial discrimination in U.S. history . Collateral damage for Chinese American scientists is also not a recent occurrence by chance. The Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers beginning in 1882. Subsequent amendments expanded the exclusion to all Asians. It was one of the most explicitly discriminatory laws based on race and national origin in U.S. history. The Chinese Exclusion Act and its amendments were not repealed until 1943. More on the Chinese Exclusion Act is available here . During the Second World War, about 120,000 Japanese were interned under Executive Order 9066, about two thirds of them were native-born American citizens. Most of them were uprooted from their homes in the West Coast and sent to relocation centers for suspicion of disloyalty to the United States. Previous Next The Profiling of Asian Americans

Newsletter - #309 TX New Year; Trump Order Blocked; Senate Hearing; Town Hall/Webinars/Training; Science #309 TX New Year; Trump Order Blocked; Senate Hearing; Town Hall/Webinars/Training; Science In This Issue #309 · Texas Officially Recognizes Lunar New Year · NYT : Temporary Order Blocks Trump's Directive · Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing on "Malign PRC Influence" · ACLU Town Hall; Webinars for Feds; Training for Non-Profits · Trump Administration Upends U.S. Science · News and Activities for the Communities Texas Officially Recognizes Lunar New Year On January 29, 2025, the Texas House of Representatives officially recognized Lunar New Year, highlighting its significance across various Asian cultures. Representative Gene Wu emphasized the inclusivity of the term "Lunar New Year," noting that the celebration is widely observed. Joining Wu, Representative Angie Chen Button shared traditions associated with the holiday, advising to wear one's best outfit, enjoy good food, and avoid working too hard on that day. Representative Hubert Vo highlighted the symbolism of the Year of the Snake, urging members to "adapt to these new times, renew our commitment to the people of Texas, and seek wisdom with all our endeavors." The resolution's adoption underscores Texas's recognition of its diverse cultural heritage and the importance of inclusivity. Resolution 52 was introduced by Reps. Gene Wu, Angie Chen Button, Hubert Vo, Salman Bhojani , and Suleman Lalani . Read the AsAmNews report: https://bit.ly/3Q3wfhj NYT : Temporary Order Blocks Trump's Directive According to the New York Times , on Januay 31, 2025, Judge John J. McConnell Jr. ordered the Trump administration to keep taxpayer dollars flowing to 22 Democratic-leaning states for all congressionally approved government programs, including those that could run afoul of President Trump ’s ideological tests. The 13-page decision is a temporary but significant victory for the Democratic attorneys general from those states and the District of Columbia, who sued the administration in U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. The order applies only to the states that filed the lawsuit. In that sense, it may create a divide between Democratic states that will continue to have funds flowing and Republican states that will still face uncertainty.The order requires the administration not to “pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate” taxpayer money already allocated by Congress. Judge McConnell did not specify an expiration date, which adds an obstacle to Mr. Trump’s plans to aggressively reshape the government around his own agenda. Another federal judge in Washington, D.C., issued an earlier administrative stay on Tuesday blocking the initial order from the White House Office of Management and Budget to freeze as much as $3 trillion in federal money while the review for ideological compliance continued. That stay was set to expire on February 3, 2025.The Trump administration has sent conflicting signals about the freeze, rescinding the memo that ordered it but signaling that the review of the ideological tilt of previously funded federal programs would continue.“This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze,” the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt , said on January 29, in a social-media post that was introduced as evidence in the lawsuit. She added that the president’s executive orders “on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.”Judge McConnell’s order countermanded that claim, calling out Leavitt’s statement and requiring the Trump administration not to reintroduce the freeze “under any other name or title.”Read the New York Times report: https://nyti.ms/3Cl0AEY Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing on "Malign PRC Influence" On January 30, 2025, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing titled "The Malign Influence of The People's Republic of China at Home and Abroad: Recommendation for Policy Makers." The Committee is chaired by Senator Jim Risch (R-ID). The Ranking Member is Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).Four witnesses testified at the hearing: · Peter Mattis , President, The Jamestown Foundation, Washington, D.C. ( testimony ) · Jeffrey Stoff ; Founder, Center for Research Security and Integrity, Herndon, VA ( testimony ) · Melanie Hart , Senior Director, Global China Hub, Atlantic Council, Washington, D.C. ( testimony ) · Jennifer Lind , Associate Professor of Government, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH ( testimony ) According to a video posted at https://bit.ly/3PZYY6M , the hearing covered a wide-ranging issues on the malign influence of China. Senator Risch was particularly focused on purported malign Chinese influence on American higher education campuses. He said at one point, "the Chinese students are not studying ancient Greek history, they're here with the STEMs and the national security issues and everything else. And each and everyone of them, whether they like it or not, is an agent of the Chinese Communist Party. When they go back, we all know they get debriefed and any information they've garnered here in the United States becomes the property of the Chinese Communist Party."This offensive statement perpetuates the harmful stereotype of Asians—specifically Chinese students—as perpetual foreigners by unfairly assuming disloyalty based solely on national origin, reinforcing xenophobic narratives that have historically led to discrimination, exclusion, and government overreach. It echoes past rhetoric about "non-traditional collectors," the "thousand grains of sand" theory, and "fifth columns"—all of which have repeatedly been debunked. While national security concerns are legitimate, addressing them requires evidence-based policies, not sweeping generalizations that stigmatize an entire group. The U.S. thrives on openness, academic exchange, and attracting global talent—values that must not be undermined by fear-driven rhetoric. As part of her comment at the hearing, Melanie Hart stated,"we need a scalpel for this and not a sledgehammer. It is in US national interest to keep the pipeline for student exchange open. We are in a pitched battle for global tech supremacy."As part of her written testimony, Jennifer Lind said, " let me conclude by noting that as we formulate our responses to Chinese malign influence operations, U.S. leaders should be thinking not only about this negotiation with Beijing, but also about whether our responses uphold our own values. Among our people number millions of Chinese American citizens. We find ourselves in a complex situation in that our adversary is already – at this early stage and in peacetime – harassing and coercing good Americans to work against their country on its behalf. "As U.S. leaders evaluate policy responses to Chinese operations, it’s helpful to think about similar situations in the history of U.S. national security policy, and to ask ourselves what we got right and wrong. U.S. leaders should have this conversation (as indeed the Committee is doing today) with members of America’s free and vibrant civil society: which sets us apart from authoritarian rivals and indeed is one of our country’s strengths. "In World War II, the U.S. government imprisoned Japanese American citizens in camps in violation of the U.S. Constitution. In the Cold War, the Red Scare of McCarthyism violated the rights and ruined the lives of many people. The aftermath of September 11, 2001 in some ways offers a more optimistic example. President George W. Bush made it crystal clear to Americans that we were not fighting a war against Islam, but against a terrorist group that had twisted Islam’s teachings. This kind of strong leadership was essential then and is essential today. "It is important for Americans to recognize that in the security competition with China lurk not only geopolitical dangers, but dangers to our people and values. As that competition becomes more intense, and as we get frustrated that an authoritarian society is exploiting our free one, while we protect ourselves against Chinese influence operations in the ways recommended here, we must also honor our own values. " ACLU Town Hall; Webinars for Feds; Training for Non-Profits WHAT: ACLU Town Hall: Fightinh Trump's First Attacks WHEN: February 4, 2025, 4:30 pm ET/1:30 pm PT WHERE: Virtual event HOST: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) DESCRIPTION: The town hall will focus on the ACLU's response to the Trump administration's very first actions in office, including attempts to end birthright citizenship, shut down the southern border to asylum seekers, ban health care for transgender youth, and dismantle the core principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The speakers will provide key insights into the ACLU's response to the Trump administration, from litigation to advocacy and grassroots organizing, as well as the crucial role states and cities have to play in protecting our freedoms. Importantly, more than just a briefing, the town hall will be a space for community and solidarity as we work to defend our democracy and advance the fight for justice and equality. REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/4hwsZa4 ***** WHAT: Federal Employee Explainer Series HOST: Partnership for Public Service WHERE: Webinar series WHEN: 1. February 4, 2025, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm ET. What if my employment status changes?Description : Understanding reductions in force (RIF), probationary periods and administrative leave 2. February 6, 2025, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm ET. What are my rights as an employee?Description : Understanding employee rights and appeals: adverse actions, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and termination of employment 3. February 10, 2025, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm ET. What are my whistleblower rights?Description: Learn about whistleblower and anti-retaliation laws 4. February 12, 2025, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm ET. How might my benefits be affected?Description: Examining the impact of the recent executive orders on federal employee benefits ABOUT THE SERIES: · All sessions will be hosted via Zoom webinar. · All sessions will be recorded and uploaded to YouTube channel . · You will not be required to share your email or name when you join the session. · Hosts and panelists will be on camera. Participants will not have the ability to show themselves on camera. · Chat will be disabled, but you will be able to send questions anonymously through the platform. REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/4gnnA3S ***** WHAT: Protecting Our Organizations: 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Compliance Virtual Training WHEN: February 18, 2025, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm ET WHERE: Virtual event HOST: Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AADELF), New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI), and Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP DESCRIPTION: The training will discuss important steps that 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organizations can take regarding tax-exempt compliance and other practices to better protect themselves from audits or investigations that interfere with their ability to defend vulnerable communities. The training is intended for leadership (e.g., Executive Directors and Board members) and finance staff. Please email cjiang@aaldef.org with any questions. REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/42FaITu Trump Administration Upends U.S. Science According to Science on January 30, 2025, President Donald Trump ’s new administration quickly issued a flurry of executive orders and other decisions, some with big implications for research and global health, sowing worry and confusion among many scientists. Grants Roller Coaster. The White House proposed but quickly rescinded an order to freeze large portions of federal spending, including research grants, based on alignment with Trump’s executive orders. The directive faced public backlash and was temporarily blocked by a judge. Despite its withdrawal, agencies must still comply with orders banning support for programs tied to “Marxist equity,” transgender issues, and Green New Deal policies. Critics warn this could politicize science and severely impact NIH-funded research. Banning Gender. A new executive order bans the use of “gender” in government publications, defines gender as strictly male or female, and prohibits funding for grants promoting “gender ideology.” Researchers fear NIH grants studying nonbinary health could be canceled. At least 400 such grants, totaling $235 million, are at risk, with nearly half focused on HIV/AIDS and many on transgender youth. DEI Demolition. An executive order ended government programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), halting university initiatives aimed at recruiting underrepresented minorities for the scientific workforce. U.S. research agencies canceled existing grants and future solicitations, impacting not only racial diversity but also support for disabled or economically disadvantaged researchers. The order labels DEI efforts as “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.” Some scientists plan to continue their work without using DEI language to avoid the crackdown, despite government calls for whistleblowers to report such actions. NIH Whiplash. The Trump administration imposed a halt on external communications, travel, purchases, and new experiments by NIH employees for a review, a move more extensive than similar past actions. Researchers were concerned this could disrupt in-house research, clinical trials, and the agency’s management of external grants. A few days later, acting Director Matthew Memoli outlined exceptions to the "pause," allowing for review and prioritization by the new team. AI Do-Over. Trump's executive order nullified Biden's October 2023 plan to promote safe and trustworthy artificial intelligence, arguing it would hinder innovation and impose excessive government control. Trump has directed aides to develop a new plan within 180 days to boost economic competitiveness, national security, and maintain U.S. leadership in AI. HIV Help at Risk. Trump's administration paused all foreign assistance for an 85-day review, potentially disrupting the timely distribution of lifesaving anti-HIV drugs to 21 million people in 55 countries through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. This program relies on contractors from the U.S. and other nations to manage funds.Read the Science report: https://bit.ly/3Q23EsG ***** According to Wired on January 31, 2025, the damage to federal medical research is already done. The Trump administration’s freeze on federal funding for research has disrupted vital medical studies, including clinical trials and grants for diseases like cancer and diabetes. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), which disperses $48 billion annually, has halted grant applications and reviews, leading to fears of a mass brain drain as researchers seek stable employment. While the freeze might end soon, the damage, including potential long-term impacts on public health and innovation, is already evident. This pause could undermine the U.S.'s global leadership in medical research.Read the Wired report: https://bit.ly/42DbdgV News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2025/02/04 ACLU Town Hall: Fighting Trump's First Attacks2025/02/04 Federal Employees: What if my employment status changes?2025/02/06 Federal Employees: What are my rights as an employee?2025/02/10 Federal Employees: What are my whistleblower rights?2025/02/12 Federal Employees: How might my benefits be affected?2025/02/13 China Initiative: Impacts and Implications2025/02/13-15 2025 AAAS Annual Meeting2025/02/16 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting 2025/02/18 Protecting Our Organizations: 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Compliance Virtual Training2025/02/23 World Premier of "Quixotic Professor Qiu" with Xiaoxing Xi2025/03/02 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/03/03 APA Justice Monthly Meeting Visit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. Chinese American Family Lost in DC Plane Crash According to the New York Times on February 1, 2025, Kaiyan Mao , Yu Zhou , and their 16-year-old son Edward , a promising 16-year-old figure skater, a rising figure skating talent, were among those killed in the mid-air collision over the Potomac River. The Northern Virginia family had been deeply involved in Edward’s academic and skating pursuits, leaving an immense void in their community. Edward had been returning from a U.S. Figure Skating camp when the crash claimed 64 passengers and three crew members, including his close friend Cory Haynos and his parents. As investigators search for answers, Fairfax mourns, with tributes filling Edward’s school and home. His coach, Kalle Strid , remembered the family's unwavering support, saying, “They were not over the top, but they were always there.” 3. China Initiative: Impacts and Implications WHAT: “CHINA INITIATIVE:” Law, Science & U.S.-China Relations under the Trump Administration WHEN: February 13, 2025, 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm ET WHERE: Lunch Talk, WCC; 2012 Classroom, Harvard Law School HOST: China Law Association, Harvard Law School DESCRIPTION: The "China Initiative," launched under the Trump administration, led to investigations targeting Chinese American scientists, including the high-profile case of MIT Professor Gang Chen. As discussions about its potential revival emerge, this talk will explore the initiative's far-reaching legal and social consequences, its impact on the scientific community, and what its return could mean for U.S.-China relations. Join us to engage with leading experts on this timely and crucial issue. Lunch will be served. Sponsored by China Law Association. For more information, please contact Ying Zhou at yzhou@jd25.law.harvard.edu . REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/42FaITu # # # 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 . Back View PDF February 4, 2025 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Nearly two years later, a 21-year-old Texas man who attempted to kill an Asian man and his young child has pleaded guilty to federal hate-crime charges. February 24, 2022 On February 24, 2022, the Washington Post published Texas man accused of attacking Asian family over racist coronavirus fears pleads guilty to hate-crime charges . A 21-year-old Texas man, Jose Gomez III, who attempted to kill an Asian man and his young child because he thought they were Chinese — and therefore, he said, responsible for the coronavirus pandemic — has pleaded guilty to federal hate-crime charges. He slashed the 6-year-old boy’s face. “The blade entered millimeters from [the boy’s] right eye, split his right ear, and wrapped around to the back of his skull,” prosecutors said. Gomez then stabbed a White employee who had intervened to stop the attack. Justice Department officials said that while Gomez was pinned down after being subdued, he yelled to the family, “Get out of America!” Gomez later told local authorities that he had never seen the father before but had perceived him as a “threat” because he supposedly “came from the country who started spreading the disease around.” He admitted to trying to kill the father and the 6-year-old in an effort to “stop the threat.” Gomez pleaded guilty to three counts of committing a hate crime and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a total of $750,000 in fines. Nearly two years later, a 21-year-old Texas man who attempted to kill an Asian man and his young child has pleaded guilty to federal hate-crime charges. Previous Next Texas man accused of attacking Asian family over racist coronavirus fears pleads guilty to hate-crime charges