Newsletter - #270 08/05 Monthly Meeting; Franklin Tao; NCAPA Policy Platform; "Stop Woke Act" Stopped+ #270 08/05 Monthly Meeting; Franklin Tao; NCAPA Policy Platform; "Stop Woke Act" Stopped+ In This Issue #270 · 2024/08/05 APA Justice Monthly Meeting · 2024/07/23 Capitol Hill Press Conference on Professor Franklin Tao · NCAPA 2024 Policy Platform · Part of Florida’s "Stop WOKE Act" Permanently Blocked · News and Activities for the Communities 2024/08/05 APA Justice Monthly Meeting The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held via Zoom on Monday, August 5, 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: · Anne S. Chao , Co-founder, Friends of the National Asian Pacific American Museum; Program Manager, Houston Asian American Archive, Rice University · Franklin Tao , former Professor of Kansas University, Victim of China Initiative; Hong Peng , Wife of Professor Tao · Ron Barrett-Gonzalez , Committee A Co-Chair, Kansas Conference of the American Association of University Professors Sonal Shah , Chief Commissioner, President's Advisory Commission on AANHPI, will join us in a future meeting.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 . *****Anne S. Chao is a modern Chinese historian, and currently an Adjunct Lecturer in the Humanities at Rice University, and co-founder and manager of the Houston Asian American Archive at Rice University. She is a co-founder of the FRIENDS of the National Asian Pacific American Museum , whose goal is to establish a national AAPI museum on the nation's Mall in Washington DC. Anne serves on the boards of the Houston Ballet, Wellesley Colleges, the National Archives Foundation, the Dunhuang Foundation among others. Ann will update us on her activities.Professor Franklin Tao was the first academic scientist indicted under the China Initiative. It took him almost 5 years to clear all 10 charges against him, the last of which was overturned by the 10th Circuit Appeals Court on July 11, 2024. None of the charges were related to espionage or the transfer of sensitive information to China. Franklin and his wife Hong will share their thoughts and remarks about their experience and plans. The Kansas Conference of the AAUP is a collection of individual chapters from a variety of institutions of higher education from around the state of Kansas. All of the officers are volunteers with many being trained at the national level in University Governance. The Conference regularly handles issues regarding denial of due process, governance, tenure adjudication and dismissal. With more than 400 AAUP members state-wide, the Conference is the only state-wide body representing all faculty members. Dr. Ron Barrett-Gonzalez will describe the work of KCAAUP. 2024/07/23 Capitol Hill Press Conference on Professor Franklin Tao On July 23, 2024, a press conference was held on Capitol Hill following Professor Tao’s recent victory in a federal court appeal. "Unfortunately, I was one of the earliest scientists arrested under the China Initiative. More than 4 years, I was indicted for 10 felony counts. Thanks to my lawyers, we fought the charges. Now, we have finally won. But this victory is bittersweet. I have lost almost everything. My academic career … has been destroyed," Professor Tao said at the press conference. “It has been 1,786 days. Each of those days was lived with fear and desperation,” he said of the period from his arrest to a US appeal court tossing out his conviction on July 11.The 52-year-old chemical engineer said his immediate hope was to return to the University of Kansas, where he was a tenured associate professor before the school fired him after he was convicted of four counts in 2022.Tao’s lawyer, Peter Zeidenberg , said he represented dozens of individuals like Tao who “were caught up and charged in multiple felonies for civil paperwork errors in their grant applications”. “They’re not stealing money. They’re not diverting money. They’re not sharing secrets with anyone who isn’t allowed,” he said. Rep. Judy Chu , Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, also spoke at the press conference, "we are at a critical moment for our nation and our community. It is because Chinese Americans, and more broadly Asian Americans, have had target on their back, scapegoated for public health crises, economic downturn, and now national security concerns. So we recognize the full realization of justice with Dr. Tao today, but we must remain vigilant. No American should have to live in fear that their entire life may be turned upside down due to wrongful accusations, unwarranted racial profiling, or ugly xenophobia. There is no room for this prejudice in our government or our country." In recent months, lawmakers and advocacy groups have pushed back against efforts to bring back the China Initiative, including one in a House Republican funding bill that was ultimately removed. Rep. Judy Chu said that she and her team were “constantly on [their] watch” for such efforts.“With few convictions and multiple dismissals, the China Initiative has tragically damaged the lives and careers of too many innocent Americans and has actually hurt the nation’s ability to lead in global scientific research and innovation,” said the Committee of 100, a non-partisan organization of prominent Chinese Americans.Watch the report by Sinovision: https://bit.ly/46p8is4 (video 5:16). Read the South China Post report: https://bit.ly/3zTJk7U NCAPA 2024 Policy Platform The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) has published its 2024 Policy Platform. The 127-page report covers eight policy priorities: · AA and NHPI Visibility · Civil Rights · Education · Empowering AA and NHPI Workers · Health · Housing and Economic Justice · Immigration · Tech and Telecom Recommendations under Civil Rights include · Require law enforcement agencies to conduct cultural competency and anti-profiling training, improve government monitoring of their activities with respect to race and other protected classes, and create effective complaint resolution processes. · Prevent the return of the Department of Justice’s defunct “China Initiative” and any future iterations of such programs and policies · Engage directly with impacted members of the Asian American scholar community, and ensure that due processes are in place both within federal agencies and academic institutions to protect the rights of Asian Americans – particularly those of Chinese descent – who have been subjected to heightened scrutiny as US-China tensions worsen. · Oppose discriminatory land laws introduced at the state and federal levels, with a specific focus on bills that target individuals based on their national origin, race, ethnicity, or color. (also under Housing and Economic Justice) · Ensure that surveillance authorities are not overbroad, overused, and abused to the detriment to vulnerable communities of color. This includes opposing the reauthorization of Sec. 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act without comprehensive reforms, and preventing any future surveillance authorities that lack appropriate checks and balances against prejudice and bias against a person based on their race, ethnicity, national origin or religious background. Recommendations under AA and NHPI Visibility include · Invest in and make public commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across government and private sector hiring. Oppose efforts to dismantle existing programs designed to encourage diverse workforces The 2024 Policy Platform is available at https://bit.ly/3yiCM2k . The NCAPA platform website is located at https://ncapaplatform.org/ Part of Florida’s "Stop WOKE Act" Permanently Blocked According to multiple media reports, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued a final order to overturn a Florida law known as “ Stop WOKE Act ” that was pushed by Governor Ron DeSantis and Republican lawmakers in 2022 as part of the war on “woke ideology.” It attempted to limit diversity and race-based discussions in private workplaces.In August 2022, Judge Walker issued an injunction that blocked Florida from enforcing parts of the law prohibiting mandatory workplace activities and trainings that suggest a person is privileged or oppressed based on their race, color, sex or national origin. Judge Walker said in a 44-page ruling that the "Stop WOKE Act" violates the First Amendment and is impermissibly vague. He said the law, as applied to diversity, inclusion and bias training in businesses, turns the First Amendment "upside down" because the state is barring speech by prohibiting discussion of certain concepts in training programs. He also refused to issue a stay that would keep the law in effect during any appeal by the state.Judge Walker's decision was upheld by an appeals court in March 2024. His latest order makes his temporary injunction permanent.The challenge to the law was brought in June 2022 by several Florida businesses, represented by Protect Democracy , which describes itself as a “nonpartisan, anti-authoritarianism group.” Shalini Goel Agarwal , counsel for Protect Democracy, said in a post on X, “(This is) a powerful reminder that the First Amendment cannot be warped to serve the interests of elected officials. Censoring business owners from speaking in favor of ideas that politicians don’t like is a move ripped straight from the authoritarian playbook.”Judge Walker also has separately issued a preliminary injunction against part of the law that would restrict the way race-related concepts can be taught in universities. A panel of the appeals court held a hearing in that case in June. 2024/07/29 CNN: Judge permanently blocks part of Florida’s ‘Stop WOKE Act’ 2024/07/27 Fox News: Judge permanently blocks part of Florida's 'Stop WOKE Act' as unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds 2024/07/27 Tallahassee Democrat: Federal judge permanently blocks part of Florida's Stop WOKE Act, pushed by Gov. DeSantis 2024/07/27 CBS News: Federal judge takes final step to overturn Florida's 'Stop WOKE Act' News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2024/08/04 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/08/05 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/08/19 DNC Convention, AAPI Briefing & Reception, Chicago, IL2024/09/01 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/09/09 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/09/19-20 AANHPI Unity SummitThe Community Calendar has moved. Visit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. TMAC 2024 Community Contribution Award Ceremony On July 26, 2024, the Texas Multicultural Advocacy Coalition (TMAC) hosted the 2024 Community Contribution Award Ceremony. The event was held at the STV Global Theatre of the Southern News Group in Houston, Texas. Wea Lee , Treasurer of TMAC and Chairman of Southern News Group, opened the ceremony. Congressman Al Green presented a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition to The Committee of 100 and its Interim President Cindy Tsai in honor of their service to the community. 3. APIAVote: Recap of Presidential Town Hall On July 13, 2024, APIAVote held a Presidential Town Hall in Philadelphia, featuring speakers including Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris , Congresswoman Judy Chu , Congressman Ted Lieu , Congresswoman Jill Tokuda , Congresswoman Mazie Hirono , Philadelphia Councilmember Dr. Nina Ahmed , anchor & reporter for NBC10 Frances Wang , actress and activist Tamlyn Tomita, and others. Watch video of the event: https://bit.ly/3WGMIfv (2:35:15). A photo album of the event is available at: https://bit.ly/3SravNU . Back View PDF August 1, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #120 Sign On Letter; 3/7 Meeting Summary; Tao Trial; Upcoming Events; One Year After #120 Sign On Letter; 3/7 Meeting Summary; Tao Trial; Upcoming Events; One Year After Back View PDF March 24, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #215 C100 Visit; Senate Hearing on NIH Director; AAPI Voters Targeted; Andy Kim; AAUC Hub #215 C100 Visit; Senate Hearing on NIH Director; AAPI Voters Targeted; Andy Kim; AAUC Hub In This Issue #215 C100 Delegation Visits Washington DC Senate Hearing on NIH Director Nomination Asian Americans Say AAPI Voters are Targeted by New Laws Criminalizing Election Assistance Rep. Andy Kim Runs for New Jersey Senate Seat More on AAUC Asian American Pacific Islander Hub News and Activities for the Communities C100 Delegation Visits Washington DC A Committee of 100 (C100) delegation visited Washington DC on September 28-29, 2023. Highlights of the trip included meetings with · Rep. Rick Larsen, Co-Chair, U.S.-China Working Group · Daniel Kritenbrink, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of State · Katherine Tai, U.S. Trade Representative · Erika Moritsugu, Deputy Assistant to the President and AANHPI Senior Liaison; Sarah Beran, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs, National Security Council; and Jenny Yang, Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council for Racial Justice & Equity at the White House · Stapleton Roy, Former U.S. Ambassador to China and Robert Daly, Director of the Wilson Center's Kissinger Institute on China and the United States · Jill Murphy, Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence, Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) · Senior Staff to U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell On September 28, C100 hosted a reception celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival with the co-hosts the US-Asia Institute and partners the Council on Korean Americans and the US-China Business Council on September 28, 2023. Joining the delegation in the reception were Congressman Rick Larsen, Congressional staffers, diplomats, and leaders in AAPI communities. C100 also co-hosted with the National Museum of Asian Art a private viewing of the exhibit: Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings on September 29, 2023. Read about the C100 visit and view a photo album at: https://bit.ly/3LYkTtk Senate Hearing on NIH Director Nomination On Wednesday, October 18, 2023, The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will hold a hearing on the nomination of Dr. Monica Bertagnolli to be the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The hearing starts at 10 am ET in 430 Dirksen Senate Office Building, 50 Constitution Ave NE, Washington, DC. There will be no video broadcast for this event. Dr. Bertagnolli began work as the 16th director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) on October 3, 2022. https://bit.ly/4039K0c According to a Science report titled " Pall of Suspicion " on March 23, 2023, NIH’s “China initiative” led by Dr. Michael Lauer has upended hundreds of lives and destroyed scores of academic careers. NIH sent emails in 2018 asking some 100 institutions to investigate allegations that one or more of their faculty had violated NIH policies designed to ensure federal funds were being spent properly. Most commonly, NIH claimed a researcher was using part of a grant to do work in China through an undisclosed affiliation with a Chinese institution. Four years later, 103 of those scientists—some 42% of the 246 targeted in the letters, most of them tenured faculty members—had lost their jobs.In contrast to the very public criminal prosecutions of academic scientists under the now-defunct "China Initiative" launched in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump to thwart Chinese espionage, NIH’s version has been conducted behind closed doors.NIH’s data also make clear who has been most affected. Some 81% of the scientists cited in the NIH letters identify as Asian, and 91% of the collaborations under scrutiny were with colleagues in China.NIH is by far the largest funder of academic biomedical research in the United States, and some medical centers receive hundreds of millions of dollars annually from the agency. So when senior administrators heard Lauer say a targeted scientist “was not welcome in the NIH ecosystem,” they understood immediately what he meant—and that he was expecting action.Read the Science report: https://bit.ly/3ZbJL4B Asian Americans Say AAPI Voters are Targeted by New Laws Criminalizing Election Assistance According to the Milwaukee Independent on October 13, 2023, for a century, the League of Women Voters in Florida formed bonds with marginalized residents by helping them register to vote and, in recent years, those efforts have extended to the growing Asian American and Asian immigrant communities. But a state law signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in May would have forced the group to alter its strategy. The legislation would have imposed a $50,000 fine on third-party voter registration organizations if the staff or volunteers who handle or collect the forms have been convicted of a felony or are not U.S. citizens. A federal judge blocked the provision this week. But its passage reflects the effort by DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, and other GOP leaders to crack down on access to the ballot. Florida is one of at least six states, including Georgia and Texas, where Republicans have enacted voting rules since 2021 that created or boosted criminal penalties and fines for individuals and groups that assist voters. Several of those laws are also facing legal challenges. In the meantime, voting rights advocates are being forced to quickly adapt to the changing environment. Before the ruling in Florida, for instance, the League of Women Voters started using online links and QR codes for outreach. It removed the personal connection between its workers and communities and replaced it with digital tools that are likely to become a technological barrier.In states where penalties are getting tougher, the developments have sowed fear and confusion among groups that provide translators, voter registration help, and assistance with mail-in balloting — roles that voting rights advocates say are vital for Asian communities in particular. In a number of states, language barriers already hamper access to the ballot for a population that has been growing rapidly. Asian, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander populations grew 35% between 2010 and 2020, according to Census data. The new laws in mostly Republican-led states are seen by many voting groups as another form of voter suppression. “It’s specifically targeting limited English proficiency voters, and that includes AAPI voters,” said Meredyth Yoon , litigation director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Atlanta.In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill in June that raises the penalty for illegal voting to a felony, upping it from a misdemeanor charge that was part of a sweeping elections law passed two years earlier. Alice Yi , who is Chinese American, used to help translate in Austin, Texas, but said the new law isn’t clear about whether good faith mistakes will be criminalized and worries that she could get into trouble by offering assistance.But voting rights supporters like Ashley Cheng — also in Austin — remain committed to reaching Asian voters, despite the threat of jail time. Cheng, the founding president of Asian Texans for Justice, recalls discovering her mother was not listed in the voter rolls when she tried to help her vote in 2018. They never found out why she wasn’t properly registered. Advocates say this highlights flaws in the system and illustrates how volunteers are essential to overcoming them. James Woo , the communications director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, said he won’t even get his parents a drink of water while helping them with their ballots. “It’s simple things like that, which would have been like a conversation starter or just like helping them throughout the process, might be viewed as like something illegal I’m doing,” he said.Read the Milwaukee Independent report: https://bit.ly/3QfI44U Rep. Andy Kim Runs for New Jersey Senate Seat Rep. Andy Kim has announced his candidacy to become New Jersey’s next Senator. He would challenge incumbent Bob Menendez in the Democratic Senate primary next year. His entrance into the race came one day after federal prosecutors unsealed a staggering indictment against Menendez. Rep. Kim spoke at the APA Justice September 2021 monthly meeting. Prior to serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Kim worked as a career public servant. He served at USAID, the Pentagon, the State Department, the White House National Security Council, and in Afghanistan as an advisor to Generals Petraeus and Allen . Congressman Kim is a member of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC).Read Rep. Kim's remarks at the APA Justice September 2021 monthly meeting: https://bit.ly/3kg687M . Watch his remarks in video: https://bit.ly/3ki3jmI (48:00 starting at 15:07). More on AAUC Asian American Pacific Islander Hub On October 13, 2023, Dr. S.K. Lo , Founder and President of Asian American Unity Coalition (AAUC), provided additional information about its Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Hub. The first phase (beta version) of the AAPI Hub was launched at the AAUC National Unity Summit in September. The goal of the Hub is to connect different AAPI communities with shared information to empower each other through collaboration.The AAPI Hub now contains shared information that includes census data from previous work done by the ESRI nonprofit program team as the first prototype in 2020. The census data includes voting powerbase down to each congressional district showing different AAPI community representations. It can also be shown down to precinct level as the map is expanded. Different maps show racial representation of each state, county and district. However, these maps have not been updated.The work done in 2022-2023 mainly focused on developing a comprehensive database for the AAPI communities. It was decided that the AAPI communities would be best described by the nonprofit organizations that many belong and that public information are available. Currently the AAPI Hub displays nearly 15,000 AAPI nonprofit organizations in all 50 states with administrative records data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The beta version of the AAPI Hub has these known limitations: 1. Incomplete data on all AAPI nonprofits which do not contain any of our search words that are commonly used to describe AAPI. To overcome this, AAUC relies on prior knowledge or crowd sourcing. 2. IRS data is updated monthly which needs to be updated correspondingly in the AAPI Hub. AAUC needs to develop a way to compare the filtered data with the new updated information using machine logic then manual determination. 3. Not all organizations have websites or Facebook pages or mission statements listed in their 990-return form. Often, AAUC can find the website through online search manually. The AAUC write-up also outlines the future directions of the AAPI Hub. Visit the AAUC AAPI Hub website: https://bit.ly/3FbmpEu . Read the AAUC write-up here: https://bit.ly/48SOGNI . Contact Dr. Lo at: sklo@asamunitycoalition.org News and Activities for the Communities 1. Community Calendar The APA Justice Community Calendar is located on the front page of the APA Justice website at https://www.apajustice.org/ . Upcoming Events: 2023/10/15 State Legislature 101 Training 2023/10/15 Rep. Gene Wu's Weekly Town Hall Meeting 2023/10/18 Senate Nomination Hearing of NIH Director 2023/10/22 Rep. Gene Wu's Weekly Town Hall Meeting 2023/10/25-26 President's Advisory Commission Meeting 2023/10/29 Rep. Gene Wu's Weekly Town Hall Meeting Visit https://bit.ly/45KGyga for event details. 2. 2023/11/16: C100 Forum Debate WHAT: Hybrid in-person and virtual event: "Has the Chinese Economy Slowed Down Permanently, Temporarily, or It Depends?" WHEN: Thursday, November 16, from 5:00pm - 6:15pm Eastern Time WHERE: J Conference Bryant Park, 109 W 39th St, New York, NY 10018 HOST: The Committee of 100 MODERATOR: Peter Young, CEO and President, Young & Partners, C100 member SPEAKERS: · Stephen Roach, Professor, Yale University · Dan H. Rosen, Partner and Co-Founder, Rhodium Group · Shang-Jin Wei, Professor, Columbia University DESCRIPTION: Will the world’s second-largest economy and a critical part of global trade and manufacturing rebound with a strong manufacturing cost position, large investments in technology and the advanced education of millions of students, a potential surge in consumer spending, and continued investments in infrastructure by the government? Or, will high levels of debt, an overbuilt real estate sector, increasing government controls of the economy and technology, a shrinking population, and growing dissatisfaction on the part of those in the 18 to 30 year age bracket stifle growth on a long-term basis? REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/3M0XcRd Back View PDF October 16, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #178 4/17 Roundtable Highlights; Students Denied Visas; A Crisis of Trust; Community News #178 4/17 Roundtable Highlights; Students Denied Visas; A Crisis of Trust; Community News In This Issue #178 2023/04/17 Roundtable on a National Media Alert Network Chinese Students Still Denied Visas Under Trump Immigration Order NYT Opinion: America, China and a Crisis of Trust Activities and News for the Communities 2023/04/17 Roundtable on a National Media Alert Network Asian American and immigrant communities are in turbulent times again, facing enormous cross-cutting challenges, including but not limited to: Legalizing discrimination at the state and federal levels Return of the Red Scare and McCarthyism Warrantless surveillance Mini "China Initiative" conducted by the National Institutes of Health Cross-border profiling, interrogation, harassment, and denial of entry Continuing fallout from the now-defunct "China Initiative" Collateral damage from the deteriorating U.S.-China relations Anti-Asian hate and violence On April 17, 2023, the Inaugural Roundtable continued the conversation to survey the landscape and established the purpose and functions of a national media alert network and strike teams to (a) assertively address immediate xenophobic challenges to our freedoms and (b) longer-term proactive actions to ensure fairness and justice for all, including the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) and immigrant communities. As moderator, Jeremy Wu outlined the ground rules, logistics, and the purpose and goals of a dynamic process to start the Roundtable. Paula Madison , adviser and affectionately called the "conductor of the symphony," opened with remarks about her fear and concern of Texas Senate Bill 147 that would cease the constitutional rights of Chinese and other nationalities to own land in the states of Texas. It reminded her of the Chinese exclusion Act, but it did not appear in national media.As a U.S. citizen born in Jamaica, raised in Harlem, and her maternal grandfather was a Hakka from Southern China, Paula became a very successful media journalist and editor, executive, and businesswoman. Paula straddles both cultures and races. She brings to the Roundtable her perspectives of how and why the AAPI communities can better make use of the news media and similar institutions for us to tell our stories effectively, for us to assertively create our own narrative, and for us to proactively challenge the untruths that are told about us.The concept of a Roundtable is to bring together national and local community leaders to regularly and frequently have conversations with various media to build a trustworthy relationship so that we are seen as American citizens and residents who contribute to the American society, not to be targeted or discriminated. The second prong is to develop local, regional, and national strike teams to appear in print media, television, and digital platforms and speak with knowledge and conviction about the AAPI communities and matters. About 100 organizations and individuals spoke or participated in the Roundtable. A written summary is being prepared at this time. Town Hall Meeting on Media Training and Strike Teams On April 16, 2023, Paula Madison spoke at Town Hall Meeting #6 with Texas State Representative Gene Wu , leading the discussions and providing guidance for media training and strike teams with Florida AAPI leaders in short time. Watch the video: https://bit.ly/41qzNyh (1:24:26) Discriminatory Land Bills in Florida and Texas 2023/04/22 WE WON'T GO BACK! Statewide Civil Rights Protest WHAT : Protest against the Texas Legislature quietly taking away the CIVIL RIGHTS that our communities have fought so hard to earn WHEN : Saturday, April 22, 2023, 12 pm ET WHERE: Antioch Park, 554 Clay St, Houston, TX 77002 DESCRIPTIOON: Join members of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, local elected officials, and community leaders for a march against efforts to turn back the clock on decades of progress on diversity, equity, and inclusion & roll back civil rights of minority communities across the State of Texas. Meet at Antioch Park (554 Clay) and march to Hermann Square at City Hall. Choose your transportation (rail, bus, carpool, Uber, walk, bike, park and walk, etc.) and bring your signs, and march safely and legally along sidewalks, obeying traffic signs, etc., to reach City Hall for a free speech rally.2023/04/20 Herald-Tribune : 'Terrified': Chinese protesters tell Florida lawmakers bill threatens their 'American dream' . There were tears. There were yells. There were more than 100 people who signed up to testify against a bill they say will discriminate against Florida’s Chinese community. Most of them, a mix of Chinese Americans and visa and green card holders, came from around the state to protest at the Capitol Wednesday, driving, bussing and even flying in. Echo King , from China herself and an Orlando immigration attorney, says such public demonstrations within her community are rare. It’s a testament, she said, to how worried they are over the legislation. 2023/04/20 Florida Phoenix : Chinese-Americans fear hate crimes and discrimination as FL legislation heads for final vote . Zheng Dauble says she has lived in the United States for 25 years and loves the country, but recently, when she was shopping with her 10-year-old boy, she heard someone yelling at her: “Go back to China.” “I never meet this person,” she says. “The only reason is because I am Asian.”¶ Zheng Dauble was one of dozens of Chinese-Americans who came to the state Capitol this week to testify against a legislative proposal (HB 1355) that would ban the sale of agriculture land and property within 20 miles of military bases and other critical infrastructure facilities to interests tied to the Chinese government and six other “countries of concern.”¶ The Chinese-Americans who signed up to speak against the measure said it could lead to more hate crimes and discrimination against their community. “I’m 8 years old,” said Manman Chen . “I want to ask a question: Did Chinese people do something bad to Florida? Why does the government not allow them to purchase property. I only get punishment when I do something wrong.”2023/04/19 AsAmNews : Florida moving to ban Chinese from owning land . A coalition of Asian American groups rallied outside the Florida state capitol today to oppose bills that would place restrictions on Chinese buying land in the state.¶ The proposal which has already passed the state senate unanimously is now moving its way through the assembly where it has already won the support of the Appropriations Committee, reports Florida Politics.¶ The protest held outside the House State Affairs Committee this morning declared the bills discriminatory and compared it to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Alien Land Laws of 1913, 1920 and 1923.¶ “These two bills, revived out of the coffins of the notorious “Alien Land Laws” and “Chinese Exclusion Act” in American history are unconstitutional and pose significant threats to the livelihoods of the AAPI community,” said the coalition in a statement.¶ It compared SB264 and HB1355 to “what has happened during World War II to Japanese Americans and at the time of the McCarthyism.” ¶ The coalition said the legislators failed to remember that many immigrants fled China to get away from communism. They suggested the bills will fuel more anti-Asian hate and lead to more violence against Asian Americans.2023/04/19 KERA News : Bills aimed at foreign nationals reminiscent of US' racist past, critics say . A bill headed to the Texas Senate floor would bar citizens from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia — and businesses with ties to those countries — from buying property in Texas. Senate Bill 147 is just one of several bills filed this legislative session aimed at immigrants and foreign nationals. And that has members of these communities worried.¶ Lily Trieu , executive director of Asian Texans for Justice, says bills aimed at Chinese nationals, or any nationality for that matter, are discriminatory and could cause irreversible harm. “Here's the reality. The reality is the average Texan cannot look at an Asian American and know without a doubt whether they're Chinese or Korean or Vietnamese or Japanese, etc.,” Trieu said.¶ Trieu’s concerned about what could happen if this bill ultimately becomes law. Even if it doesn’t, she and others in the Asian American community believe the damage has already been done.2023/04/18 Spectrum News 13 : Asian-American group rallies against bill regulating foreign control of land . An Orlando group is making their way to Tallahassee to protest House Bill 1355, which would prohibit foreign countries, specifically China, from purchasing agricultural land.¶ The Orlando Chinese Professionals Association is opposing the bill, stating it is harmful to their community and the Florida economy. Echo King , an immigration lawyer who immigrated from China 20 years ago, said the bill is discriminatory and could result in more hate crimes against Asians,¶ "I’ve helped hundreds of immigrants become U.S. citizens. I know their story. They are real, they are nice people, and they all contribute to this country," said King. King expressed concern that good businesses and people could be penalized for the actions of bad actors, and she hopes that by speaking out, her voice and those in her community will be heard. "We think it’s extremely discriminatory. It’ll affect all Asian communities," said King.2023/04/18 Press Release: NAEH Media Group Announces The Coming Public Protest Against The Florida SB264/HB 1355 On April 19, 2023 . On April 19, 2023, a public protest is set to take place in Tallahassee against the Florida SB 264/HB 1355, a bill that has caused widespread concern and outrage among Floridians.¶ The bill targets Chinese residents in the state, singling them out for exclusion and depriving them of their property rights. Representatives of Floridian chambers and business organizations, as well as Florida residents from all walks of life, are expected to participate in the protest.¶ The event is likely to be a significant demonstration of opposition to the bill and a powerful statement against discrimination and xenophobia. 3. CALDA Plans of Legal Action.Clay Zhu , Founder of Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance (CALDA), spoke during the Roundtable on its single role to sue the Government for its systemic discrimination against Chinese Americans. CALDA is currently working on two issues.¶ The first is the alien land bills that have been discussed in Texas, Florida, and South Carolina. A legal team is being assembled. A lawsuit will be filled as soon the bills are passed, seeking permanent injunctions against these bills.¶ The second is related to the "Chinese Initiative," specifically a class action lawsuit on behalf of the Chinese American scientists affected by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as reported by the Science Magazine . A survey questionnaire has been to the affected professors to get a better understanding of the possible plaintiffs, claims, and damages.¶ CALDA has also started a lawsuit in Washington DC based on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which is expected to provide behind-the-scene information from the Department of Justice and in need of media attention and legal actions. 4. Asian American Journalists Association Media Institute. According to the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), the media needs more diverse sources and stories. AAJA Media Institute coaches underrepresented voices to tell their stories and share their expertise with the media. Since the inaugural workshop in 2014, AAJA Media Institute alumni have gone on to appear on local and national television, including C-SPAN, MSNBC and NBC’s Today Show. They have published op-eds. They have been featured as thought leaders and expert sources in major news publications. Chinese Students Still Denied Visas Under Trump Immigration Order According to a report by Forbes on April 11, 2023, U.S. consular officers are still denying visas for Chinese graduate students based on the Chinese university they attended. The Biden administration has continued the denials under a proclamation issued by Donald Trump in May 2020. Research and experience have shown the proclamation is costly to the United States and those affected by the student visa denials. The proclamation has upended the lives of Tian Su and her longtime partner John Murray . Tian is a fifth-year Ph.D. student focusing on artificial intelligence in transportation. She had been in America since 2018. After not returning to the country for several years, Tian decided to visit family in China and renew her visa. She left the United States on March 2, 2023. Shortly after, the U.S. embassy in Beijing denied her visa back to the United States. She cannot return to complete her Ph.D. The stated reason for the denial was presidential proclamation 10043 (PP10043) on the “Suspension of Entry as Nonimmigrants of Certain Students and Researchers from the People’s Republic of China.” The proclamation does not apply to undergraduate students. The proclamation denies a visa to someone who studied at a particular university whether or not any negative information exists about the individual. To put the proclamation in perspective: If another country had a similar policy, it might deny visas to Americans who studied at U.S. universities that “support” a strategy or actions the foreign government finds objectionable or that received funding from the U.S. Department of Defense. More than 900 U.S. universities received DOD funding in 2006, according to a 2007 report, but U.S. students attending those universities rarely have a connection to the U.S. military.In 2021, U.S. consular officers refused 1,964 visas for Chinese nationals due to the presidential proclamation, according to the State Department. Statistics are not yet available for FY 2022 or FY 2023, but any number would underestimate the proclamation’s impact since students and researchers who expect to be refused a visa would be unlikely to apply in the first place.A university official said the Trump administration hoped to punish Chinese institutions, even though it is clear the primary impact is on individual students and researchers. The official said one scholar denied a visa under the policy earned a Ph.D. from a U.S. university and returned to China to teach, but was denied a visa back to the United States because his master’s degree was from the Harbin Institute of Technology. That school is listed as “very high risk/top secret” on the Australia-based China Defense Universities Tracker , a source the U.S. government has used to deny visas.John Murray believes Tian may have been refused a visa to return to America because she attended Beihang University, which, it appears, is also on the list of schools the State Department uses to ban students and researchers under the proclamation.On June 27, 2022, a lawsuit Baryshnikov v. Mayorkas (2:22-cv-02140) was filed in the District Court of the Central District of Illinois. Led by a professor of Mathematics and Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a group of students affected by the PP10043 ban, the lawsuit challenges the U.S. Government's continuing efforts to ban the entry of Chinese nationals who seek to study at U.S. universities. On March 20, 2023, the Committee of Concerned Scientist (CCS) wrote a letter to President Joe Biden , expressing concerns about Chinese American researchers being profiled, harassed, and interrogated without just cause at the border. It included the case of Hong Qi , a visiting scholar of mathematical sciences at Louisiana State University and lecturer at Queen Mary University, London. She was denied re-entry to the U.S. and separated from her 6-year old son in Louisiana. Read more about PP10043 at https://bit.ly/41s9Luu NYT Opinion: America, China and a Crisis of Trust According to an opinion by Thomas Friedman of the New York Times on April 14, 2023, relations between the United States and China have soured so badly, so quickly, and have so reduced our points of contact that we’re now like two giant gorillas looking at each other through a pinhole. Nothing good will come from this. The smallest misstep by either side could ignite a U.S.-China war that would make Ukraine look like a neighborhood dust-up.That’s one of the many reasons Thomas Friedman found it helpful to be back in Beijing and to be able to observe China again through a larger aperture than a pinhole. Attending the China Development Forum — Beijing’s very useful annual gathering of local and global business leaders, senior Chinese officials, retired diplomats and a few local and Western journalists — reminded him of some powerful old truths and exposed him to some eye-popping new realities about what’s really eating away at U.S.-China relations.The new, new thing Thomas Friedman found has a lot to do with the increasingly important role that trust, and its absence, plays in international relations, now that so many goods and services that the United States and China sell to one another are digital, and therefore dual use — meaning they can be both a weapon and a tool. Just when trust has become more important than ever between the U.S. and China, it also has become scarcer than ever. There’s something of a competition today between Democrats and Republicans over who can speak most harshly about China. Truth be told, both countries have so demonized the other of late that it is easy to forget how much we have in common as people. Thomas Friedman cannot think of any major nation after the United States with more of a Protestant work ethic and naturally capitalist population than China.China has built formidable weight and strength since opening to the world in the 1970s, and even since Covid hit in 2019. China’s Communist Party government has a stronger grip than ever on its society, thanks to its police state surveillance and digital tracking systems: Facial recognition cameras are everywhere. The party crushes any challenge to its rule or to President Xi Jinping . These days, it is extremely difficult for a visiting columnist to get anyone — a senior official or a Starbucks barista — to speak on the record. It was not that way a decade ago.That said, one should have no illusions: The Communist Party’s hold is also a product of all the hard work and savings of the Chinese people, which have enabled the party and the state to build world-class infrastructure and public goods that make life for China’s middle and lower classes steadily better.Beijing and Shanghai, in particular, have become very livable cities, with the air pollution largely erased and lots of new, walkable green spaces. Shanghai had recently built 55 new parks, bringing its total to 406, and had plans for nearly 600 more.Some 900 cities and towns in China are now served by high-speed rail, which makes travel to even remote communities incredibly cheap, easy and comfortable. In the last 23 years America has built exactly one sort-of-high-speed rail line, the Acela, serving 15 stops between Washington, D.C., and Boston. Think about that: 900 to 15.Thomas Friedman did not argue that high-speed trains are better than freedom, but to explain that China’s stability is a product of both an increasingly pervasive police state and a government that has steadily raised standards of living. It’s a regime that takes both absolute control and relentless nation-building seriously.For an American to fly from New York’s Kennedy Airport into Beijing Capital International Airport today is to fly from an overcrowded bus terminal to a Disney-like Tomorrowland. It makes Thomas Friedman weep for all the time we have wasted these past eight years talking about a faux nation builder named Donald Trump .What exactly are America and China fighting about?A lot of people hesitated when Thomas Friedman asked. Indeed, many would answer with some version of “I’m not sure, I just know that it’s THEIR fault.” He is pretty sure he would get the same answer in Washington. The best part of Thomas Friedman's trip was uncovering the real answer to that question and why it stumps so many people. It’s because the real answer is so much deeper and more complex than just the usual one-word response — “Taiwan” — or the usual three-word response — “autocracy versus democracy.”In modern times, China, like America, has never had to deal with a true economic and military peer with which it was also totally intertwined through trade and investment.This is a byproduct of our new technological ecosystem in which more and more devices and services that we both use and trade are driven by microchips and software, and connected through data centers in the cloud and high-speed internet. When so many more products or services became digitized and connected, so many more things became “dual use.” That is, technologies that can easily be converted from civilian tools to military weapons, or vice versa.So today, the country or countries that can make the fastest, most powerful and most energy efficient microchips can make the biggest A.I. computers and dominate in economics and military affairs.Thomas Friedman has no problem saying that he would like to live in a world where the Chinese people are thriving, alongside all others. He does not buy the argument that we are destined for war. He believes that we are doomed to compete with each other, doomed to cooperate with each other and doomed to find some way to balance the two. Otherwise we are both going to have a very bad 21st century.China’s Communist Party is now convinced that America wants to bring it down, which some U.S. politicians are actually no longer shy about suggesting. So, Beijing is ready to crawl into bed with Putin, a war criminal, if that is what it takes to keep the Americans at bay.Americans are now worried that Communist China, which got rich by taking advantage of a global market shaped by American rules, will use its newfound market power to unilaterally change those rules entirely to its advantage. So we’ve decided to focus our waning strength vis-à-vis Beijing on ensuring the Chinese will always be a decade behind us on microchips.If it is not the goal of U.S. foreign policy to topple the Communist regime in China, the United States needs to make that crystal clear, because Thomas Friedman found a lot more people than ever before in Beijing think otherwise.The notion that China can economically collapse and America still thrive is utter fantasy. And the notion that the Europeans will always be with us in such an endeavor, given the size of China’s market, may also be fanciful. As for China, it will never realize its full potential — in a hyper-connected, digitized, deep, dual-use, semiconductor-powered world — unless it understands that establishing and maintaining trust is now the single most important competitive advantage any country or company can have. And Beijing is failing in that endeavor. Read more about the New York Times opinion: https://bit.ly/3UX2OiI Activities and News for the Communities 1. Nomination Hearing of Julie Su as Secretary of Labor On April 20, 2023, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on the nomination of Julie Su as the next Secretary of Labor. If confirmed, Julie Su will be the first Asian American to serve in the Cabinet at the secretary level. The Senate committee is expected to vote next week on whether to advance Su’s confirmation to a vote in the full Senate.The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus issued a statement endorsing Acting Secretary Su for the position of Labor Secretary and sent a letter to President Biden urging her nomination, The Asian American Scholar Forum sent a letter of support to the Senate Committee. 2. Managing United States–China University Relations and Risks According to an article by Science on April 20, 2023, the intensifying geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China is clouding the outlook for cross-border academic exchange and collaboration in science and technology. Technological competition is a principal focus of this rivalry, and pressures are building in both countries to erect higher barriers to academic research collaborations and to restrict the flow of students and scholars between the two countries. A major challenge for US universities is how to manage these pressures while preserving open scientific research, open intellectual exchange, and the free flow of ideas and people. New federal regulations designed to strengthen research security on US university campuses are now being introduced. Yet federal policies, no matter how well crafted, cannot be a substitute for actions by universities themselves. The article shares an approach developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to make clear the lines that should not be crossed and the principles that should govern academic relations with China. Read the Science article: https://bit.ly/3UXqXWn 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 22, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #110 01/30 Webinar on Gang Chen; 2/7 Monthly Meeting; Franklin Tao; Stop Anti-Asian Hate #110 01/30 Webinar on Gang Chen; 2/7 Monthly Meeting; Franklin Tao; Stop Anti-Asian Hate Back View PDF January 31, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #350 9/8 Meeting; National Security/Xenophobia? Gisela Honored; Shifting Visa/Deportation+ #350 9/8 Meeting; National Security/Xenophobia? Gisela Honored; Shifting Visa/Deportation+ In This Issue #350 · 2025/09/08 APA Justice Monthly Meeting · BBC : "National security or xenophobia? Texas restricts Chinese owning and renting property" · Congratulations to Gisela Perez Kusakawa on Prestigious NAPABA Award · Student Visa and Deportation as Trump Policies Shift · News and Activities for the Communities 2025/09/08 APA Justice Monthly Meeting The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held on Monday, September 8, 2025, starting at 1:55 pm ET. The meeting is postponed one week because September 1 was Labor Day, a federal holiday. In addition to updates from: · Judith Teruya , Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) · Joanna YangQing Derman , Program Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC · Gisela Perez Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) We are honored by and welcome the following distinguished speakers: · Rosie Levine , Executive Director, U.S.-China Education Trust (USCET) · Cindy Tsai , Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Committee of 100 (C100) · Bob Sakaniwa , Director of Policy and Advocacy, APIAVote · Thu Nguyen , Executive Director, OCA National Center Rosie and Cindy return to announce the launch of a series of webinars co-hosted by C100, USCET, and APA Justice. The dual mission of C100 is to promote the full participation of Chinese Americans in all aspects of American life and to advance constructive relations between the U.S. and Greater China. The mission of the US-China Education Trust (USCET) is to promote US-China relations through education and exchange for China's next-generation leaders by fostering greater mutual understanding of the US and China.Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) is the nation’s leading nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to engaging, educating, and empowering Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities to strengthen and sustain a culture of civic engagement. Bob will update us on APIAVote's plans and activities as we approach the November election.Founded in 1973, OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates is a 501(c)(3) national member-driven nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. with 35+ chapters and affiliates across the U.S. The 2025 OCA National Convention was held in Seattle, Washington, July 24 - 27, 2025. Thu returns to update us on OCA's latest plans and activities.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 . BBC : "National security or xenophobia? Texas restricts Chinese owning and renting property" According to BBC News on August 28, 2025, Texas Senate Bill 17 (SB 17), scheduled to take effect on September 1, 2025, prohibits citizens and entities from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia from buying property or signing leases longer than one year. Texas Governor Greg Abbott , framed the measure as a national security necessity, presenting the bill as a shield against foreign influence.Opponents, however, argue the law revives an old pattern of discrimination. Many compared SB 17 to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the alien land laws of the early 20th century. Community members warned the bill stigmatizes Asian immigrants and undermines basic property rights. “Banning home ownership from folks just like me based on their country of origin—that is discriminatory in nature,” said Houston small-business owner Jason Yuan . Qinlin Li , a recent graduate of Texas A&M University and a plaintiff of the lawsuit filed against SB 17, said she was shocked when she first learned about the bill. "If there's no human rights, then we [are] back to like 150 years ago, we were like the railroad labourers," Li said.Civil rights advocates have been vocal as well. Patrick Toomey of the ACLU criticized the law’s premise, arguing, “There is no evidence that harm to national security has resulted from Chinese people owning or leasing residential properties in Texas... Texas's law should sound alarm bells,," adding that the legislation weaponised false claims of national security against Asian immigrants and other communities.Experts also question the necessity of Texas's new law from a regulatory standpoint. It was preferable for federal government to handle such matters to avoid overlapping jurisdictions, said Sarah Bauerle Danzman , from the Atlantic Council think tank.In the Texas House, State Representative Gene Wu (吴元之) emerged as one of the strongest critics of SB 17. "It is anti-Asian, anti-immigrant, and specifically against Chinese-Americans," as he and others warned that policies rooted in fear, not facts, risk isolating communities and damaging Texas’s reputation as a hub for investment, education, and innovation. Nancy Lin , a commercial estate agent based in Dallas, told the BBC that several prospective Chinese clients she has spoken to are pausing their investment plans, including some in the electric vehicle and solar panel sectors. "If this issue can't be resolved, I think it will be more difficult for Chinese companies to enter Texas. As for those that already have existing leases, they can't renew them. If they do, it can only be for no more than one year."The right to own land has been a struggle for Chinese Americans, dating back over a century. A previous alien land law in Texas, which restricted non-US citizens from purchasing land, was in force until 1965. It was deemed to be "unreasonable and discriminatory" and against "economic development".The Committee of 100, a nonpartisan Chinese American leadership organization, placed SB 17 in a broader national context. Their research shows that since 2021, dozens of states have introduced or passed restrictions on property ownership by “foreign adversaries.”The Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance (CALDA), which is leading the legal challenge to SB 17, argued that the law is unconstitutional. The judge later dismissed the case, Wang v. Paxton (4:25-cv-03103) , siding with the state attorney general who said the plaintiffs - who are student-visa and work-visa holders living in Texas - would not be personally affected by the law. But, for the wider group of visa-holders from the four countries, the lack of clear interpretation of the legal clauses still stokes uncertainty. CALDA has filed an appeal . Congratulations to Gisela Perez Kusakawa on Prestigious NAPABA Award APA Justice warmly congratulates Gisela Perez Kusakawa , Executive Director of the Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), on being named one of this year’s award recipients by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA). This highly competitive and prestigious honor recognizes rising stars who have achieved distinction in their fields while demonstrating a steadfast commitment to advancing Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) civic and community affairs. Ms . Kusakawa will be recognized at the 2025 NAPABA Convention in Denver, November 6–8, 2025, where more than 3,000 attendees are expected. She joins a distinguished cohort of honorees, including leading partners and managing attorneys across the nation.Throughout her career, Ms. Kusakawa has been a trailblazer at the intersection of criminal law, civil rights, national security, and research security. She founded the first Anti-Profiling, Civil Rights, and National Security department at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC and co-founded a joint program with the U.S.-Asia Law Institute at NYU School of Law. She has also served on the advisory board of SECURE Analytics, the $67 million National Science Foundation program authorized by Congress, at the invitation of former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice .Beyond her legal and policy contributions, Ms. Kusakawa has been a familiar and valued voice in the APA Justice community. She is a regular speaker at APA Justice monthly meetings, first during her tenure as Program Director at Advancing Justice | AAJC and continuing today in her leadership role at AASF. Her insights have been vital in advancing understanding of civil rights challenges faced by AANHPI communities and in fostering collaboration across organizations.NAPABA’s recognition of Ms. Kusakawa underscores her exceptional leadership and her unwavering dedication to equity and justice. APA Justice is proud to celebrate this achievement and looks forward to continuing to learn from her work and vision in the years ahead. Student Visa and Deportation as Trump Policies Shift According to AP News on August 31, 2025, a 22-year-old Chinese philosophy student, identified only as Gu , was deported from the U.S. after landing in Houston despite holding valid paperwork and a full scholarship to the University of Houston. Previously a Cornell exchange student, Gu expected no issues, but instead was interrogated for over 10 hours, detained for 36 hours, and sent back to China with a five-year entry ban. His case reflects rising uncertainty for Chinese students under the Trump administration, which has fluctuated between welcoming them and imposing restrictions over national security concerns.Gu ’s treatment highlights broader tensions between the U.S. and China. The Chinese Embassy reported more than 10 similar cases of students and scholars facing prolonged interrogations, harassment, and forced repatriation, often under harsh conditions. Beijing condemned these actions as discriminatory and politically motivated. While Trump has publicly stated that he values Chinese students, U.S. law enforcement has intensified scrutiny of their potential ties to the Chinese government. Gu, who insists he has no such connections, now faces an uncertain future, considering a costly and lengthy appeal of his deportation.The deported student posted an unconfirmed account of his experience at Reddit: " As a Master of Arts student, I was deported and barred by CBP in Houston ." According to this account, after landing in Houston on August 15, the student was pulled into secondary inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). What began as routine questioning over visa documentation escalated into hours of interrogation focused on ties to the Chinese Communist Party, the Communist Youth League, the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA), and the Chinese Scholarship Council.CBP officer “D” searched the student’s belongings and devices, demanded passwords, and used social media activity and a past school essay praising the CCP as grounds for suspicion. Despite explanations that these affiliations were common or superficial, the officer accused the student of lying and pressed aggressively for answers.By early morning, the student was informed of deportation and a five-year reentry ban. During detention—lasting 36 hours—conditions were harsh: cold temperatures, constant lighting, minimal food, no contact with family, and warnings not to speak with other Chinese detainees. Ultimately, the student was placed on a flight out of the U.S., left feeling stripped of freedom, dignity, and a future in America.*****On September 1, 2025, Chemistry World reported that the Trump administration has proposed limiting U.S. student (F-1) and exchange visitor (J-1) visas to a fixed four-year period, ending the long-standing “duration of status” policy. The Department of Homeland Security argues the change is needed to reduce overstays and security risks, citing more than 2,100 students who have remained in F-1 status for decades.Higher education leaders strongly oppose the proposal, warning it would deter international talent, harm the U.S. economy and competitiveness, increase bureaucracy, and worsen immigration backlogs. Fanta Aw , chief executive of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, cautioned: “These changes will only serve to force aspiring students and scholars into a sea of administrative delays at best, and at worst, into unlawful presence status – leaving them vulnerable to punitive actions through no fault of their own.”The move contrasts with China’s recent introduction of a more flexible “K visa” for young science and technology talent, signaling increased global competition to attract researchers and students. News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2025/09/06 The 2025 Asian American Youth Symposium2025/09/08 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2025/09/08 Committee of 100 Conversations – “Recollections, Pioneers and Heroes” with Janet Yang2025/09/09 China Connections — Chinese Encounters with America: Profiles of Changemakers Who Shaped China2025/09/16-17 2025 AANHPI Unity Summit 2025/09/23 Committee of 100: Is Deglobalization Inevitable?Visit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. # # # 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 September 4, 2025 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #311 Stand w Asian Americans; Rights Tool Kit; Privacy at Risk; Trump Policies on Science+ #311 Stand w Asian Americans; Rights Tool Kit; Privacy at Risk; Trump Policies on Science+ In This Issue #311 · SwAA: Justice and Equality Through Law, Education, and Community · AALDEF: Immigrant Rights Toolkit · U.S. Personal Information and Privacy at Risk Abroad and at Home · WP : Trump Policies Sow Chaos, Confusion Across Scientific Community · News and Activities for the Communities SwAA: Justice and Equality Through Law, Education, and Community In the aftermath of the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings, where six Asian women were among the victims, Stand with Asian Americans (SWAA) emerged to combat anti-Asian hate and advocate for justice. In 2022, SwAA launched the Workplace Justice Initiative to address workplace discrimination, bias, and barriers that Asian Americans face in professional settings. Its mission is to protect and advance the rights of Asian Americans against discrimination at the workplace through three key activities: · Power of Law – SwAA provides legal support through a discrimination reporting portal, direct legal services, and a public relations strategy to raise awareness and advocate for workplace justice. · Education – The organization equips individuals and employers with human resources tools, educational workshops, and panels such as Shattering the Myth of Asian Passivity, Know Your Rights, and Leadership Empowerment to foster inclusion and leadership opportunities. · Community – SwAA supports mental health initiatives and amplifies stories to strengthen solidarity and resilience within the Asian American community. If you or anyone you know is experiencing racial discrimination at work or in business, you may reach out to SwAA for legal, education, and community support. SwAA's discrimination portal containing resources is here , and ways to support the SwAA mission here . Michelle Lee , President, General Counsel and Board Chair, and Brian Pang , Chief Operating Officer and Head of Partnerships will speak at the next APA Justice monthly meeting on March 3, 2025. AALDEF: Immigrant Rights Toolkit During the APA Justice monthly meeting on February 3, 2025, Bethany Li , Execuitve Director of Asian American Legal and Education Defense Fund (AALDEF), offered an Immigrant Rights Toolkit designed to inform individuals about their legal rights, particularly concerning expedited removal procedures. This toolkit is part of AALDEF's broader Immigrant Rights Program, which provides legal representation, policy advocacy, community education, and organizing support for Asian immigrants across various backgrounds. The program aims to promote humane and dynamic immigration laws and policies that uphold the dignity of all migrants. Here are some of the links to AALDEF's Immigrant Rights Toolkit : · Know your rights if you are detained and facing expedited removal (AALDEF) · Use this tool to request immigration documents to help prepare you against ICE (AALDEF) · Know your rights for dealing with ICE (Immigrant Defense Project) · Know your rights during an ICE check-in (Know Your Fight) · Know your rights if ICE comes to your workplace (National Day Laborer Organizing Network) · Know your rights as a worker, regardless of your immigration status (AALDEF) · Watch these videos about dealing with ICE in different scenarios (We Have Rights) · Print pocket cards to hand to ICE if they approach you (Immigrant Legal Resource Center) · Learn and stay updated on what the Trump Administration has done so far (Guttentag, Immigration Policy Tracking Project) U.S. Personal Information and Privacy at Risk Abroad and at Home According to an exclusive report by the Washington Post on February 7, 2025, security officials in the United Kingdom have demanded that Apple create a back door allowing them to retrieve all the content any Apple user worldwide has uploaded to the cloud, which if implemented would undermine Apple’s privacy pledge to its users. According to the report, the UK government has issued a "technical capability notice" to Apple under the Investigatory Powers Act, commonly known as the "Snoopers' Charter." The notice mandates that Apple create a backdoor to its encrypted iCloud services, enabling law enforcement agencies to access user data. Apple has consistently maintained that introducing such backdoors would compromise user privacy and global cybersecurity. In response to the UK's demand, Apple is reportedly considering discontinuing some of its services in the UK rather than compromising its encryption standards.Read the Washington Post report: https://wapo.st/3CHgF7U Here at home in the United States according to multiple media reports, the "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) under billionaire Elon Musk has gained access to databases at the Treasury , Education and Labor departments that contain sensitive data about Americans, such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and financial transactions. Federal officials have been terminated or forced to resign for protecting access to these critical data systems. Unions, students and public interest groups have filed lawsuits alleging the administration of violating privacy laws by allowing DOGE access to the databases. On February 6, 2025, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia restricted access to a Treasury Department payments system that various DOGE surrogates had infiltrated at the direction of Elon Musk. In her ruling on Alliance for Retried Americans v. Bessent (1:25-cv-00313) , the judge stated that the defendants cannot “provide access to any payment record or payment system of records maintained by or within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service.” Tom Krause and Marko Elez , two DOGE-linked “special government employees” at the Treasury Department, were granted “read-only” access to Bureau of Fiscal Service systems “as needed for the performance” of their duties. According to The Washington Post on February 7, the Treasury Department is appointing Krause as assistant secretary, replacing David A. Lebryk , who resigned after opposing Krause’s efforts to access senstive government payment systems—a move Lebryk deemed illegal. Booz Allen Hamilton, a contractor running a threat intelligence center for the Treasury Department, reported that DOGE’s access to the payment network should be “immediately” suspended as it represented an “unprecedented insider threat risk.” Bloomberg later reported that the Booz Allen Hamilton's subcontractor had been dismissed.On February 7, 2025, the New York Times reported that U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer in the case of State of New York v. Donald J. Trump (1:25-cv-01144) issued an emergency order temporarily restricting access by DOGE to the Treasury Department’s payment and data systems, saying there was a risk of “irreparable harm.” Judge Engelmayer ordered any such official who was granted access to the systems since January 20 to “destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems.” He also restricted the government from granting access to “special government employees.”Several members of Congress have publicly expressed concerns regarding Elon Musk's DOGE gaining access to the U.S. Treasury's federal payment systems. Congressman Bill Foster said in a February 3 statement , "Elon Musk is an unelected oligarch with no regard for national security, conflicts of interest, or ethical standards. Americans deserve answers as to why his team was given unrestricted access to the U.S. Treasury payment system, which gives them the ability to spy on U.S. treasury payments to private American citizens, as well as Musk's business competitors. This power grab is corrupt and unprecedented, and my colleagues and I are doing everything we can to put a halt to this." On February 7, 2025, District Court Judge John D. Bates denied the motion for a temporary restraining order in the case of American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations v. Department of Labor (1:25-cv-00339) . The AFL-CIO contends that granting DOGE access to Department of Labor systems could lead to conflicts of interest, especially concerning sensitive information related to investigations of Musk's companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, and The Boring Company. They argue that DOGE's involvement might compromise the integrity of these investigations and potentially expose confidential data. Judge Bates' ruling stated that the union did not demonstrate sufficient harm resulting from the Department of Labor's actions. The judge ordered that the parties shall file a proposed preliminary-injunction motion briefing schedule by not later than February 12, 2025. The Education Department case, University of California Student Assocation v. Carter (1:25-cv-00354) , is pending. The Univrsity of California Stucent Association is the official systemwide student advocacy organization representing over 285,000 students across all ten University of California campuses.Two groups of FBI agents have sued the Justice Department to block any public release of a list of thousands of employees who worked on investigations tied to President Donald Trump or the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. On February 6, 2025, U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb of the District of Columbia ordered the consolidation of Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Assocation v. Department of Justice (1:25-cv-00328) and Does 1-9 v. Department of Justice (1:25-cv-00325) . On February 7, Judge Cobb issued a temporary restraining order (TRO), which had been mutually proposed by the parties. The TRO prohibits the government from publicly releasing any list before the court rules on whether to grant a preliminary injunction. The briefings for a preliminary injunction will be filed by March 21, 2025.As of February 9, 2025, the number of legal challenges to Trump administration actions reported by the Just Security Litigation Tracker has increased to 41.On February 7, 2025, the Washington Post reported the following summary of where Trump action court cases stand: WP : Trump Policies Sow Chaos, Confusion Across Scientific Community According to the Washington Post on February 6, 2025, President Donald Trump 's executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within federally funded programs have led to significant concerns in the scientific community. The National Science Foundation (NSF) suspended grant disbursements, leaving researchers without salaries. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed materials on clinical trial diversity from its website, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) took down tools and data related to health disparities, including the Social Vulnerability Index and the Environmental Justice Index. These actions have disrupted ongoing research and raised fears about political interference in scientific endeavors. Dr. Sudip Parikh , CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), expressed concern, stating, "The scientific community is deeply troubled by these developments, which threaten the integrity and progress of our research."On February 5, 2025, Dr. Parikh testified at a hearing of the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on The State of U.S. Science and Technology: Ensurig Global Leadership . His written testimony emphasized the importance of a strong and adaptable American science and technology enterprise, highlighting the role of research institutions, industry, and the workforce in driving innovation and prosperity. Dr. Parikh stressed that the U.S. faces challenges from accelerating technological change, existential threats to public health and security, and growing international competition, particularly from China. He called for a comprehensive approach to strengthening the U.S. science and technology sector, advocating for reduced inefficiencies, investment in workforce development, and strategic research commitments. He also warned against actions that undermine the scientific community, such as spending freezes or policies that alienate international talent. Dr. Parikh concluded by urging the U.S. to adapt to new global realities and secure its future leadership in science and technology.Part of his testimony says,"The American science and technology enterprise is strong, but its continued strength is not guaranteed. We must be proactive in implementing our vision by being open to change and disruption without dismantling our foundational principles and strengths."Through an enterprise that includes industry, academia, and sources of capital to scale, we have turned the discoveries of the past 80 years into technological innovations that have increased our prosperity and security."Many of the structures and institutions that have contributed to our achievements are outdated. They were the result of a vision after World War II that the investments in science and technology we had made during a time of war should be continued during a time of peace. Over generations, we have made substantial and sustained federal investments in fundamental research — much of it carried out at our universities, research institutes, and national laboratories where research and education take place side-by-side. Industry translated and scaled discoveries into technologies and products with intellectual property protections that incentivized continued innovation. It was a relatively simple vision with profound consequences. It created the modern world."But we are at a crossroads. "Three things are happening at once. First, the pace of change is accelerating so rapidly that the tools and strategies that brought us here are insufficient to ensure our future. Transformational technologies are reshaping our way of life. Second, we face existential threats to our health; food supply and water security; environmental resilience; energy production, utilization, and storage; and our overall wellbeing. Third, more than ever, we are competing with other nations —particularly China — that rival us in talent, infrastructure, and capital investment and that can put our economic prosperity and national security at risk. China trains more scientists and engineers than we do; files for more international patents than we do; publishes just as many highly cited scientific papers as we do; and is leading us in several critical research and technology areas. "I know for all those here today what the answer is: We want America to lead."The good news is that we have a suite of significant assets that our nation can leverage. "We must recognize that the enterprise as a whole — from federal investment to workforce to industry investment to tax and regulatory policy — is what differentiates our nation from all others. "In addition to these holistic recommendations, we must stop hurting our own enterprise with self inflicted wounds. Two examples illustrate the point. "First, while we must recognize the global competition and take it seriously, we must not demonize people or international collaboration in the process. Our colleagues of Chinese, Indian, and other immigrant backgrounds make up a substantial percentage of the American science and technology workforce. They are colleagues and friends and deserving of respect. We must ensure that our drive to compete does not alter our humanity. When we make America less welcoming to scientists who are immigrants or those who have been here for generations, we only hurt our own competitiveness and opportunity for prosperity. In addition, science is a global activity. When we close ourselves off to international collaboration, we lose visibility to advances made around the world and slow progress for everyone."Second, last week, the announcement of an abrupt spending freeze on science and technology funding broke trust and hurt the S&T enterprise. This is the kind of action that, even if brief, can have a lasting negative impact. Many scientists, particularly those early in their careers, live paycheck-to-paycheck. I was most saddened to hear from these scientists who began questioning whether they should even continue their scientific pursuits or switch careers. Scientists and engineers are resilient, and I have no doubt that most will persevere because they care deeply about solving problems and better understanding the world around them. But every time we stop and start, lose focus, break continuity across funding and intellectual property protections, we lose some of the next generation of science and technology talent and hurt America’s competitiveness. "The stakes are enormous, the necessary actions are clear, and the time is now."Read Dr. Parikh's testimony: https://bit.ly/40S7iug News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 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 Meeting2025/02/18 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 Meeting2025/03/12 MSU Webinar on China InitiativeVisit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. # # # 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 10, 2025 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #263 Return of Anming Hu; AAJC on Land Laws; Spying on USPS Mail; Vincent Chin's Legacy; + #263 Return of Anming Hu; AAJC on Land Laws; Spying on USPS Mail; Vincent Chin's Legacy; + In This Issue #263 · The Return of Exonerated Professor Anming Hu · Advancing Justice | AAJC Speaks Up on Discriminatory Land Laws · WP : Law Enforcement is Spying on Thousands of Americans' Mail · FBI Released 602 Pages of Its Vincent Chin Files · News and Activities for the Communities The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held via Zoom today, July 1, 2024, starting at 1:55 pm ET. In addition to Nisha Ramachandran , Joanna YangQing Derman , and Gisela Perez Kusakawa . confirmed invited speakers include Neal Lane , Kei Koizumi , Xiaoxing Xi , and Karla Hagan . Please register to attend. 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 . The Return of Exonerated Professor Anming Hu Professor Anming Hu returned and spoke at the APA Justice monthly meeting on June 3, 2024. It has been almost three years since he was fully acquitted of all charges against him under the now-defunct China Initiative.Professor Hu was born in China, a naturalized Canadian citizen, and Professor of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK).On February 27, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the indictment of Professor Hu. He was the second China Initiative case involving a U.S. university professor of Asian ancestry. He was charged with three counts each of wire fraud and making false statements, but not espionage. The charges stemmed from his purported failure to disclose affiliations with a Chinese university while receiving funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).At the time of his arrest, he was a tenured professor. After his arrest, UTK suspended him without pay and then terminated his employment on October 8, 2020.Professor Hu was the first academic to go to trial under the China Initiative. A mistrial was declared on June 16, 2021, after the jury deadlocked. On September 9, 2021, Judge Thomas Varlan acquitted Professor Hu of all charges in his indictment. “The government has failed to provide sufficient evidence from which any rational jury could find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that defendant had specific intent to defraud NASA by hiding his affiliation with BJUT [Beijing University of Technology] from UTK," the judge wrote.On October 14, 2021, UTK offered to reinstate Professor Hu. On February 1, 2022, Professor Hu returned to his laboratory. During the APA Justice monthly meeting on June 6, 2024, Professor Hu provided updates on his situation and his family's well being since his return to UTK. He expressed gratitude to his attorney Phil Lomonaco , members of the UTK Faculty Senate, Congressional representatives, CAPAC, and various Asian American justice organizations for their support.Professor Hu spent a year rebuilding his lab with startup support from the university's leadership. He acquired new equipment and repaired old, damaged devices. Despite recovering about 95% of his equipment, nearly 50% were malfunctioning and 30% were completely damaged.With help from collaborators, two of his PhD students graduated in 2022 and 2023.Professor Hu focused on applying for external funds and hiring new students. He secured one federal and one industrial fund, enabling him to hire one new PhD student and two undergraduates. However, his lab size is still only about 30% of its previous capacity, and it may take another one to two years to fully recover.The wrongful prosecution caused significant mental and physical harm to his family. They continue to struggle with sleep issues and anxiety, and Professor Hu sometimes needs medication to sleep. His wife still becomes anxious when receiving phone calls in the afternoon, a reminder of the day Professor Hu was arrested.In the past two years, the family has shared their experience with colleagues, friends, and church groups. Professor Hu also participated in panel discussions on the China Initiative and civil rights. Despite his reinstatement, the US government continued to falsely accuse him of being part of China's Thousand Talents Program. With support from lawyers and Congressional representatives Judy Chu , Ted Lieu , and Jamie Raskin , his U.S. permanent residency was approved in March 2024. Recently, his older son's green card was also approved.A summary for the June 3 APA Justice monthly meeting is being prepared at this time. APA Justice has compiled Professor Hu's story as an impacted scientist under the China Initiative. It is posted for beta review for its content, navigation, and links at https://bit.ly/44V5tOG . Please send your comments and feedback to contact@apajustice.org . Advancing Justice | AAJC Speaks Up on Discriminatory Land Laws During the APA Justice monthly meeting on June 3, 2024, Joanna YangQing Derman , Director, Anti-Profiling, Civil Rights & National Security Program, Advancing Justice | AAJC, reported that John Yang , President and Executive Director of AAJC, testified before the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee on May 29. The hearing addressed three interim charges or topics, one of which was foreign investment in Texas land. John Yang emphasized AAJC’s deep concern about the resurgence of discriminatory land laws under the guise of national security. He underscored the historical context of AAPI discrimination and called for robust research to accurately identify the issues these land laws aim to address. John successfully countered harmful and overbroad anti-China rhetoric that conflates Chinese individuals with the Chinese government. Overall, it was a successful testimony, with special credit to Asian Texans for Justice (ATJ) for facilitating the opportunity and playing a critical role in coordinating the response. John Yang’s written testimony is posted here: https://bit.ly/3zkxgwe . A summary for the June 3 APA Justice monthly meeting is being prepared at this time. WP : Law Enforcement is Spying on Thousands of Americans' Mail According to the Washington Post on June 24, 2024, · The U.S. Postal Service shares mail data with law enforcement without warrants. · More than 60,000 requests have been received since 2015, with a 97% acceptance rate. · A group of senators want judicial oversight, but the chief inspector declined to change the policy. The U.S. Postal Service has shared information from thousands of Americans’ letters and packages with law enforcement every year for the past decade, conveying the names, addresses and other details from the outside of boxes and envelopes without requiring a court order.Postal inspectors say they fulfill such requests only when mail monitoring can help find a fugitive or investigate a crime. But a decade’s worth of records, provided exclusively to The Washington Post in response to a congressional probe, show Postal Service officials have received more than 60,000 requests from federal agents and police officers since 2015, and that they rarely say no.Each request can cover days or weeks of mail sent to or from a person or address, and 97 percent of the requests were approved, according to the data. Postal inspectors recorded more than 312,000 letters and packages between 2015 and 2023, the records show.The IRS, FBI and the Department of Homeland Security were among the top requesters. In a letter in May 2023, a group of eight senators, including Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), urged the agency to require a federal judge to approve the requests and to share more details on the program, saying officials there had chosen to “provide this surveillance service and to keep postal customers in the dark about the fact they have been subjected to monitoring.”In a response earlier this month, the chief postal inspector, Gary Barksdale , declined to change the policy but provided nearly a decade’s worth of data showing that postal inspectors, federal agencies, and state and local police forces made an average of about 6,700 requests a year, and that inspectors additionally recorded data from about another 35,000 pieces of mail a year, on average.The practice, he added, had been legally authorized since 1879, a year after the Supreme Court ruled that government officials needed a warrant before opening any sealed letter.Wyden said in a statement, “These new statistics show that thousands of Americans are subjected to warrantless surveillance each year, and that the Postal Inspection Service rubber stamps practically all of the requests they receive.” He also criticized the agency for “refusing to raise its standards and require law enforcement agencies monitoring the outside of Americans’ mail to get a court order, which is already required to monitor emails and texts.”In their letter last year, the senators said that even the exteriors of mail could be deeply revealing for many Americans, giving clues about the people they talk to, the bills they pay, the churches they attend, the political views they subscribe to and the social causes they support.Read the Washington Post report: https://wapo.st/3Xxr9yO FBI Released 602 Pages of Its Vincent Chin Files Without explanation, the FBI released 602 pages of its files on Vincent Chin during the week of his murder 42 years ago. Helen Zia published an essay at the Vincent Chin Institute about its good, bad, and ugly on June 26, 2024. This is an AI-assisted summary of her essay: The Good · Community Support and Advocacy : The essay highlights the significant support and advocacy from the Asian American community and various organizations in seeking justice for Vincent Chin. · Awareness of Anti-Asian Hate : The release of the FBI documents and the efforts to commemorate Vincent Chin's legacy help raise awareness of anti-Asian hate and the historical context of such violence. · Legacy and Education : The essay emphasizes the importance of educating others about Vincent Chin's case and the ongoing fight against racial prejudice, contributing to a more informed and empathetic society. The Bad · Incomplete Investigation : The FBI documents are incomplete, missing critical details from the Wayne County criminal proceedings and failing to interview key witnesses, which hindered the investigation and justice process. · Inadequate Judicial Response : The essay criticizes the judicial system's response, particularly the sentencing judge's decision to release the attackers on probation and fines, which highlights systemic racial biases. · Media Bias : The essay points out how media coverage at the time failed to grasp or acknowledge the anti-Asian prejudice involved in the case, often casting doubt on the racial motivations behind the crime. The Ugly · Racially Motivated Violence : The brutal attack on Vincent Chin, driven by racial hatred and scapegoating during an economic recession, represents the ugly reality of racially motivated violence and bigotry. · Traumatic Aftermath : The essay describes the trauma endured by Vincent Chin's family and the Asian American community, exacerbated by the lack of justice and recognition from the judicial system. · Enduring Prejudice : The essay underscores the persistent ignorance and harmful stereotypes surrounding Asian Americans, both in the past and present, highlighting the ongoing struggle against racial prejudice and discrimination. Overall, the essay provides a detailed account of the events surrounding Vincent Chin's death, the community's response, and the broader implications for understanding and combating racial hatred. Read Helen Zia's essay: https://bit.ly/4eN4Nzg . Read the 602-page FBI case file: https://bit.ly/3RQobSt Vincent Chin's Legacy on Asian American Activism According to the Washington Post on June 26, 2024, when Vincent Chin , a Chinese American groom-to-be, was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat by two white Detroit autoworkers in 1982, his loved ones’ cries for justice fell on deaf ears. The autoworkers who attacked Vincent Chin did so under the false belief that he was Japanese, attributing the auto industry’s hardships to foreign competition from Japan.It took twelve full days before the media reported his killing — without recognizing the racism involved, remembers Curtis Chin , the nephew of Vincent Chin’s best man. Nine months later, judge Charles Kaufman handed the perpetrators just three years’ probation and a $3,780 fine, reasoning that “These aren’t the kind of men you send to jail.”Despite media silence and a lenient sentence for the perpetrators, Chin's case galvanized Asian Americans to unite across ethnic lines.Today , advocates still ensure that Vincent Chin’s name is never forgotten. In the wake of his death anniversary, and amid increasing xenophobia worldwide, his story provides guiding light for the struggle toward equality.Curtis Chin found his calling in the experience, and instead of taking over Chung’s — his family’s restaurant of five decades — spent the next 30 years elevating Asian American voices as a writer and a filmmaker. In his memoir and his documentary, “Vincent Who?,” Curtis Chin recounts Vincent Chin’s story and the racial animosity of 1980s Detroit.For Helen Zia , an activist who moved to Detroit in 1976 and took up work at an auto plant, Chin’s case laid bare the glaring injustices that Asian Americans faced: “There were two legal organizations in the whole country, one in New York and one in California,” Zia says. “We were in Detroit, and they couldn’t help us.” Zia rallied leaders from Detroit’s Chinatown and local lawyers to support Vincent Chin's mother Lily Chin and co-founded the American Citizens for Justice, which helped secure a federal trial for Vincent Chin. Zia launched the Vincent Chin Institute in 2022 to fill the void Asian American Detroiters found themselves in four decades ago through advocacy, education, and resources for Asian Americans in underserved areas.In the 21st century, the killing of Vincent Chin continues to energize Asian American advocacy and presence. Law students reenact his trial to highlight legal shortcomings. Hollywood has adapted his case into films like “Hold Still, Vincent” and “Who Killed Vincent Chin?”The fear of foreign economic threat parallels modern “anti-China hysteria and scapegoating,” says Stop AAPI Hate co-founder Cynthia Choi , pointing to how COVID-19 was racialized and fueled attacks on Asians across the country. The Vincent Chin case remains a cornerstone for Asian American advocacy, inspiring films, reenactments, and organizations like Stop AAPI Hate, which combats rising xenophobia and discrimination. Despite the progress achieved, advocates against anti-Asian hate assert that there is still considerable work ahead in every sector, from the workplace to the entertainment industry. The comprehensive history of Asian Americans, for instance, continues to be excluded from core K-12 history curricula in the United States. Some advocates like John Yang , the president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice AAJC, are turning their attention to what they say is a new form of anti-Asian hate: a growing number of bills preventing some Chinese citizens from buying and owning land. “Everyone is concerned about whether an Asian American is truly an American, and so they’re not being shown the same houses, they’re not being afforded the same opportunities,” Yang says. Wilson Lee , co-founder of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance Boston Lodge and the Chinese American Heritage Foundation, has organized a vigil for Vincent Chin every June 23 for the past six years. “We’re in it for the long haul,” Lee tells the Associated Press . “Because it’s the right thing to do, not because it’s the popular thing to do.”On June 21, 2024, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus issued a press statement marking the 42nd Anniversary of the murder of Vincent Chin: https://bit.ly/4cdUAKT Read the Washington Post report: https://wapo.st/3VHk4Jf . Visit the Vincent Chin Institute website: https://bit.ly/39Bu0QQ News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2024/07/01 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/07/01 President's Advisory Commission Public Meeting - Livestreaming2024/07/02 President's Advisory Commission Public Meeting - In Person2024/07/03 Hearing on Preliminary Injunction on Florida SB 8462024/07/07 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/07/11-12 National AAPI Leadership Summit2024/07/13 APIAVote: Presidential Town Hall, Philadelphia PA2024/07/15 APIAVote: RNC Convention, AAPI Briefing &Reception, Milwaukee, WI2024/07/16-17 National Science, Technology, and Security Roundtable - Capstone2024/08/04 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall MeetingThe Community Calendar has moved. Visit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. New Appointments at Johns Hopkins University Starting July 1, 2024, Professor Jessica Chen Weiss joined the faculty of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC as the David M. Lampton Professor of China Studies and the inaugural director of a new institute on the evolving role of China in the world to be established this fall at SAIS, bringing together scholars, practitioners and experts from the private sector to foster deeper understanding and informed policy making. Professor Chen Weiss comes to SAIS from Cornell University, where she was the Michael J. Zak Professor for China and Asia-Pacific Studies in the Department of Government. From August 2021 to July 2022, she served as senior advisor to the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. State Department on a Council on Foreign Relations Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars.Also starting July 1, 2024, Jeremy Lee Wallace has been named the A. Doak Barnett Professor of China Studies, also starting July 1, 2024; and he will be affiliated with the new institute at SAIS as well as the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins. Read the Johns Hopkins University announcement: https://bit.ly/4beT3CJ Back View PDF July 1, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #248 FISA Renewal Goes Down; C100 Conference; SB 264 Rally in Miami; Kurt Campbell; AAASE #248 FISA Renewal Goes Down; C100 Conference; SB 264 Rally in Miami; Kurt Campbell; AAASE In This Issue #248 • House Strikes Down FISA Renewal Measure • Update on Committee of 100 Conference • China Town Hall with Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell • Justice in Property Rights Rally in Miami • Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering • News and Activities for the Communities House Strikes Down FISA Renewal Measure According to multiple media reports, by a vote of 193 to 228, the House of Representatives voted against a procedural measure that would have begun debate to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The bill, titled the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), would reauthorize Section 702 of FISA for five years and aims to impose a series of reforms. The law as it stands allows the US intelligence community to collect the communications records of foreign persons based overseas, but it also allows the FBI to search the data it collects for Americans’ information in what critics have called a “backdoor” search. The current FISA tool allows the government to conduct targeted surveillance of foreign nationals, without needing to obtain a warrant, with a higher bar for targeted American citizens. The new House Republican bill calls for a number of reforms but does not go far enough in the eyes of privacy and civil liberties advocates, on both the right and left. The searches of US persons’ information are governed by a set of internal rules and procedures designed to protect Americans’ privacy and civil liberties, but critics say that loopholes allow the FBI to search the data it collects for Americans’ information — as opposed to from foreign adversaries — without proper justification. The complicated politics surrounding the law have united strange bedfellows: Some conservative Republicans have joined forces with progressive Democrats to push for reforms to the authority, while security-focused Democrats and Republicans have opposed major new restrictions. One major sticking point is whether the FBI should be required to obtain a warrant before querying the database for information on US citizens. Latest development may involve a shorter reauthorization period of 2 years instead of 5 years. Current authorization of Section 702 will expire on April 19, 2024. Read these media reports: AP News: https://bit.ly/3UeNFuh ; CNN: https://cnn.it/3JfQzc0 ; Voice of America: https://bit.ly/3TXNTV6 ; CBS News: https://cbsn.ws/4avJzDD ; Fox News: https://fxn.ws/4cQWAJF ; ABC News: https://bit.ly/3Udp4G9 ; NBC News: https://nbcnews.to/3Q1Bmil During the APA Justice monthly meeting on April 8, 2024, Nisha Ramachandran, Executive Director of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, reported a flurry of activities related to the reauthorization of Section 702 of FISA. Multiple bills and amendments were floated. There was not a lot of clarity. It has already happened twice that a bill to reform warrantless surveillance was pulled before it could pass the Rules Committee. Without knowing the specifics, CAPAC has not taken a position on RISAA at that time. A summary for the April 8 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 . According to ACLU, in May 2015, FBI agents came into Temple University Professor Xiaoxing Xi’s house with guns drawn and led him away in handcuffs in front of his wife and daughters. The government accused Xi of sharing information about a superconductor device known as a “pocket heater,” relying on email exchanges between Xi and scientific colleagues in China that the FBI had obtained. Professor Xi is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China. The intercepted emails, however, were not about the pocket heater, but concerned a different kind of superconductor technology that has been public for years. In September 2015, prosecutors were forced to drop the charges. But the damage to Xi and his family was already significant. As a result of the charges, Xi was placed on administrative leave, suspended from his position as the interim chair of the Temple Physics Department, denied access to his lab and the graduate students working under his supervision, and had to pay substantial legal fees to defend himself. The government spied on Xi using orders issued under FISA, which is intended for spying on foreign agents. As the complaint alleges, he was also spied on without any court order under Section 702 of FISA and Executive Order 12333, both of which are used by the government to conduct warrantless surveillance of international communications, including those of Americans. The government has reportedly engaged in extensive warrantless surveillance of Chinese universities and scientific research centers. It has siphoned communications off servers, computers, and major internet networks that connect many of China’s most prestigious academic institutions. The ACLU represents Professor Xi, who is suing the government over its dismissed prosecution. The lawsuit, filed in 2017, challenges the FBI’s baseless arrest of Xi and its surveillance methods as well as its discriminatory targeting of Chinese American scientists. Read the ACLU summary of Professor Xi's case: https://bit.ly/3GlCCqS Update on Committee of 100 Conference During the APA Justice monthly meeting on April 8, 2024, Cindy Tsai, Interim President of the Committee of 100 reported on the upcoming C100 annual conference to be held at Marriot Marquis in New York City on April 19. There will be a double track with over a dozen sessions on AAPI domestic issues and US-China relations. Cindy highlighted four sessions of the conference: 1. Bringing AAPI history and stories such as the alien land laws into K-12 education and classrooms, 2. Community response to rising anti-Asian hostility as a group and direct services since it is difficult to predict when to stand up for your rights, 3. U.S. national defense policies have impacted researchers and academics as well as technology such as AI. What does foreign influence really mean? What is appropriate response without discriminating certain groups? 4. Impact of US-China tension on Asian Americans in government. While we encourage Asian Americans to have representation, become politically engaged, and work for the government, there are glass ceiling, security clearance, lack of assignment, and similar deterrents. Visit the conference website at: https://bit.ly/4ccKQkj . Contact Cindy at ctsai@committee100.org if you have interest about the C100 conference, including any questions and topics that should be brought to these sessions. China Town Hall with Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell On April 9, 2024, the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations hosted the 18th annual China Town Hall from over 70 venues including Shanghai, China. The first part of this year's China Town Hall featured a live interview by NCUSCR President Stephen A. Orlins with U.S. Deputy Secretary of States Kurt Campbell, who was confirmed and sworn into office in February 2024. During the town hall, Dr. Hua Wang, Co-Chair of the New England Chinese American Alliance, raised a question, "as a community organization, we are concerned about increasing suspicion of the loyalty and integrity of Chinese Americans such as the China initiative. Such suspicions not only hurt the racial minority, we all know about the Japanese American internment, but also tear apart the fabric of American society such as during the McCarthy era. So how to protect the equal rights of the Chinese Americans and avoid stereotyping Chinese culture and people while managing the complex US-China relations?" Watch Deputy Secretary Campbell's response and the rest of the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypg6X4bC8MQ (1:10:05) Justice in Property Rights Rally in Miami WHAT: Justice in Property Rights Rally WHEN: April 19, 2024, 12:00 noon - 2:00 pm Eastern Time WHERE: In-person event, 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, 99 NE 4th ST, Miami, FL 33132 HOSTS: FAAJA, UCA, ACLU, AALDEF, Stop Asian Hate DESCRIPTION: April 19 will be a decisive day as we face a crucial appellate hearing aimed at challenging SB 264, which targets the Chinese community. This bill has sparked widespread concern and opposition as it unfairly targets the Chinese, threatening the rights and freedoms of our community members. This is a call for all who care about justice and equality to stand up and collectively oppose this discriminatory legislation. LINK: https://bit.ly/3VW6SlO Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering (AAASE) During the APA Justice monthly meeting on March 4, 2024, Columbia University Professor X. Edward Guo, introduced the Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering (AAASE) and described its mission and activities. AAASE is a relatively new organization. It is 2 years old. Princeton University Professor Yiguang Ju was the Founding President. Professor Guo is the second President. The mission of AAASE is to focus on the next generation of leaders in the STEM field, promote Asian American team leadership in STEM, and also work with the broad Asian American community. Professor Guo announced that AAASE will host two summer academies for high school students interested in science and engineering in 2024. One will be a day camp at Princeton University, and the other a resident camp at Stanford University. The summer camps are one-week long. The students will also promote Asian American leadership contributions in science and technology. The AAASE also plans to honor 100 top leaders as Academy Fellows. AAASE has selected 23 fellows in 2024. They are going to be inducted at the National Academy Science Conference in Irvine, California, on November 15-17. The AAASE has also engaged with the Committee of 100 on its upcoming conference on April 19 and will hold its annual Board of Directors retreat at Columbia University on April 21. Professor Guo is pleased and proud to work with this community. Contact AAASE at aaase.org@gmail.com for additional information. Visit the AAASE website at https://www.aaase.org/ . News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2024/04/17 Racially Profiled for Being A Scientist: A Discussion of the US DOJ's China Initiative 2024/04/18 Corky Lee's Asian America: Fifty Years of Photographic Justice 2024/04/19 Committee of 100 Annual Conference and Gala 2024/04/19 Appeals Court Hearing on Florida SB 264 2024/04/19 Justice in Property Rights Rally 2024/05/02 AAGEN 2024 Executive Leadership Workshop 2024/05/04 Corky Lee's Asian America: Fifty Years of Photographic Justice 2024/05/05 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting Visit https://bit.ly/45KGyga for event details. 2. White House Celebration of AANHPI: Lasting Legacies WHAT: White House Celebration of AANHPI: Lasting Legacies WHEN: May 13, 2024, 1:00 - 5:00 pm Eastern Time WHERE: In-person event, The Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. HOST: White House and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) DESCRIPTION: This landmark event in the heart of our nation’s capital will commemorate 25 years since the creation of the White House Initiative and the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. For the first time, current and former leaders spanning five presidential administrations will gather to honor this historic milestone and reflect on the progress AA and NHPI communities have achieved over the past 25 years. This event is open to the public. Individual registration is required to attend in-person. Please share this invitation with your networks. REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/3TX1IDg Back View PDF April 12, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #122 OSTP Hour; Senate Probes FBI; 4/4 Meeting; Sherry Chen Injustice; Video/Audio Reports #122 OSTP Hour; Senate Probes FBI; 4/4 Meeting; Sherry Chen Injustice; Video/Audio Reports Back View PDF March 31, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #280 Xenophobic Legislation; 9/9 Meeting; Mixed Enrollment; USSTA; AA History in States; + #280 Xenophobic Legislation; 9/9 Meeting; Mixed Enrollment; USSTA; AA History in States; + In This Issue #280 · CAPAC and Community Condemn U.S.-China Legislation Rooted in Xenophobia · 2024/09/09 APA Justice Monthly Meeting/APIAVote · Mixed Results In Enrollment After End of Affirmative Action · US-China Science and Technology Agreement · Asian American History Entering States · News and Activities for the Communities CAPAC and Community Condemn U.S.-China Legislation Rooted in Xenophobia On September 11, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed on a vote of 237-180, H.R. 1398 Protect America’s Innovation and Economic Security from CCP Act of 2024, a bill to reinstate the Trump-era China Initiative program. It also passed H.R. 9456, Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024, a bill to require the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review agricultural land purchases solely by immigrants from China, North Korea, Russia, or Iran.Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Chair Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28) issued the following statement:“With precious little time remaining to fund our government, House Republicans could have worked on a bipartisan basis this week to do so—supporting our veterans and protecting our homeland. Instead, they launched a partisan ‘China week’ that does nothing to improve our competitive advantages to the Chinese Community Party or seriously address national security interests. I am outraged by today’s passage of deceptively-named bills that would undermine our nation’s security and racially profile immigrants and Americans of Chinese and Asian descent. “The devastating H.R. 1398 would revive the Trump-era China Initiative, a program that purported to prosecute and curb cases of economic espionage but instead targeted innocent Asian American scientists for investigation and arrest because of their Chinese descent. This McCarthy-esque witch hunt, carried out by our own government, irreversibly ruined so many lives and careers while casting a chilling effect on our academic community that continues to damage our country’s global competitive edge and ability to stay on the cutting edge of scientific advancements. Ripped out of Trump’s Project 2025, this bill is an egregious outcome of xenophobic and fear-mongering rhetoric from Republicans who so prioritize the appearance of being ‘tough on China’ that they fail—or willfully ignore—to see or care about the havoc the China Initiative has wreaked on Asian American communities. So let me be clear: while we all want to stop American secrets from being stolen, investigations should be based on evidence of criminal activity, not race, ethnicity, or national origin.“H.R. 9456 is a call-back to the alien land laws of ugly parts of American history, and its dangerously broad language means that every legal immigrant and refugee from targeted countries, including China, Iran, and Russia, who want to pursue an American dream of owning a farm are treated as national security threats. It’s that kind of reasoning that directly led to the deprival of property rights for Chinese and Japanese immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries, and eventually the unjust incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans in World War II—none of whom were ever found to be spies for Japan.“I vehemently condemn the passage of these bills today, and commit to stopping any further consideration of them in Congress. We should always aim to pass legislation based on evidence it will lift us up—not tear us down based on our race, ethnicity, or national origin.” The fight is not over... On September 9, 2024, a coalition of over 70 organizations sent a joint letter to Congressional leaders, urging them not to revive the China Initiative. On September 10, 2024, the White House issued a policy statement strongly opposing H.R. 1398, warning that the bill would undermine the Department of Justice's ability to investigate and prosecute trade secret theft and economic espionage, especially by making it harder to secure cooperation from victims and witnesses. "The bill also could give rise to incorrect and harmful public perceptions that DOJ applies a different standard to investigate and prosecute criminal conduct related to the Chinese people or to American citizens of Chinese descent," the statement said.On September 11, 2024, at a news conference at the U.S. Capitol, Professors Gang Chen , Anming Hu , and Franklin Tao —targeted victims of the China Initiative who had their charges dismissed or were acquitted—called on lawmakers to stop efforts to relaunch the program.Community organizations, including Advancing Justice | AAJC, the Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), the Committee of 100 (C100), the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), and Stop AAPI Hate, issued strong condemnations of U.S.-China legislation rooted in xenophobia. These groups noted that the China Initiative had been dismantled due to its discriminatory practices and ineffectiveness, which destroyed the lives and careers of many scholars and researchers. It also contributed to a chilling effect on academic research and hindered the U.S. from attracting diverse talent. A joint statement called on the Senate to reject its further advancement.The community organizations condemned both H.R. 1398 and H.R. 9456, stating in a joint statement that, “The U.S. has a long history of anti-Asian scapegoating — of blaming everyday Asian people for the actions of foreign governments via inflammatory rhetoric and discriminatory policies. It’s a long-standing political tactic used by those in power to unfairly ‘other’ Asian people, manufacture suspicion and fear against them, and leverage that fear to manipulate Americans into supporting their agenda. Anti-Asian scapegoating has led to devastating consequences, as we saw with the Immigration Act of 1924 that banned all immigrants from Asia, the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, and more recently, the backlash against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Most Americans can agree that national security and economic security are important issues, and there are indeed responsible ways for our elected leaders to tackle them. However, we believe ‘China Week’ is being executed in bad faith and goes against our shared American values of freedom and equality for all. Rather than focusing solely on the actions of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) government, multiple pieces of legislation also seek to target everyday Americans and immigrant families who have done nothing wrong, simply because of their race, ethnicity, or national origin. “Today, we are once again witnessing an alarming rise in anti-Asian political rhetoric and legislation that is threatening the safety and rights of millions of Asians and Asian Americans in the U.S. As the policies of ‘China Week’ and the harmful rhetoric surrounding it have demonstrated, it is clearly part of the anti-Asian scapegoating playbook. ‘China Week’ is rooted in xenophobia and unless we hold our leaders accountable for it, our nation is bound to repeat the same horrific mistakes of the past.” Related Media Reports and Statements 2024/09/13 NBC News: During ‘China Week,’ House GOP revived surveillance program. Asian Americans are slamming it 2024/09/13 Northwest Asian Weekly: Civil rights groups criticize recent House votes on China legislation 2024/09/12 C100: Committee of 100 Strongly Condemns the Passing of China Initiative and Alien Land Law Bills by the U.S. House of Representatives 2024/09/12 NAPABA: NAPABA Condemns Passage of Bills That Would Reinstate the “China Initiative” 2024/09/12 AsAmNews: Asian American groups condemn house passage of China Initiative 2024/09/12 AAJC: Stop AAPI Hate, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Asian American Scholar Forum Condemn U.S.-China Legislation Rooted in Xenophobia 2024/09/11 AASF: Stop AAPI Hate, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Asian American Scholar Forum Condemn U.S.-China Legislation Rooted in Xenophobia 2024/09/11 CAPAC: CAPAC Chair Condemns House Votes Undermining National Security, Violating Civil Rights of Asian American Communities 2024/09/10 Executive Office of The President: State of Administration Policy 2024/09/09 Coalition Letter to Congress: Do Not Revive the China Initiative Watch the video recording of the proceedings: https://live.house.gov/?date=2024-09-11 (10:05:54) 2024/09/09 APA Justice Monthly Meeting/APIAVote We thank the following speakers for sharing their thoughts and insights at the APA Justice monthly meeting held on September 9, 2024: · Nisha Ramachandran , Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) · Joanna YangQing Derman , Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC · Gisela Perez Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) · Christine Chen , Co-Founder and Executive Director of Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) Vote · Jane Shim , Director, Stop Asian Hate Project, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) · Tori Bateman , Director of Advocacy, Quincy Institute · Sandy Shan , Director, Justice Is Global A meeting summary is being prepared and will be posted at https://www.apajustice.org/ after review by the speakers. Past monthly meeting summaries are available at https://bit.ly/3kxkqxP During the monthly meeting, Christine Chen emphasized the importance of voter turnout to demonstrate the political power of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community and influence legislation. September 17 is National Voter Registration Day, APIAVote has released the 2024 Civic Holidays Toolkit as a guide to helping to promote voting in our community through any and all social media platforms. APIAVote has also put out a call for volunteers with Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Urdu, Hindi, or Bengali language speaking abilities to help answer voters' calls for assistance with their ballots, voting rights, and more. APIAVote is also looking for phone bankers and text bankers to help communicate directly with millions of AAPIs across the country to get them educated, prepared and motivated to vote, participate in the political process, and get vaccinated. Mixed Results In Enrollment After End of Affirmative Action According to NBC News and multiple media reports, in the first college admissions process since the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action last year, Asian American enrollment at the most prestigious U.S. schools paints a mixed, uneven picture. Some Ivy League schools, including Columbia and Brown universities, showed an increase in Asian Americans for the class of 2028, while others, like Yale and Princeton, showed a decrease. Harvard, the most selective of the group, did not see a change at all. Experts said that it may take years to see the definitive impact of the decision, which restricted the consideration of race in college admissions. But it did not have the effect that many who opposed the policy had expected, they said. “The big takeaway is that folks who supported the lawsuit were saying, this would be such a big win for Asian Americans, that race-based admissions was some type of barrier to our upward mobility,” said OiYan Poon , faculty affiliate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign office of community college research and leadership. “What we’re seeing is that that’s not really bearing out,” Poon added.Columbia University — which, unlike the other Ivies, groups Pacific Islanders with Asian Americans — saw an increase of nine percentage points in its enrollment of Asian American applicants, while Brown saw an increase of four percentage points. At Yale, the racial group dropped by six points. And at Princeton, it decreased by 2.2 percentage points. Asian Americans remained 37% of Harvard’s freshman class. Read the NBC News report: https://nbcnews.to/4d931GX . According to the New York Times on September 13, 2024, a tracker of about 50 selective schools developed by the organization Education Reform Now showed that the percentage of Black enrollment is down at three-quarters of the schools, with some campuses more affected than others. The list of schools that have experienced declines in Black enrollment ranges from prestigious smaller colleges such as Amherst College, in Massachusetts, to highly selective Ivy League schools, like Brown and Columbia.Even as some schools saw big changes, others saw little change, or the numbers went in the opposite direction than was expected. Many of the schools are reporting stagnation or decline in Asian American enrollment, which may be attributed to the increase in students not reporting their race or ethnicity. “Asian Americans know they’re the target.”Read the New York Times report: https://nyti.ms/3Xu9beO . AsAmNews also reported on Asian Am enrollment drops at Yale & Princeton and No change in Asian American enrollment at Harvard US-China Science and Technology Agreement According to Nature on September 10, 2024, the United States and China have missed the deadline to renew a pact that governs their cooperation in science and technology. But they are close to agreeing on a way forwards. Over the past year, the two nations have been negotiating the terms and conditions of a decades-old pact, normally renewed every five years, that expired on 27 August 2023. The pact is symbolic in that it doesn’t provide any funding. But researchers in the United States and China say it is crucial because it lays the groundwork for building strong research collaborations between the two nations , which have so far announced two 6-month extensions to complete negotiations. But the latest deadline, August 27, has come and gone without them taking any action. A spokesperson for the US Department of State said in a statement to Nature that the agency is negotiating on behalf of the US government to “modernize” the agreement “to reflect the current status of the bilateral relationship”. “An agreement is getting near. They are working out the final language,” says Denis Simon , a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a foreign policy think-tank in Washington DC.“China is willing to renew the US–China pact to facilitate bilateral collaboration,” says Tang Li , a science- and innovation-policy researcher at Fudan University in Shanghai, China.Sources who spoke to Nature think that any announcement about the pact probably will not come until after the upcoming US presidential election in November.Read the Nature report: https://go.nature.com/47ooNFc Asian American History Entering States According to the Christian Science Monitor on September 4, 2024, as students return to classrooms in the United States, a quiet revolution is underway. More states nationwide have passed laws to teach Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) history in public schools. In July, Delaware became the latest state to pass such a mandate, joining Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Florida, and Wisconsin. In Connecticut, where the AAPI population has surged by more than 31% in the past decade, the push to include Asian American history is not just about education – it’s also about being neighborly. “These changes bring us all together to create and foster more understanding,” says Swaranjit Singh Khalsa a Norwich, Connecticut, councilman who contributed to the passage of his state’s mandate. “The curriculum is not only going to educate our kids but our teachers, our professors, and our parents. So I think we are creating a much more educated society. It’s not just limited to schools.” Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders make up one of the fastest-growing populations in the U.S. Yet their longstanding history in America is largely omitted from the classroom, says Jason Chang , director of the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute at the University of Connecticut and a co-founder of the state’s first Make Us Visible chapter.Some 18 states had no content on Asians in their K-12 history curriculum standards, a national study published in 2022 found. When textbooks did include parts of AAPI history, according to the study, by Kennesaw State University Professor Sohyun An , it was mainly about the U.S. internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, or the Chinese Exclusion Act in the 19th century. Yet 22 million Asian Americans trace their roots to more than 20 countries. Read the Christian Science Monitor report: https://bit.ly/3MDmdlq News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events:2024/09/19 1990 Teachers Workshop: Asian American Identity2024/09/19 AASF Public Forum with the National Institutes of Health2024/09/19-20 AANHPI Unity Summit2024/09/22 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/09/25 C100: State of Chinese American Survey 2024 2024/09/26 White House Initiative AA& NHPI Policy Summit2024/09/27 The War for Chinese Talent in America: The Politics of Technology and Knowledge in Sino-U.S. Relations2024/09/29 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/10/02 C100: Asian American Career Ceiling Initiative2024/10/06 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/10/07 APA Justice Monthly MeetingThe Community Calendar has moved. Visit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. APA Justice is Looking for a Communications Intern We are looking for a Communications Intern who has strong concerns about the challenges faced by Chinese Americans and Chinese in America today. The candidate should demonstrate an interest in learning more about the history and struggles of Chinese Americans in the U.S., and is familiar with social media platforms, including but not limited to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X. Knowledge of WeChat and ability to read Chinese are desired, but not required Strong writing, oral communication, and modern digital communication skills are highly desired.The Communications Intern is responsible for management and expansion of APA Justice's social media presence and to curate and extract relevant content from APA Justice Newsletters and other sources to share across social media and the APA Justice website, in collaboration with one or more partner organizations. Working hours are flexible, averaging about 5-10 hours per week. Compensation is $15-20 per hour depending on qualifications. No additional benefits are provided.Qualified candidates should contact Professor Steven Pei at peiuh8@gmail.com or contact@apajustice.org . Back View PDF September 17, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

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