China Initiative: Past and Present 中国行动的前世今生 2025 MSU China Initiative Wednesday, March 12, 2025 A virtual discussion on the life and afterlife of the China Initiative, a Trump Administration program that has used racial profiling and fears of espionage to target Asian American scholars and researchers for investigation. Lok Siu presentation Jeremy Wu presentation The webinar was not recorded. 20250312 China Initiative_APAS.png 20250312 Wu & Siu Bios.png Previous Item Next Item

​AAJC and Asian Law Caucus have submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for all records relating to the U.S. Customs & Border Protection enforcement, treatment, and denial of admissions of students with connections to China. August 10, 2020 On August 10, 2020, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC and Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Asian Law Caucus submitted a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request for all records relating to the U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) enforcement, treatment, and denial of admissions of students with connections to China. "Hateful rhetoric from public leaders has created a climate of fear for Asians and Asian Americans living in the United States. Public statements by government officials against Chinese students have had a chilling effect on international students and scholars, particularly those from China seeking only to graduate and finish their studies," the FOIA says. "In 2018, the Department of Justice (DOJ) laid the general groundwork for a hawkish shift towards China when they announced the China Initiative. With this initiative, the DOJ began to see connections to China as a threat and increased its efforts to investigate and prosecute individuals with Chinese ancestry for alleged espionage. This was despite growing concerns from civil society about implicit bias, discrimination, and race & ethnicity based profiling." "Moreover, since 2019, we have seen reports of CBP denying admissions to Chinese students while providing little to no information for the reasons why... It is imperative that CBP provides our communities and the public with information on its decisions to refuse entry and admission to students connected to China. The public has a strong interest in getting this information considering the government’s potential targeting of individuals of Chinese or Asian descent based on their race or ethnicity." AAJC and Asian Law Caucus have submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for all records relating to the U.S. Customs & Border Protection enforcement, treatment, and denial of admissions of students with connections to China. Previous Next FOIA Request on Chinese and International Students

Newsletter - #317 Dr. Bryant Lin; Rep. Sylvester Turner; NIH Cuts Blocked Amidst Fear; DOGE Errors; + #317 Dr. Bryant Lin; Rep. Sylvester Turner; NIH Cuts Blocked Amidst Fear; DOGE Errors; + In This Issue #317 · NYT : Dr. Bryant Lin Got Cancer; He Didn't Quit · Remembering Congressman Sylvester Turner · Trump's Cuts to NIH Blocked Amidst Fear and Uncertainty · DOGE Errors and Questions of Transparency · News and Activities for the Communities NYT : Dr. Bryant Lin Got Cancer; He Didn't Quit According to New York Times on February 26, 2025, Dr. Bryant Lin 林百里 , a Stanford University professor and physician, was given a terminal Stage 4 lung cancer at age 50. A nonsmoker, he had spent much of his career researching lung cancer in Asian populations—only to find himself facing the very disease he had studied. Instead of withdrawing, he chose to teach a deeply personal course, “From Diagnosis to Dialogue: A Doctor’s Real-Time Battle With Cancer,” in which he shared his journey as both a doctor and a patient.The course filled immediately, with students even sitting on the floor to attend. Dr. Lin was moved by their enthusiasm, telling them, “It’s quite an honor for me, honestly. The fact that you would want to sign up for my class.”Throughout the 10-week course, he remained upbeat, guiding students through discussions on the psychology of illness, difficult medical conversations, and the role of spirituality in coping with disease. His wife, Christine Chan , spoke in a session on caregiving, describing her challenges and their family’s adjustments. Despite the severity of his condition, Dr. Lin’s humor shone through—when discussing new treatment options, he quipped, “Asking for a friend!”In one lecture, Dr. Lin shared a letter from a dying patient who had chosen to end dialysis, expressing gratitude for his care, “You treated me as you would treat your own father.”Dr. Lin explained that this moment stayed with him and inspired him to give back through his class. His goal was to help students see the humanity in medicine and, perhaps, inspire some to work in cancer care. By the final lecture, when he asked how many were considering that path, about a third raised their hands.His closing remarks echoed Lou Gehrig ’s famous farewell, “Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.” He expressed gratitude for his students, family, and colleagues, stating, “I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for.”The class had an impact beyond medical training. Some students encouraged their families to get screened for lung cancer. One freshman, Gideon Witchel , took the course to better understand his mother’s past battle with breast cancer. Inspired by Dr. Lin, he finally talked to her about her illness, reading through letters she had written during treatment.Dr. Lin referred to his course as his “letter” to students, sharing his lessons while he still had time. Privately, he had written a personal letter for his sons to read after he was gone: “Whether I’m here or not, what I want you to know is that I love you. Of the many things I’ve done that have given my life meaning, being your daddy is the greatest of all.”His story became one of resilience, education, and love—an unfinished puzzle that others would continue piecing together.Read the New York Times article: https://bit.ly/43sYFZU Remembering Congressman Sylvester Turner According to multiple media reports, Congressman Sylvester Turner passed away suddenly on March 4, 2025. He was 70.Rep. Turner was elected to represent Texas' 18th Congressional District in the November 2024 election. The district includes much of inner-city Houston and the surrounding areas. Before him, the seat was held by late-Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee . Rep. Jackson Lee represented the district from 1995 until July 2024, when she died of pancreatic cancer. Prior to joining Congress this year, Rep. Turner was mayor of Houston and a member of the Texas House of Representatives.Both Reps. Turner and Jackson Lee participated actively in the opposition of the Texas alien land bill SB147 in 2023, taking to the streets and marching with the Asian American communities. According to Houston Public Media on January 23, 2023, then-Houston-Mayor Turner said, "Senate Bill 147 is just down right wrong. It is more divisive than anything else. Houston, the most diverse city in the United States, stands as one to say that we all should stand against 147." Trump's Cuts to NIH Blocked Amidst Fear and Uncertainty As of March 6, 2025, the number of lawsuits against President Donald Trump 's executive actions reported by the Just Security Litigation Tracker has grown to 104.According to AP News , New York Times , STAT , and multiple media reports, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from slashing National Institutes of Health (NIH) payments for research indirect cost, a decision that suggests plaintiffs seeking to overturn the sweeping policy change are likely to eventually succeed. “Absent a nationwide injunction, institutions across the country will be forced to operate with the same uncertainty, resulting in the types of irreparable harm that a preliminary injunction is meant to prevent,” she wrote.Judge Kelley made the ruling in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. National Institutes of Health (1:25-cv-10338) which was filed in the U.S. Court for the District of Massachusetts. The case combined three lawsuits brought by coalitions of Democratic states, universities, and medical associations. Dr. David J. Skorton of the Association of American Medical Colleges, one of the plaintiffs, applauded the ruling. “These unlawful cuts would slow medical progress and cost lives,” he wrote in a statement, saying the NIH-funded research “benefits every person and community in America.”According to the Washington Post on March 6, 2025, the Trump administration’s orders have created more turmoil and damage at the NIH than was previously known. On January 24, 2025, the Trump administration installed Matthew Memoli , a longtime NIH influenza researcher and physician who was not part of the senior leadership ranks, as acting director, bypassing Lawrence Tabak , principal deputy director of NIH who served as acting director for two years under the Biden administration. That initial shock marked the beginning of six weeks of turmoil for NIH's scientific staff. In just that short period, the Trump administration reshaped NIH's leadership, stalled its core mission of identifying cutting-edge research to fund, and effectively silenced personnel at the world's largest biomedical research sponsor—a $48 billion operation supporting roughly 300,000 external scientists. The Washington Post provides a detailed week-by-week summary of the events.Even in a climate of fear, NIH employees say they want to protect their institution. They worry this winter of disruption may be causing lasting damage to the way science is conducted in the United States. “The whole thing could just disappear,” said Phil Murphy , senior investigator and chief of the laboratory of molecular immunology at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). “The biomedical research enterprise in the United States depends largely on NIH dollars. You take the dollars away, the labs go away, and you lose the next generation of scientists.” Latest Developments with Federal Employees According to AP News on March 5, 2025, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 180 employees who were laid off two weeks ago can come back to work. An email was reportedly sent with the subject line, “Read this e-mail immediately.” It said that “after further review and consideration,” a February 15 termination notice has been rescinded and the employee was cleared to return to work on Wednesday. “You should return to duty under your previous work schedule,” it said. “We apologize for any disruption that this may have caused.”According to NPR on March 5, 2025, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to temporarily reinstate close to 6,000 employees fired since February 13, finding reasonable grounds to believe the agency acted illegally in terminating them. MSPB issued a stay , ordering the USDA to return the fired workers to their jobs for 45 days while an investigation continues. The MSPB acts as an internal court to consider federal employees' complaints against the government. According to MSPB , the weekly number of cases it receives has spiked since February, reaching 2,178 in the most recent week. According to Federal News Network on March 4, 2025, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has just rehired about half of the employees it fired two weeks ago. The reversal comes after a federal judge ruled in American Federation Of Government Employees, AFL-CIO v. United States Office of Personnel Management (3:25-cv-01780) that the Trump administration's directives telling agencies to fire their probationary employees were illegal. The reinstated workers will receive backpay and will not see a break in service. While 84 employees will be going back to work, the other 86 fired workers will still be out of their jobs. NSF said that is because they were intermittent employees and not full-time staff members. DOGE Errors and Its Lack of Transparency According to New York Times on March 3, 2025, for the second time in a week, Elon Musk’s "Department Government Efficiency" updated its “wall of receipts” to remove mistakes that inflated its success, erasing over $4 billion in claimed savings. It deleted or altered more than 1,000 contracts—40% of last week's listings. Total reported savings has dropped from $16 billion to under $9 billion since February 19.Experts have flagged numerous errors, including miscalculations, duplicate entries, and contracts that ended long ago. According to Inside Higher Ed on March 5, 2025, education scholars say the administration’s rash of cuts and lack of quality transparency will have a “devastating effect” on public policy and student outcomes for years to come.On February 18, 2025, President Trump ordered federal agencies to disclose all terminated programs, contracts, and grants to enhance transparency. However, the Department of Education has not provided details on cuts totaling $1.9 billion, despite requests. Critics argue the administration is failing to be truly transparent, with experts warning that these cuts will significantly impact research, policymaking, and education outcomes.“The cuts that happened recently are going to have far-reaching impacts, and those impacts could really be long term unless some rapid action is taken,” said Mamie Voight , president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy. “To eliminate data, evidence and research is working in opposition to efficiency,” she said.In a recent analysis, titled “ Running Down DOGE’s Department of Education Receipts ,” Nat Malkus , deputy director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, compared a leaked list of the 89 terminated Institute of Education Sciences contracts, along with detailed data from USASpending.gov * , to those DOGE had posted on its website. He said he found major inconsistencies in how savings were calculated. Antoinette Flores , director of higher education accountability and quality at New America, conducted similar research and also found that the DOGE data does not add up and exaggerates the savings. “It’s absolutely hypocrisy,” she said. “It feels like we’re all being gaslit. I don’t know why they are saying they want to be transparent without being transparent.” * What is USASpending.gov ? USASpending.gov is the official U.S. government website that tracks federal spending. It provides public access to data on how taxpayer dollars are allocated, including details on federal contracts, grants, loans, and other financial assistance. The site is managed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and aims to enhance transparency by allowing users to search and analyze government expenditures across agencies, recipients, and specific programs.USASpending.gov was created as part of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) of 2006, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on September 26, 2006. The website was launched in 2007. News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2025/03/12 MSU Webinar on China Initiative2025/03/16 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/03/26 Policing White Supremacy: The Enemy Within2025/03/30 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/04/07 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2025/04/13 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/04/24-26 Committee of 100 Annual Conference and Gala2025/04/27 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/05/05 APA Justice Monthly MeetingVisit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. 03/12 MSU Webinar: The China Initiative On March 12, 2025, please join the webinar hosted by Michigan State University's Asian Pacific American Studies Program for an insightful discussion of the past and present of the China Initiative, a Trump administration program that targeted Asian American scholars and researchers for investigation and prosecution. Dr. Lok Siu of UC Berkeley and Dr. Jeremy Wu of APA Justice will speak at the event moderated by Dr. Kent Weber of Michigan State University.Register to attend: https://bit.ly/4hVaITO 3. USCET 2025 Summer Internship Opens The U.S.-China Education Trust (USCET) is accepting applications from undergraduate juniors, seniors, and graduate students passionate about U.S.-China relations. This hybrid, part-time internship at a nonprofit dedicated to cross-cultural dialogue offers hands-on experience and the opportunity to earn a stipend or academic credit. Read the job description and follow application steps here: https://bit.ly/3Nz4Tyi . Application Deadline: March 28, 2025, at 11:59 PM ET. 4. Erratum In APA Justice Newsletter Issue #316 , Jeremy Berg was incorrectly identified as a former director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He previously served as the director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a division of NIH. We regret the error. Back View PDF March 7, 2025 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #95 "China Initiative;" OSTP; ACLU, Sherry Chen, Mass Surveillance; 11/01 Meeting Summary #95 "China Initiative;" OSTP; ACLU, Sherry Chen, Mass Surveillance; 11/01 Meeting Summary Back View PDF November 10, 2021 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #143 Special Edition: Letters Opposing the Casey Arrowood Nomination Sent #143 Special Edition: Letters Opposing the Casey Arrowood Nomination Sent Back View PDF September 8, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #195: 6/5 Meeting; Voting Assistance; Stand With Asian Americans; Houston Safety #195: 6/5 Meeting; Voting Assistance; Stand With Asian Americans; Houston Safety In This Issue #195 2023/06/05 Monthly Meeting Summary Posted Asian Americans Feel Particularly Targeted By New Laws Criminalizing Those Who Assist Voters No Longer Suffering In Silence: Asian Americans Denied Tech Leadership Roles Go To Court Houston Town Hall Meetings on Asiatown Community Safety 2023/06/05 Monthly Meeting Summary Posted The June 5, 2023, APA Justice monthly meeting summary has been posted at https://bit.ly/42N0htX . We thank the following speakers for their updates and discussions: Casey Lee , Policy Advisor, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), provided updates on the Preemption of Real Property Discrimination Act introduced by Reps. Al Green and Judy Chu and uplifted a primer on the alien land law issue that was published by Edgar Chen , Special Policy Advisor, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Joanna Derman , Director of the Anti-Profiling, Civil Rights and National Security Program, gave updates on three Advancing Justice | AAJC activities: (a) messaging guidance and suggested talking points on how to frame conversations and policy work related to US-China strategic competition, (b) tracking all discriminatory land laws being introduced across the country, and (c) bill analysis guide on US-China legislation and determine its potential for immediate harm. Mary Tablante , Associate Director of Strategic Communications, Asian American Scholar Forum, gave updates on three activities: (a) a video series titled “Project Pioneer” with the National Science Foundation on contributions of Asian American and immigrant pioneers to the US and the world, (b) meetings with the Biden Administration to educate and give voice to issues of concern from the scholar community, and (c) convening an event in partnership with the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies on presidential appointments in the Federal Government. Elizabeth Goitein , Senior Director, Liberty & National Security Program, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, gave a briefing on the history, problems, and ongoing legislative battle over the reauthorization of section 702 of FISA. Section 702 authorizes warrantless surveillance. It is supposed to target only foreigners overseas, but for the last 15 years it has become a rich source of warrantless access to American’s communications - their emails, their phone calls, their text messages - in a way that completely undermines Congress's intent and Americans’ constitutional rights. Asian Americans and Chinese Americans in particular are extremely likely to be victims of these types of abuses. The Brennan Center's position is that Congress should not reauthorize Section 702 without significant, sweeping reforms. In the case of Professor Xiaoxing Xi 郗小星 , a physics professor at Temple University, he was prosecuted based on false charges that he had shared secret information about superconductor technology. Those charges were the result of the Government's misreading of emails that the Government had intercepted. The Government ultimately had to drop the charges, but only after significant damage to Dr. Xi and his family. Dr. Xi has filed suit against the Government. In that suit, he alleges that the Government accesses emails using Section 702. Clay Zhu 朱可亮 , Partner, DeHeng Law Offices 德恒律师事务所; Founder, Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance (CALDA) 华美维权同盟, gave an update on the lawsuit led by the legal team of CALDA, ACLU, AALDELF, and a law firm against the discriminatory Florida Senate Bill 264 which was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis into law on May 22. The legal team was working on a motion for preliminary injunction. The legal team has received tremendous support from organizations and communities. It shows our communities have realized that this is something we need to take a stand. Clay has also received tremendous support from sister and partner organizations and is monitoring the situations in other states. There is a lot of community efforts happening in Texas and Florida by Professor Steven Pei 白先慎 and many other people and Texas-based organizations lobbying the legislature and voicing our opposition to the bills. Ashley Gorski , Senior Staff Attorney, National Security Project, ACLU, commented that it is essential that we do all that we can to stop this Florida bill in its tracks to prevent copycat litigation from going forward and to work alongside so many community organizations that have been doing the hard work of advocating directly with the legislatures to try to stop these bills from going into effect. Ashley underscores that this law is stigmatizing and discriminatory just by virtue of it being in the books. People's lives are very concretely affected by this law going into effect. They risk losing deposits on the property that they have already contracted. If this law goes into effect, they are going to lose out on the opportunity to purchase that property. A real estate brokerage firm has already seen a decline in prospective clients and expects to lose a significant percentage of its business because of this law. Bethany Li , Legal Director, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), commented that the work that we are doing here on this case is very much in line with the China initiatives that we have done in the past, such as with the South Asian and Muslim community after 9/11. Asian American communities have been targeted for being national security threats and harmed. Throughout the call today, we are hearing not just the alien land law passed in Florida and the ones that we continue to monitor, but also a lot of the surveillance issues that have affected Asian American communities across the board as well as communities of color. One of the ways in which we try to approach our work against violence in Asian American communities is to pay closer attention to how the United States and different states enact laws and policies at different levels contribute to that violence, despite their rhetoric about wanting to protect and support Asian American communities from violence. Haipei Shue 薛海培 , President, United Chinese Americans, reported from Florida where he convened a two-day statewide retreat with the Chinese American community leaders to summarize what they have learned and how to move forward on community matters. With the sudden appearance of the alien land bill, the participants not only saw the bill firsthand, but many were also actively involved in fighting it. About 60 people from six major cities in Florida attended the retreat in Orlando. A new 501(c)(4) organization was born out of this protest movement. The name is Florida Asian American Justice Alliance (FAAJA). At the same time, Chinese American communities in Louisiana and Alabama are still fighting against the bills that impact their lives in their states. The alien land bills impact the Chinese community countrywide. UCA will have similar retreats in other states that have been affected by such laws and prepare for next year, a presidential election year. Participants from California, Georgia, North and South Carolina to Florida. have joined weekly meetings started by Texas state representative Gene Wu every Sunday evening since February. Gene Wu 吳元之 , Member, Texas House of Representatives, saw how angry the community has become because of the importance of the alien land bills, massive organizational efforts, and some real key leaders stepping up to fill the gap. That was how the Texas bills were defeated. The real key was the community’s participation. It is very clear in other states like Louisiana and Florida, they did not have a strong Asian presence in the legislative body. Gene was glad to see in many other states, African American legislators just stood up and took the lead in defending against some of these bills. We need more national leadership on this issue because this issue is not going away. This is an existential crisis for the Asian community and especially for the Chinese community. We have periods and waves of anti-Chinese, anti-Asian sentiment in our nation's history, but this is one of the strongest pushes against our community that Gene has ever seen. Either we stand up and fight, or it is game over. The laws are just the tip of the wave, the crest of the coming wave is anti-Asian hate. There is a perfect storm of Covid, of tensions with China, and economic factors that are going to create the right environment for dramatically increased anti-Asian hate. It should be incumbent upon all Asian communities to start a campaign nationally that this is wrong. It is racist to hold Asian Americans responsible for what happens in other parts of the world when you don't do that to anybody else. We need to engage our media celebrities. We need to engage elected officials. We need to engage the President. We need to engage a lot of other groups to push back against this. A part of this is also fighting these bills at the national level. Read the 6/5 meeting summary: https://bit.ly/46GI6ZO . Watch the 6/5 meeting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBYYQipLmis (1:36:15). Read past monthly meeting summaries: https://bit.ly/3kxkqxP Asian Americans Feel Particularly Targeted By New Laws Criminalizing Those Who Assist Voters According to the Associated Press (AP) on July 7, 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 Gov. 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. The NAACP and other groups that register voters sued the state over provisions in a larger elections bill Republican Gov. DeSantis signed on the same day he announced he is running for president. its passage reflects the effort by DeSantis and other GOP leaders to crack down on access to the ballot.“If there’s not access, in terms of language, we can’t get to as many people, which particularly affects AAPI voters,” Executive Director Leah Nash of the League of Women Voters said, referring to the state’s Asian American and Pacific Island population, which has grown rapidly and where more than 30% of adults have limited English proficiency.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.“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. Ashley 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. Farha Ahmed , an attorney in Texas, said the increased liability in helping these marginalized communities access the ballot box forced her to decide against continuing as an election judge, a position that administers voting procedures and settles disputes concerning election laws. “There’s not a lot of resources and there’s not a lot of protection,” said Ahmed. “Election judges want to help make it easy for people to vote, but with these new laws in place, they’re very unsure of where is their liability when they’re really just trying to do their best to help.”A section of Georgia’s 2021 election bill made it a misdemeanor to offer a voter any money or gifts at polling places, a provision that included passing out water and snacks for those waiting in lines. Attempts to get a court to toss out the ban on snacks and water have so far been unsuccessful. 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.Read the AP report: https://bit.ly/3NM9z3s No Longer Suffering In Silence: Asian Americans Denied Tech Leadership Roles Go To Court According to USA Today on July 6, 2023, Vaishnavi Jayakumar joined Facebook and Instagram owner Meta after stints at Disney, Google and Twitter in January 2020. Her job on the youth policy team was to protect children and teens from bullying, harassment and other forms of abuse. But Jayakumar – an Asian American originally from Singapore – says she couldn’t shield herself from racial bias on the job. Soon after inquiring how she could move up at Meta, Jayakumar says her supervisor began leaving her out of opportunities and initiatives that used to be in her scope and “layering” her under less experienced employees. Despite years of experience and positive feedback as a team player, Jayakumar says her supervisor told her she was not senior or collaborative enough to be promoted, according to a complaint Jayakumar filed with California’s Civil Rights Department.While her workload and responsibilities increased, Jayakumar says her performance ratings began to slip. “I've never felt more keenly that as an Asian woman, I'm destined to be a worker, I'm not destined to be a leader,” she said in an interview. “And that's an awful feeling... The generations of men and women before us had to suffer in silence. I don't think any one of us wants this to continue for a minute longer than it already has.”Jayakumar is one of a growing number of Asian Americans in the tech industry breaking their silence and going public with charges of discrimination and retaliation. In a series of recently filed lawsuits, they say that racial biases spanning decades in Silicon Valley that typecast Asian Americans as worker bees have shut them out of management and executive positions with greater power, profile and pay.Research shows that Asian Americans are the most likely to be hired in professional roles yet the least likely of all racial groups to break into tech company leadership. At Meta, 46% of employees were Asian American in 2021, but just 27% of executives. White employees, on the other hand, accounted for 39% of Meta's workforce but 58% of its executives.“The tech industry has made progress in becoming more racially diverse in its workforce but has made virtually no progress in becoming more racially equitable in its leadership pipeline,” said Buck Gee , an executive adviser to Ascend Foundation, the nation’s largest network of Asian American professionals. Asian Americans are left out of diversity discussions and initiatives because there is a perception that they don’t face adversity in the workplace when, in fact, the economic realities for Asians and Asian Americans vary greatly, particularly for those in low-wage and low-opportunity jobs on H-1B visas, said Pawan Dhingra , president of the Association for Asian American Studies president and a professor at Amherst College. “Asians are seen as an immigrant group that in many ways is doing pretty well," Dhingra said. "There is not a major movement to worry about the plight of Asian Americans outside of hate crimes on the street.”That began to change with the groundswell of anti-Asian hate and violence during the COVID pandemic. Participation in employee resource groups and workplace activism surged. More Asian Americans began calling out workplace bias, even in the insular tech industry. “The pandemic really galvanized the community, especially those of us in tech, because I think we all saw that what was happening in the streets was happening in the workplace,” said Jack Song , who advises tech startups on their communications and branding. Song says he was inspired to share his story publicly by Justin Zhu , the ex-CEO of tech startup Iterable who is suing his former company and co-founded the nonprofit organization Stand with Asian Americans to help others in a similar situation. Zhu says he filed a lawsuit alleging retaliation after he says he was fired for raising complaints about anti-Asian discrimination. Not everyone has the resources to fight back, Zhu says. So Stand with Asian Americans is launching a workplace justice initiative."A core purpose of the workplace justice initiative is to show that you are not alone in fighting racism in the workplace. We connect people with survivors who have faced discrimination, give moral support, give legal support and we help them tell their story so they can get the support they need in this David vs. Goliath fight," he told USA Today . Ben Huynh says his troubles began in May 2022 when he was promoted into the management ranks at software company Coda. Huynh says he didn’t get a pay increase with the promotion unlike his peers and believed he was earning less than his peers. So he complained to human resources. “Despite the quality of my work, once I had spoken out, the gates began closing around me,” said Huynh, who is Vietnamese American. “I felt iced out and like a pariah.” “There's a shift because people are seeing that they have to take action or things will not change,” said Huynh, who filed a lawsuit against Coda in June, alleging discrimination and retaliation based on race. “If we want to see something change, we have to do something about it.”But with the industry roiled by large-scale layoffs that are disproportionately affecting people of color, the decision to act can be fraught, said attorney Charles Jung . Asian Americans often worry that no one will have their back if they come forward, said Jung, a name partner with Nassiri & Jung. The few Asians who make it to the top seem hesitant to rock the boat or bring up diversity issues, he said.Jung’s client Andre Wong , who is Chinese American, says he found out firsthand the consequences of speaking out in an industry where anti-Asian bias is rarely acknowledged. Wong, who worked at Lumentum for more than 20 years, says he led the development of the company’s most profitable product line and helped the company expand into new markets.In 2021, Wong says he helped start the Asian Employee Resource group which obtained demographic data showing that while 60% of Lumentum’s U.S. workforce is Asian, senior executives were mostly white, with less than 15% of them Asian. In May 2022, Wong said he was given a “glass cliff” assignment – a role that women and minorities are handed with little chance of success – as the only non-white employee on a team. He says he accepted the assignment with assurances he would soon be considered for a promotion to senior vice president. Instead, he was terminated in December. Wong is suing Lumentum for $20 million in damages. He says he would donate a big chunk of any award he receives to the cause of fighting anti-Asian discrimination. “Asian Americans are the engine behind all these tech companies. Many of these technical teams are almost exclusively Asian American employees. But the leadership in strategic or business positions are not minorities," Wong said. "When you finally step back and see it, it’s so stark.” Read the USA Today report: https://bit.ly/3D4mCsk Houston Town Hall Meetings on Asiatown Community Safety According to Houston Public Media on July 7, 2023, Houston police said they are still looking for a second suspect involved in a shooting robbery that led to a restaurant worker being hospitalized. During a townhall meeting in Houston’s Asiatown in the evening of July 6, police said they arrested the first suspect in the robbery of Holam Cheng , who was shot four times, but still need help on finding the second. The meeting was held to address concerns of crime in the community, especially after Cheng was shot. The meeting was attended by U.S. Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green , Texas state representative Gene Wu , Chief Troy Finner and Assistant Chief Ben Tien .Throughout the meeting community members discussed concerns with their own experiences. One speaker claimed he and his sister were the victims of a hate crime, but they have yet to get a case number from police on it. “I ended up with concussion, my sister ended up in the hospital with life threatening injuries, she spent a couple of weeks in the hospital. And I’ve reported it to the police and our investigator,” he said. “He refused to contact the perpetrators, three white men. And he refused to interview them.”Finner said he would make sure that he got a case number and would personally look into the case.Other speakers said they wanted the department to increase officers patrolling in Asiatown, and address language barriers when reporting crimes. Finner warned the community that some see them as a target, and to be vigilant.Read the Houston Public Media report: https://bit.ly/43ciTDD Asian residents in Houston demand more bilingual officers to fight crime The second townhall was held in the morning of July 8 at the Chinese Civic Center. HPD Assistant Police Chief Yasar Bashir , Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena , representation from HCSO, U.S. Congressional Members Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green , Texas State Senator John Whitmire , Stafford City Council member Alice Chen attended. The discussion was led by Texas State Representative Gene Wu .According Fox26 on July 8, 2023, Asian residents in Houston are concerned about crime in their community and are calling for more bilingual officers to help them feel safe. Residents said in the meeting they are worried about the recent violent crime in the Asiatown area. They specifically cited the case of Holam Cheng , who police say was robbed and shot six times on June 25.According to an update from GoFundMe , "my father has woken up thankfully. He has been undergoing many surgeries and will be continuing to. Thank you everyone for the blessings and support. We will share updates whenever possible."Read and watch the Fox26 report: https://bit.ly/3D30Rc2 Back View PDF July 10, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #291 VOTE! Scholars Speak Up; Chinese Scientists; Stakes for Science; Project 2025; More #291 VOTE! Scholars Speak Up; Chinese Scientists; Stakes for Science; Project 2025; More In This Issue #291 · Scholars Nationwide Endorsed Stanford Letter Opposing Reinstatement of "China Initiative" · China-Born Scientists Face Uncertainty as US Election Looms · Science: The Stakes for Science: What the Next President Could Mean for Research · "Project 2025: An Existential Threat to Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders" · News and Activities for the Communities November 5, 2024, is Election Day. You will make a difference in the election. Vote if you have not done so already! Scholars Nationwide Endorsed Stanford Letter Opposing Reinstatement of "China Initiative" According to the Asian American Scholar Forum, nearly 2,000 faculty members and senior staff from U.S. colleges, universities, and affiliated research laboratories in 46 states and the District of Columbia have joined a growing list of endorsers on an October 8, 2024, letter originally initiated by 166 Stanford University faculty. The letter, led by Professors Steven A. Kivelson and Peter F. Michelson, urges Senate and House leaders— Charles E. Schumer , Mitch McConnell , Mike Johnson , and Hakeem S. Jeffries —not to reinstate the Department of Justice’s "China Initiative." This initiative, they argue, risks undermining U.S. scientific leadership and deterring international STEM talent. The letter highlights that the "national security and economic advantages of U.S. leadership in science and engineering" are strengthened by welcoming international talent. Citing a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), it warns that other nations, including competitors, are increasingly benefiting from talented individuals the U.S. fails to attract or retain. "A failure to fully capitalize on our advantage in educating and attracting foreign-born science and engineering talent would be a policy ‘own goal’ in an era of increased geopolitical competition for leadership in advanced technologies,” the letter states. America’s strength, it asserts, lies in its openness to diverse global talents.Read the October 28 update letter : https://bit.ly/4ec4Sem . China-Born Scientists Face Uncertainty as US Election Looms According to the South China Morning Post on October 31, 2024, Chinese American scientists are concerned over the implications of the 2024 U.S. presidential election and the possible reinstatement of the China Initiative or its equivalent, which targeted Chinese-born researchers in the name of national security. Researchers like economist Yan Chen and physicist Xiaoxing Xi offer differing views on the candidates, with Chen hoping for a Trump loss due to fears of renewed hostility toward Chinese Americans in academia. Xi, however, is skeptical that a Harris administration would reverse the current bipartisan stance that views China as a primary geopolitical threat. The now-defunct China Initiative, launched in 2018 by the Department of Justice under Trump, aimed to counter China’s economic espionage but led to disproportionate scrutiny of Chinese American and immigrant academics. Instead of uncovering spies, it often targeted minor administrative infractions, such as failures to disclose affiliations with Chinese institutions. Examples of this overreach include Dr. Franklin Tao , a former University of Kansas professor, whose career was damaged and financial stability ruined by costly legal battles. Dr. Anming Hu , a professor at the University of Tennessee, faced equally severe consequences after an FBI investigation misinterpreted his work due to a lack of understanding of academic collaborations. Charges against Hu were ultimately dropped, and he was reinstated to the university, but his career and personal life suffered lasting impacts, including stress-related health issues for his family. Studies by legal researcher Andrew Chongseh Kim reveal an increase in espionage-related prosecutions against Chinese Americans since 2009, highlighting a shift in the U.S. perception of China as a strategic threat. Kim notes that Chinese Americans comprised only 16% of espionage defendants from 1996 to 2008; after 2009, this number tripled, reflecting the broader national security emphasis. Investigations have also impacted Chinese American cancer researchers at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, where many were dismissed or forced to leave their roles, even without concrete evidence of wrongdoing. Ongoing investigations by agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have intensified the “chilling effect” on Chinese American academics, discouraging them from federal grant applications and collaborative research. The Asian American Scholar Forum recently held a public meeting with NIH leaders to address these concerns, where scholars expressed frustration over the lack of accountability and the significant harm done to their careers and reputations. Denis Simon , a Duke University professor, warns of the potential long-term damage to U.S. science and technology fields due to the climate of fear, which may deter young talent from China from studying in the United States. He cautions that continuing to target Chinese-born scientists will hamper the country's scientific advancement. Despite the formal end of the "China Initiative," Simon argues that ongoing tensions have escalated, and educational institutions fear repercussions if perceived as too "China-friendly." This atmosphere, fueled by bipartisan support for tougher policies on China, has strained not only individual scientists but also broader academic collaboration, risking an innovation gap as the U.S. disengages from some of the world’s leading research talent and perspectives. Read the South China Morning Post report: https://bit.ly/4f2nT4n Science : The Stakes for Science: What the Next President Could Mean for Research The cover of the October 18 issue of Science highlighted "The Stakes for Science: What the Next President Could Mean for Research?" According to the editorial, the 2024 election has drawn attention to key issues shaping the U.S. scientific landscape, highlighting concerns about global competitiveness, talent retention, and political influences on science policy. In 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic at its peak, science was at the forefront of political debate. Fast forward to 2024, science has largely been relegated to the background as economic concerns dominate the national conversation. This shift highlights the persistent difficulty in maintaining consistent political support for science and technology in the U.S.As China’s rapid rise in scientific output surpasses that of the U.S., concerns about America’s global scientific standing have come to the forefront. China’s lead in research publications and the growing quality of its scientific output signal a shift that alarms many in the U.S. scientific and political communities, where the long-standing scientific and technological dominance has been foundational to U.S. geopolitical power since World War II.In response, both Republicans and Democrats have pursued increasingly restrictive policies regarding collaboration with Chinese researchers, citing national security concerns. The editorial highlights how these restrictions, originally introduced under Trump’s administration, have persisted under Biden, albeit with a different rhetorical approach. "Today’s politicians are more focused on overprotecting the tiny amount of know-how they fear could slip out of the US than on the overall success of the country’s scientific enterprise," the editorial said. While Trump’s administration openly employed anti-Asian rhetoric and policies, labeling Chinese scholars as potential security threats, the Biden administration has also maintained some of these restrictive measures, albeit under the guise of protecting intellectual property. The result has been a "chilling effect" on U.S.-China research partnerships, leading many Chinese scientists to return to China, depriving U.S. institutions of talent in fields critical to American innovation. These policies have raised concerns within the U.S. scientific community that they might undermine America’s long-term competitiveness by stifling collaboration and alienating researchers."This is bleeding the US of talent and squandering millions of federal dollars that have been invested in the development of Chinese scientists who might otherwise have stayed," the editorial said.This loss of talent is not a minor issue; it undermines decades of U.S. investment in building a diverse and world-leading scientific workforce. For years, the U.S. has benefited from the immigration of highly skilled scientists, many from China, who have played a key role in driving innovation in industries ranging from biotechnology to artificial intelligence. The recent political climate, however, has reversed this trend. Policies driven by national security concerns are seen by many as overly intrusive and counterproductive, focusing more on restricting access to knowledge rather than fostering innovation.Amid these growing tensions, there is also increasing scrutiny of the NIH, the leading U.S. agency for medical research. "Efforts by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expose and punish Chinese scientists have attracted bipartisan support," the editorial said. On the eve of Science reporting allegations of research misconduct by NIH Alzheimer's leader Eliezer Masliah , the NIH issued a generic statement acknowledging the misconduct. However, Director Monica Bertagnolli has said nothing on the record to reassure the public or Congress that the agency recognizes how badly these findings reflect on the NIH or that it intends to keep this from happening again. The pattern is similar in Dr. Bertagnolli 's statement of support for Asian American, Asian immigrant and Asian researchers after the suicide of Dr. Jane Wu of the School of Medicine at Northwestern University.Responses by both Republicans and Democrats have raised broader questions about the governance and future direction of federal science agencies, especially as public trust in institutions like the NIH has been eroded by high-profile scandals.As the election nears, the stakes for American science have never been higher. If U.S. policymakers continue to prioritize short-term political gains over long-term investments in science and research, the country risks falling further behind China and other global competitors. The debate over immigration, research collaboration, and the future of scientific funding reflects deeper philosophical divisions over who should have access to American scientific resources and how federal agencies should respond to public scrutiny and controversy. Whether the U.S. can regain its footing as a global leader in research will depend not only on who wins the presidency but also on the political will to address the systemic challenges that have long been ignored. Questions about how to balance national security with the need for international collaboration, how to rebuild public trust in science institutions, and how to sustain the U.S.’s leadership in innovation will remain central to this evolving debate. The outcome of the election could either pave the way for renewed investment in science or further entrench the barriers that are slowly eroding the nation’s scientific capacity. Science noted in the feature article that the presidential candidates have said almost nothing about science. Despite this silence, the next president’s impact on the U.S. research community will be significant, influencing climate change policy, public health, U.S.-China scientific competition, and AI regulation. Both Harris and Trump will face decisions about attracting foreign scientific talent, supporting domestic researchers, and ensuring government scientists can work without political interference. Science proceeded to compare the presidential candidates on six major issues: · Research budgets · Burdensome rules · Green cards for scientists · The president’s scientist · Staying tough on China · Training the next generation Read these Science articles: 2024/10/16 Science Editorial: Same but different 2024/10/16 Science : The stakes for science: Where Kamala Harris and Donald Trump stand on the issues that matter most to scientists "Project 2025: An Existential Threat to Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders" In August 2024, Stop AAPI Hate published a commentary providing a rundown of Project 2025, explaining why it is so dangerous for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AA/PI) communities from the deportation of immigrants to the full-scale attack on civil rights.Project 2025 is an ultra-conservative blueprint by the Heritage Foundation with the aim to reshape the governance of the United States in a Republican administration, including extensive plans to change immigration, civil rights, education, and social welfare policies. Stop AAPI Hate's analysis highlights the project's potentially harmful impacts on Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities and other marginalized groups.Stop AAPI Hate's key concerns are: Project 2025 targets AA/PI and other immigrants for arrest, incarceration, and deportation. · The plan would give Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents broad access to detain and deport immigrants without a warrant, wherever and whenever they choose. · It would add a citizenship question to the U.S. Census, discouraging citizens and non-citizens alike from responding — leading to decreased federal funding and political representation for immigrant-rich communities (Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, pg. 680). · The project would eliminate family-based immigration and other immigration categories that have allowed generations of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to immigrate to the United States (Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, pg. 145). Project 2025 will fuel the racial profiling of scientists, researchers, and international students, threatening our civil rights and technological leadership. · It would revive the “China Initiative,” leading to a second wave of racist witch hunts targeting Chinese scientists and researchers (Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, pg. 556). · It would lead to the discontinuation of visas for Chinese students and researchers, hampering progress in critical fields (Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, pg. 790). Project 2025 will make it next to impossible for working families to thrive. · The plan would dramatically expand tariffs to “levels that will block out ‘Made in China’ products”, worsening US-China trade relations and driving across-the-board inflation and job losses (Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, pg. 789). · It would drastically cut food assistance and other critical social benefits, plunging millions of working families below the poverty line. · It would impose sweeping reforms to K-12 and higher education, making it harder for low and middle income students to access education opportunities. · The project would put new restrictions on reproductive rights and let politicians make life-altering decisions about our bodies. · It would reduce worker protections against race- or gender-based discrimination. Read the Stop AAPI commentary on Project 2025: https://bit.ly/4fnBxPh News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events:2024/11/06 Asian American Women in Media and Music2024/11/07 Critical Issues in the US-China Science and Technology Relationship2024/11/10 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/11/12 Threats to International Engagement and Academic Freedom2024/11/14 An Advice and Networking Event (Financial Services, Investing and Consulting)2024/11/15 Yangtze-Mississippi Regional Dialogue2024/11/15-17 AAASE Inaugural Summit2024/11/17 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/11/18 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/11/24 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/12/01 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall MeetingVisit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. NOTE: Because the regular scheduled day falls on the eve of Election Day, we have moved the next APA Justice monthly meeting to Monday, November 18, 2024. 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 . 2. Critical Issues in the US-China Science and Technology Relationship WHAT: Critical Issues in the US-Science and Technology Relationship WHEN: November 7, 2024, 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm PT/7:00 pm - 8:30 pm ET WHERE: Hybrid event · In-Person : George P. Shultz Building, Annenberg Conference Room, Stanford University · Streaming : https://stanford.io/4e9VpV7 HOST: Hoover Institution, Stanford University Moderator: Frances Hisgen , Senior Research Program Manager, Hoover Institution Speakers: · Zhenan Bao , K.K. Lee Professor of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University · Yasheng Huang, Epoch Foundation Professor of Global Economics and Management, MIT · Peter F. Michelson , Luke Blossom Professor in the School of Humanities & Sciences and Professor of Physics, Stanford University · Glenn Tiffert , Distinguished Research Fellow, Hoover Institution DESCRIPTION: Both the United States and the People’s Republic of China see sustaining leadership in science and technology (S+T) as foundational to national and economic security. Policymakers on both sides of the Pacific have taken action to promote indigenous innovation, and to protect S+T ecosystems from misappropriation of research and malign technology transfer. In the US, some of these steps, including the China Initiative, have led to pain, mistrust, and a climate of fear, particularly for students and scholars of and from China. Newer efforts, including research security programs and policies, seek to learn from these mistakes. A distinguished panel of scientists and China scholars will discuss these dynamics and their implications. What are the issues facing US-China science and technology collaboration? What are the current challenges confronting Chinese American scientists? How should we foster scientific ecosystems that are inclusive, resilient to security challenges, and aligned with democratic values? REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/3YwyOvU 3. APA Justice Newsletter Web Page Moved to New Website As part of its continuing migration to a new website under construction, we have moved the Newsletter webpage to https://www.apajusticetaskforce.org/newsletters . Content of the existing website will remain, but it will no longer be updated. We value your feedback about the new web page. Please send your comments to contact@apajustice.org . Back View PDF November 4, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #133 NSDD-189 Workshop; Santa Ono to Lead UMichigan; Mark 2022/09/13; 7/11 Meeting; Bills #133 NSDD-189 Workshop; Santa Ono to Lead UMichigan; Mark 2022/09/13; 7/11 Meeting; Bills Back View PDF July 15, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #129 Biden Signs Bill to Create Museum; Norm Goes Home to San Jose; Catch Up with the News #129 Biden Signs Bill to Create Museum; Norm Goes Home to San Jose; Catch Up with the News Back View PDF June 14, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #10 Dr. Wei Su And Profiling Concerns; Professor Tao Motions To Dismiss; Vaccine Update #10 Dr. Wei Su And Profiling Concerns; Professor Tao Motions To Dismiss; Vaccine Update Back View PDF August 17, 2020 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #253 Forum with FBI; US-China Tensions; Graduate Assistants United; AASF Video Competition #253 Forum with FBI; US-China Tensions; Graduate Assistants United; AASF Video Competition In This Issue #253 · Forum Announced: "A Dialogue Between Academic/APA Communities With The FBI" · The Impact of U.S.-China Tensions on Asian Americans in Government · Graduate Assistants United Rally Against Florida SB 846 · AASF: Video Competition to Honor Asian American Scientists · News and Activities for the Communities Forum Announced: "A Dialogue Between Academic/APA Communities With The FBI" During the APA Justice monthly meeting on May 6, 2024, Nabila Mansoor, President, Texas Multicultural Advocacy Coalition (TMAC), and Dr. Kenneth M. Evans, Scholar in Science and Technology Policy, Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, announced that TMAC and the Baker Institute and Office of Innovation at Rice University will co-host a joint forum with APA Justice on "A Dialogue Between Academic/AAPI Communities with The FBI." WHAT: A Dialogue Between Academic/AAPI Communities with The FBI WHEN: June 6, 2024, 4:00 - 6:00 pm Central Time WHERE: In-person, Rice University, Houston, Texas; virtual Zoom webinar information to be announced HOSTS: Texas Multicultural Advocacy Coalition (TMAC); Baker Institute for Public Policy and Office of Innovation at Rice University; APA Justice SPEAKERS: · Neal Lane , Senior Fellow, Baker Institute; Former Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy · Gordon Quan , Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Quan Law Group · David Donatti , Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU of Texas · Gisela Perez Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum · Jill Murphy , Deputy Assistant Director for Counterintelligence, FBI Headquarters · Douglas Williams, Jr. , Special Agent in Charge, FBI Houston · Georgette "GiGi" Pickering , Assistant Special Agent in Charge, FBI Houston · Kelly Choi , Supervisory Special Agent, FBI Houston More information about the forum will be announced when they become available. The Impact of U.S.-China Tensions on Asian Americans in Government A morning session at the Committee 100 conference on April 19, 2024, explored the nuanced potential barriers to career advancement that spin from the tensions with China, the complexities of obtaining security clearances, and the uncomfortable scrutiny regarding loyalty that Asian Americans endure due to concerns over foreign influence.Congressman Andy Kim, a Korean American, was not able to participate in the session due to a vote in the House of Representatives. A clip of his interview with MSNBC in 2021 was played to open the session. Congressman Kim revealed that when he worked at the State Department, he had a top secret security clearance and worked in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he was told one day that he was banned from working on issues related to the Korean Peninsula although he did not apply to work on such issues. It left him with the feeling that his own country didn't trust him for some reason because of his last name and because of his heritage although he was born in the United States. He was banned from working on these issues because of concerns about his loyalty and xenophobia. It was deeply hurtful. It took him some time to be able to talk about the episode because part of him wanted to just keep his head down and keep working and show through his hard work that this is wrong. He eventually came to realize that he cannot just assume that these issues of racism will just get better. We have to stand up and speak out on behalf of the victims and many others who are frightened, he said. Congressman Kim delivered brief remarks at the evening gala: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP3RlXrHIcA (2:03). He is married to a Chinese American, and they have two young boys. He also served as a United States National Security Council official under the Obama Administration. Congressman Kim has represented New Jersey's 3rd congressional district since 2019 and is running for the U.S. Senate in 2024. Dr. Jiashen You , Chair of the Asian American Government Executive Network (AAGEN), a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan organization whose mission is to promote, expand, and support Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander leadership in Government, followed with a 3-slide presentation . Starting with a report published by the Partnership for Public Service, Dr. You quoted a report released by the Partnership for Public Service on trends over 25 years of the Senior Executive Service (SES), the highest level for civil career servants in the federal government. He then shared that the "bamboo ceiling" still exists for Asian Americans to make the leap to an SES, despite the community seeing rapid growth in its share in recent years. He ended the presentation by highlighting the security denial rates for people with family or financial ties to China [link to Bloomberg article https://bit.ly/4b7jWZW . In addition, Dr. You recounted his personal experience hearing about Dr. Wen Ho Lee 's case being widely reported during his semester in college and living in America. Despite being capable of receiving clearance in the past, the impact of the "perpetual foreigner" notion deterred him from applying to many senior-level jobs that require top-secret clearance, leading to an even narrower window of opportunities. This is not an uncommon experience for first-generation Asian American government employees. Carol Lam , Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, presented a primer on security clearance and remarked that federal policy sets out the aggravating and mitigating factors to be considered in denying or granting security clearance. However, those factors take on more or less weight depending on political relationships between the United States and the country of concern, rendering the final decision somewhat subjective. Ms. Lam noted the importance of keeping the nation's attention on potential unfair biases in security clearance decisions in order to prevent those biases from becoming entrenched. Ms. Lam did note one positive development in the form of Secretary of State Blinken's decision in March 2023 to lift many State Department assignment restrictions based on employees' country of origin or familial or financial relationships in that country. Chuck Rosenburg , Former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, remarked that all nations in the world spy on each other, including China and the United States, with the possible exception of the "five eyes" nations of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The session was moderated by Paula Madison , Chair and CEO, 88 Madison Media Inc. and a member of the Committee of 100. Graduate Assistants United Rally Against Florida SB 846 Graduate Assistants United (GAU) has been a labor union at the University of Florida (UF) since 1972. It represents 4,400 graduate assistants and research assistants at UF. It was a major organizer of the rally against Florida Senate Bill (SB) 846, which is also called the "Countries of Concern" bill, in Gainesville, Florida, on March 26, 2024. Eva Garcia Ferres , Co-President of GAU, published a report on the rally in the April/May edition of the Gainesville Iguana . According to her report, SB 846 does not specifically prohibit the admission of applicants, but it does create a very important and hostile roadblock for prospective graduate assistants, postdocs, and faculty members. The bill requires an extra screening conducted by a Research Integrity Office. The screening is supposed to verify all attendance, employment, publications, and contributions listed in the application prior to any interview or offer of a position to the applicant.The first problem is logistical. Many graduate applications are due early to late December, and many interviews are offered and conducted around early spring. There are over 4,000 graduate assistants at University of Florida, approximately half of graduate assistants are international students, and of the international student population a substantial portion come from China and Iran. This means that for every application cycle, the Research Integrity Office would need to thoroughly vet and make risk assessments for all applicants within a very limited timeline. The capacity and ability of the Research Integrity Office to do so is questioned. The second point of concern is the lack of transparency regarding the Research Integrity Office and the guidelines they are to use to make the risk assessments. Neither the bill itself nor the Board of Governors’ guidelines provide a definition of risk or a way to measure risk. It thus must fall upon the University and the Research Integrity Office to create the standard and apply it. The offices have not responded to these inquiries.In addition, there are draconian consequences for those who "fail" the screening (i.e., those who are deemed a risk, whatever that may be) because they will be reported to the FBI and any other law enforcement agency as determined by the Board of Governors.The Board of Governors’ guidelines reserve the right to make decisions about applicants and collaborations with entities from the seven countries based on their “value.” The report asks, "How is value determined? What makes the Board of Governors or the Research Integrity Office better suited for determining the value of international applicants and collaborations than the experts in the field?" "We know that applicants are being denied admission offers, that faculty cannot hire their top applicants, and that researchers cannot collaborate with prominent scholarsin the field purely because of nationality," the report said.If departments and faculty cannot hire their top applicants, then research and teaching will suffer. If the University will not accept visiting professors and scholars from“countries of concern,” then the University will miss on key expertise, new perspectives, and important scholarly connections. Learning and innovation are the pillars ofacademia. They are pursued in collaboration and cannot flourish in echo chambers and monoculture settings. They lead to the destruction of academic freedom. Decisions on who to hire, what to teach, and what to research have always been made by experts in the field, but this is no longer the case in Florida, the GAU report concludes.Read the Gainesville Iguana report: https://bit.ly/3ULrHze A lawsuit against Florida SB 846 was filed with the Southern District Court of Florida on March 25, 2024: Yin v. Diaz (1:24-cv-21129) AASF: Video Competition to Honor Asian American Scientists WHAT: Video Competition to Honor Asian American Scientists WHEN: Contest Period: 12:00:01 am Eastern Time (ET) on May 1 through 11:59:59 pm ET on June 7, 2024 ET. WHO CAN PARTICIPATE: Legal residents of the 50 US states or DC who are age 14 - 18 who participate with their parent or guardian’s consent OFFICIAL RULES: https://bit.ly/4bnrPKN PRIZES : Each prize is a $1,000 Visa gift card. 40 prizes available across various categories. Prizes will be awarded to the parent/guardian of each winner, not the entrant. DESCRIPTION: Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month by showcasing the achievements of prominent Asian American scientists. High schoolers are invited to create and share short videos highlighting these scientists, competing for a chance to win a $1,000 visa gift card. Multiple prizes available. HOW TO ENTER: https://bit.ly/3UtbrS5 News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2024/05/13-14 2024 APAICS Legislative Leadership Summit2024/05/14 2024 APAICS: 30th Annual Awards Gala2024/05/14 Serica Initiative: 7th Annual Women's Gala Dinner2024/05/22 Heritage, Culture, and Community: The Future of America's Chinatowns2024/06/02 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/06/03 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/06/06 A Dialogue Between Academic/AAPI Communities with The FBIVisit https://bit.ly/45KGyga for event details. Back View PDF May 8, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #107 DOJ Drops Gang Chen Case; CAPAC; APA Justice/OSTP Briefing; DOC Scandal/Census Map #107 DOJ Drops Gang Chen Case; CAPAC; APA Justice/OSTP Briefing; DOC Scandal/Census Map Back View PDF January 20, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter