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Alien Land Bills WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME Prev Next Overview Alien land laws were a series of laws enacted in the United States, primarily in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the intent of restricting land ownership and leasing rights for non-citizens, particularly targeting Asian immigrants who were ineligible for citizenship, such as Chinese immigrants due to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The Alien Land Laws varied from state to state but generally prohibited non-citizens, or aliens, from owning or leasing land directly in their own names. In some cases, they also restricted the ability of non-citizen corporations in which aliens were major shareholders from owning land. These laws were often discriminatory and aimed to discourage Asian immigrants from establishing permanent roots and economic stability in the United States. The Alien Land Laws were part of a broader context of anti-immigrant sentiment and racism prevalent during that time period. They contributed to the marginalization and economic disadvantage faced by Asian immigrants, particularly those of Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino descent, who were significant contributors to the agricultural industry in states like California and Hawaii. Alien land laws were justified by politicians of the time as "national security" measures, yet they fueled economic hardship, violence, and discrimination against Asian immigrants. Over the decades, courts struck down or repealed most of these laws as unconstitutional, recognizing the equal protection rights of immigrant communities. However, similar patterns and justifications re-emerged with recent legislation, like Florida’s state law known as SB 264, echoing these historical discriminatory practices under new pretexts. References and Links Equal Justice Initiative: California Law Prohibits Asian Immigrants from Owning Land Immigration History: Alien Land Laws in California (1913 & 1920) Smithsonian Institution: A More Perfect Union - Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution Wikipedia: Alien Land Laws 2023/02/18 Racism.org: The End of California's Anti-Asian Alien Land Law: A Case Study in Reparations and Transitional Justice History of Alien Land Laws Add paragraph text. Click “Edit Text” to customize this theme across your site. You can update and reuse text themes. Timeline Contents Go Go Select Title

Newsletter - #322 4/7 Monthly Meeting; Texas Rallies; Litigations; NAPABA/ABA statements; AAPI History + #322 4/7 Monthly Meeting; Texas Rallies; Litigations; NAPABA/ABA statements; AAPI History + In This Issue #322 · 2025/04/07 APA Justice Monthly Meeting · 2025/03/29-30 Texas Tri-City Rallies · Latest on Litigations Against Trump's Executive Actions · NAPABA and ABA Statements on Rule of Law · C100 Updates Data on Laws Requiring The Teaching of AAPI History in School Curricula · News and Activities for the Communities 2025/04/07 APA Justice Monthly Meeting The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held via Zoom on Monday, April 7, 2025, starting at 1:55 pm ET.In addition to updates by Judith Teruya , Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), Joanna YangQing Derman , Program Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC, and Gisela Perez Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), confirmed speakers are: · Mark Takano , First Vice Chair, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC); Member, U.S. House of Representatives · Erwin Chemerinsky , Dean, Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley · Cindy Tsai , Interim President, Committee of 100 · X. Edward Guo , President, Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering (AAASE) 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 . Congressman Mark Takano will make his remarks via recorded video on unprecedented challenges to our communities.In a recent opinion published by the New York Times , Dean Erwin Chemerinsky raised an alarming question: "if Trump defies the Courts, then what?" He also commented on President Trump's unprecedented demands on Columbia University. Dean Chemerinsky will share his thoughts on these recent developments and more.The Committee of 100 (C100) is a nonprofit leadership organization of prominent Chinese Americans dedicated to advancing U.S.-China relations and promoting the full participation of Chinese Americans in American society. On April 25-26, 2025, it will host its annual conference and gala in Los Angeles to share insights on the state of Chinese Americans and the current and future condition of the U.S.-China relationship. Interim President Cindy Tsai returns to update us on recent developments with C100 and the annual event. Professor X. Edward Guo, Stanley Dicker Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Professor of Medical Sciences at Columbia University, is current President of Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering (AAASE). Professor Guo will introduce AAASE and comment on recent developments in higher education and research communities. 2025/03/29-30 Texas Tri-City Rallies Texas grassroots groups with support of diverse national organizations will hold rallies in all three major cities this weekend to oppose Alien Land Bills - Senate Bill 17 (SB17) and House Bill 17 (HB17): · Saturday, 3/29 at 11 a.m. Texas Capitol Grounds East Steps, Austin, TX · Sunday, 3/30 at 2 p.m. zTAO Marketplace, 2049 Coit Rd #300 , Plano, TX · Sunday, 3/30 at 2 p.m. 9015 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX In an open letter addressed to Texas state senators and representatives, the groups denounce SB17, HB 17 and similar legislation as unconstitutional and discriminatory, as they target individuals based on their national origin, infringing upon rights protected by both the U.S. and Texas constitutions. It further argues that such legislation could discourage foreign investment and talent, leading to economic drawbacks for the state. In addition, the letter highlights concerns that these bills conflate individuals with foreign governments, potentially penalizing those without political affiliations, and lack factual evidence to justify their implementation. The organizers warn that enacting these laws may foster discrimination against Asian and immigrant communities.Drawing historical parallels, the letter references the 59th Texas Legislature's 1965 decision to abolish "alien land laws," cautioning against repeating past mistakes. It concludes with a call to action for legislators to oppose these bills to uphold constitutional protections and promote inclusivity within the state. Read the coalition open letter posted by United Chinese Americans: https://ucausa.org/ and call your legislators in Texas.The Yellow Whistle™ with the message "We Belong" will be distributed at all three rallies in Texas. The Yellow Whistle Project was launched in April 2022 after an Asian woman was brutally attacked in anti-Asian hate incident in front of a building in New York when the doormen closed the door instead of intervening. The Yellow Whistle is a symbol of self-protection and solidarity in our common fight against historical discrimination and anti-Asian violence. The whistle is a simple gadget with a universal purpose—to signal alarm and call for help—for all Americans. We shall not remain silent, because WE BELONG™. Latest on Litigations Against Trump's Executive Actions As of March 27, 2025, the number of lawsuits against President Donald Trump 's executive actions reported by the Just Security Litigation Tracker has grown to 146 (3 closed cases). According to the New York Times Tracker , at least 53 of the court rulings have at least temporarily paused some of the administration’s initiatives.These are some of the latest developments: · Block on Alien Enemies Act Deportations Upheld . In a 2-1 decision, the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., today denied the Trump administration’s request to lift the temporary restraining order against Trump's executive order invoking the Alien Enemies Act. The Plaintiffs led by ACLU, Democracy Forward, and the ACLU of the District of Columbia. have filed a Notice that they intended to file a new Motion for Preliminary Injunction on Friday, March 28, to incorporate “additional factual material so that there is a more complete record.” · Deportation of Columbia University Student Blocked . On March 24, 2025, U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald of the Southern District of New York granted Yunseo Chung 's attorneys a temporary restraining order, preventing her from being arrested or deported. Chung is a 21-year-old Columbia University student and legal permanent resident who has been involved in pro-Palestinian protests. She came to the U.S. with her family from South Korea at the age of 7. On March 27, TIME Magazine reported these other students targeted by Trump’s immigration enforcement over campus activism: Rumeysa Ozturk , a Turkish international student on a valid F-1 visa for her PhD studies at Tufts University in Boston, became the latest high-profile target of ICE after her arrest, which witnesses caught on video, outside her home in Somerville, Massachusetts, on March 26. Badar Khan Suri , an Indian citizen studying and teaching at Georgetown University on a valid J-1 visa, was detained by ICE on March 17. A lawsuit, Suri v. Trump (1:25-cv-00480) , has been filed in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia. Momodou Taal , a 31-year-old Cornell University graduate student and dual U.K. and Gambian citizen, had his student visa revoked on March 14 and now faces the threat of deportation. Mahmoud Khalil was arrested at his home by ICE agents on March 8, 2025, and remains in custody as of March 27 at a Louisiana detention facility. Khalil, a Palestinian, moved to the U.S. in 2022 to attend Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, completing his master’s degree studies in December 2024. He married an American woman—making him eligible for a green card—who is eight months pregnant with their first child. Preservation of Signal Records on Military Strikes Ordered . On March 25, 2025, American Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog organization, filed American Oversight v. Hegseth (1:25-cv-00883) against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other senior Trump administration officials, seeking a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to prevent the deletion of critical national security communications related to a Signal group chat discussing U.S. military operations about a planned strike against Yemen's Houthis on March 11-15, 2025. Administration officials made apparently misleading or false claims that were contradicted by the Editor-in-Chief of the Atlantic . On March 27, Chief Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia ordered the Trump administration to preserve the Signal messages. The case raises serious concerns about potential violations of national security protocols and federal records laws. NAPABA and ABA Statements on Rule of Law On March 7, 2025, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) issued an advocacy update . It reaffirmed "[o]ur mission is broad. NAPABA is both a national civil rights organization and a preeminent bar association. We are the national voice for the AANHPI legal profession, promoting justice, equity, and opportunity for AANHPIs. We foster professional development, legal scholarship, advocacy, and community involvement."The NAPABA statement outlines significant legal and policy developments impacting the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community. The organization is closely monitoring threats to the rule of law, including government intimidation of judges, law firms, and federal attorneys. It highlights recent executive orders that have targeted major law firms and restricted their access to government buildings and officials. The report expresses concern over the dismantling of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across federal agencies, including the elimination of the White House Initiative on AANHPIs and restrictions on DEI programs in private institutions. NAPABA argues that these actions undermine fundamental rights, erode professional protections, and reverse decades of progress in ensuring equal opportunities for underrepresented communities. The NAPABA update also focuses on policy rollbacks affecting vulnerable populations. The revocation of Executive Order 13166, which previously mandated language access guarantees for limited English proficient individuals, creates uncertainty for AANHPI immigrants who rely on government services. The administration's restrictive immigration policies, including expanded expedited removal authority and curtailment of asylum rights, disproportionately impact immigrant communities. NAPABA further condemns recent executive actions targeting the LGBTQ+ community, stating that such measures promote discrimination and weaken legal protections. In response to these challenges, the organization reaffirms its commitment to defending civil rights, advocating for equal justice, and ensuring that marginalized communities are not left vulnerable to government overreach.Read the NAPABA statement: https://bit.ly/424d6Bl On March 26, 2025, NAPABA joined the American Bar Association and a coalition of bar organizations across the nation in the following statement to defend the rule of law and reject efforts to undermine the courts and the legal profession: "We endorse the sentiments expressed by the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in his 2024 Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary, '[w]ithin the past year we have also seen the need for state and federal bar associations to come to the defense of a federal district judge whose decisions in a high-profile case prompted an elected official to call for her impeachment. Attempts to intimidate judges for their rulings in cases are inappropriate and should be vigorously opposed.'"We support the right of people to advance their interests in courts of law when they have been wronged. We reject the notion that the U.S. government can punish lawyers and law firms who represent certain clients or punish judges who rule certain ways. We cannot accept government actions that seek to twist the scales of justice in this manner."We reject efforts to undermine the courts and the profession. We will not stay silent in the face of efforts to remake the legal profession into something that rewards those who agree with the government and punishes those who do not. Words and actions matter. And the intimidating words and actions we have heard and seen must end. They are designed to cow our country’s judges, our country’s courts and our legal profession."There are clear choices facing our profession. We can choose to remain silent and allow these acts to continue or we can stand for the rule of law and the values we hold dear. We call upon the entire profession, including lawyers in private practice from Main Street to Wall Street, as well as those in corporations and who serve in elected positions, to speak out against intimidation." If lawyers do not speak, who will speak for our judges? Who will protect our bedrock of justice? If we do not speak now, when will we speak? Now is the time. That is why we stand together with the ABA in support of the rule of law. "Read the ABA statement: https://bit.ly/43zP97z C100 Updates Data on Laws Requiring The Teaching of AAPI History in School Curricula On March 25, 2025, the Committee of 100 (C100) released updated data on its public policy research project that identifies and classifies state-level statutes, ongoing bills, and academic standards of K-12 curriculum pertaining to the study of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, as well as other non-white racial and ethnic groups. It includes an interactive map where users may select and filter among statutes, academic standards, and pending bills to meet their needs using the dropdown menus. As of March 25, 2025, · 12 states have statutes that require AAPI studies curriculum (no change since October 3, 2024 data) · 7 states are considering recently introduced bills that would require AAPI studies curriculum (an increase of 3 states since October 3, 2024 data) · 16 states have academic standards that require AAPI studies (an increase of 1 state since October 3, 2024 data) · 23 states have statutes that require ethnic studies curriculum (an increase of 1 state since October 3, 2024 data) · 12 states are considering recently introduced bills that would require ethnic studies curriculum (an increase of 9 states since October 3, 2024 data) · 37 states have academic standards that require ethnic studies (an increase of 4 states since October 3, 2024 data) · 6 states have no statutes, recently introduced bills, or academic standards that require or make optional AAPI studies or ethnic studies curriculum (a decrease of 2 states since October 3, 2024 data) Visit the C100 announcement and interactive map: https://bit.ly/4l351FE News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar 2025/03/29 No to Discrimination and Alien Land Bills - Austin, Texas2025/03/30 No to Discrimination and Alien Land Bills - Plano, Texas2025/03/30 No to Discrimination and Alien Land Bills - Houston, Texas2025/03/30 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/04/07 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2025/04/13 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/04/15 China Connections: A Conversation with Emily Feng2025/04/24-26 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. # # # 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 March 28, 2025 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #207 9/11 Meeting; AI, Civil Rights, Equity, Innovation; Franklin Tao, UNC Shooting; More News #207 9/11 Meeting; AI, Civil Rights, Equity, Innovation; Franklin Tao, UNC Shooting; More News In This Issue #207 2023/09/11 APA Justice Monthly Meeting Artificial Intelligence (AI), Civil Rights, Equity, and Innovation Tenth Circuit Court To Hear Appeal of Professor Franklin Tao 陶丰 Statements and Media Reports on UNC Shooting News and Activities for The Communities 2023/09/11 APA Justice Monthly Meeting The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held via Zoom on Monday, September 11, 2023, starting at 1:55 pm ET. In addition to updates by Nisha Ramachandran , Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC); John Yang 杨重远 , President and Executive Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC; Gisela Perez Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), Clay Zhu 朱可亮 , Partner, DeHeng Law Offices 德恒律师事务所; Founder, Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance 华美维权同盟, confirmed speakers to cover the renewal of the US-China Science and Technology Agreement are: Deborah Seligsohn , Senior Associate (non-resident), Center for Strategic and International Studies; Assistant Professor, Villanova University https://bit.ly/3OMc8En Steve Kivelson , Prabhu Goel Family Professor of Physics, Stanford University https://bit.ly/44xTNPX Sudip Parikh , Chief Executive Officer, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Executive Publisher, Science Family of Journals Ting Wu , Advisor, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, Office of the Chief of Staff, The White House 1. Committee of 100 Letter to the President On September 6, 2023, Gary Locke , Chair of the Committee of 100 (C100), wrote to President Joe Biden urging him to renew for another five years the Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the PRC on Cooperation in Science and Technology (STA). "The STA offers the United States significant benefits to advance scientific progress in many fields and in people-to-people exchanges, and it presents minimal risks to American national security," the letter said. "Committee of 100 believes renewing the STA for another five-year term will enhance American scientific and technological achievement and promote U.S. leadership in open and transparent scientific cooperation globally. Conversely, Committee of 100 argues that allowing the STA to expire would disrupt mutually beneficial scientific exchange and disrupt peaceful people-to-people ties between the U.S. and the PRC. For these reasons, Committee of 100 urges you and your Administration to renew the STA with whatever additional safeguards your national security advisors deem appropriate and not simply to abandon this proven framework for constructive bilateral engagement."Gary Locke is also former U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, and a former college president. Read the C100 letter at: https://bit.ly/3sJD1R0 2. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Members' Update: China! In a recent Members' Update, NAS President Marcia McNutt reported that "[m]embers have expressed concern about the deteriorating relationship between the U.S. and China, pointing out that this partnership has resulted in extensive collaborations, joint research projects, and mutual contributions to global scientific knowledge."The National Academy of Sciences has promoted engagement with China since Frank Press' presidency in the 1980s. More recently, I had the honor of co-chairing the first Chinese-American Frontiers of Science symposia, which brought young researchers from both nations together to discuss forefront research and build relationships."Although there have been bumps in the road in our relationship with China, one could well argue that a U.S. position that focuses on de-risking does not fully account for the risks to the U.S., our science, and innovation of pursuing a one-size-fits-all approach towards China. For example, we have seen how policies such as the so-called 'China Initiative' have resulted in many Chinese-American researchers' feeling persecuted and afraid for their safety."To be sure, there are several real concerns related to the actions of China's leadership around the world, and some important issues related to intellectual property, research security, and research misconduct must be addressed. Understanding the nature and implication of these threats requires dialogue among the many stakeholders, and the NAS is leading these discussions. At the same time, we need to identify productive ways to maintain connections between the U.S. and China, especially in mutually beneficial areas. The bilateral science and technology cooperation agreement between the U.S. and China was temporarily renewed last week for six months, but its long-term fate in uncertain."The United States has the most dynamic innovation economy in the world. Our country has benefitted over the centuries from our ability to assess the talent and ideas being developed around the world. At a time when more and more science is being produced outside the U.S., the nation is handicapping itself by restricting these collaborations. NAS will continue to engage with policy makers to listen to their concerns with engagement, while highlighting to them the benefit of such connections for fostering a healthy U.S. science and innovation ecosystem." Artificial Intelligence (AI), Civil Rights, Equity, and Innovation 1. First look: Civil rights group starts center to monitor AI for hate speech According to Axios on September 7, 2023, The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights (LCCHR), one of the nation's largest and oldest civil rights coalitions, is launching a Center for Civil Rights and Technology to investigate how artificial intelligence (AI) affects civil rights, fosters racism, and spreads bigotry. The center comes amid rising concern that AI may fuel racism and more antisemitism in the U.S. by amplifying bias from human-generated content on the internet.The center will monitor legislation and regulations on AI and other emerging technologies and assess how those will impact civil and human rights. The center also will publish papers and policy positions, and support active civic conversations about generative AI.Because AI models learn to complete sentences by analyzing enormous quantities of text created by people, usually on the internet, they pick up bias embedded in both the digital environment and broader society."Hate has had a very comfortable home on our social media platforms. And it has been given cover by, sadly, sometimes, by leaders that have every ability to disrupt that," LCCHR president and CEO Maya Wiley said. An advisory group of experts and civil rights organizations will advise the center, including Alondra Nelson , Acting Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) under the Biden Administration.Read the Axios report: https://bit.ly/467vI3F 2. Embed equity throughout innovation According to a Science editorial on September 7, 2023, the social benefit of technologies is frequently unevenly realized across the United States. Rural communities, individuals with disabilities, and historically marginalized groups face out-of-reach costs or lack access to products that meet their needs. Blame is typically placed on complicated regulatory processes or complex delivery systems, but this response neglects the problem that equity is not baked into the nation’s innovation process at any stage. The United States needs to rethink its entire innovation ecosystem to incorporate equity as a foundational guiding principle—from research design and funding requirements to policies and regulations that govern the delivery and oversight of new products to the public.Development of new technologies and products in the United States benefits from a governance framework that optimizes fairness and opportunity for creators and investors while prioritizing the safety and autonomy of end users. Equity is typically an afterthought, usually arising after unfair public outcomes are recognized. Given the recent remarkable pace of progress across all scientific disciplines, there is an urgent need to incorporate equity considerations throughout the innovation life cycle. Consider, for example, the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in health care. Lack of diversity in the workforce and in the geographic distribution of innovation centers reduces the range of perspectives that shape research in this field. Nonrepresentative and discriminatory data sets and poor selection of proxy outcomes measures lead to biased algorithms that skew machine learning and adversely affect AI platforms that influence decision-making. Although efforts are underway to advance the ethical use of AI, a fundamental cultural shift is needed to fully integrate equity in this field and in many others.Embedding these values in innovation means accounting for equity at each stage, from idea conception to technology and product development, evaluation, monitoring, and iterative learning and improvement.A diverse community of users and creators should join traditional stakeholders to rethink governance strategies and incentives. Equitable innovation will require creative steps and new practices, such as engaging with underserved and marginalized communities at each stage of the innovation life cycle. This will ensure that these groups are not only consulted during research but also have opportunities to substantively lead and engage in innovation partnerships. If 21st-century innovation is to reflect social needs and improve the well-being of the entire public, then it will require a strong vision activated by a coalition of public and private partners that embrace an equity-centric approach at every stage.Authors of the Science editorial: Keith A. Wailoo , Henry Putnam University Professor of History and Public Affairs, Princeton University. Victor J. Dzau , President of the National Academy of Medicine. Keith R. Yamamoto , Vice Chancellor for Science Policy and Strategy and Director of Precision Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco; President, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Read the Science editorial: https://bit.ly/44HfqO4 Tenth Circuit Court To Hear Appeal of Professor Franklin Tao 陶丰 Professor Feng "Franklin" Tao 陶丰 of University of Kansas (KU) was the first academic to be indicted under the now-defunct "China Initiative." Of the ten charges against him by the government, nine were dropped or dismissed. He was convicted by jury of one count of making a false statement. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson stated that this “was not an economic espionage case” and released Professor Tao for time served. According to Inside Higher Ed on January 19, 2023, “Dr. Tao will be appealing his count of conviction and expects to prevail and be completely exonerated. And yes, he fully intends to continue his career as a scientist and researcher, either at KU or another university,” Peter Zeidenberg , Tao’s lawyer, said at that time.The 10th Circuit Appeals Court will hold a hearing on Professor Tao's appeal in Denver, Colorado, on September 21, 2023, starting at 8:30 am MT/10:30 am ET. Community members are urged to show their support for Professor Tao by attending the hearing at Byron White Court House, 1823 Stout Street, Denver, CO 80257. The Clerk's Office can be reached at 303-844-3157.Read APA Justice coverage of the case of Professor Franklin Tao at https://bit.ly/3fZWJvK . Read the Inside Higher Ed report: http://bit.ly/3wiMPQm Statements and Media Reports on UNC Shooting 1. Statements by UCA and AASF United Chinese Americans (UCA) and Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) issued statements mourning the tragic death of Dr. Zijie Yan 严资杰 , an associate professor of Applied Physical Sciences at University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill.AASF joins the UNC community in grieving the devastating killing of Dr. Yan, and boldly condemns the senseless act of violence perpetrated against him and his family. Two fundraisers have been set up - one for his daughters here and another for his parents here .Read the AASF statement: https://bit.ly/4669EXj The UCA statement condemns the racist rhetoric stemming from a public official in Wayne County, NC, which has no place in our society. "This hateful speech exacerbates the harm caused by discrimination and intolerance and can have dangerous consequences for the AAPI community," the statement said. "Together we must create an environment where every individual, regardless of their background, can pursue their educational goals without fear. Our condolences go out to the Yan family, and we hope that the UNC community finds strength and resilience in the face of this adversity. Let us come together to honor Zijie Yan's memory, strongly condemn racism, and work tirelessly for a future where such incidents can be prevented." 2. Media Reports on UNC Shooting According to CBS-17 on August 30, 2023, Wendy H. Waters , principal of Spring Creek High School in Wayne County, North Carolina, posted on Facebook a message that is widely viewed as a racist response to the shooting at UNC-Chapel Hill.“There is nothing WHITE about him,” she said as part of the post alongside a photo of Tailei Qi 齐太磊 ,, the man accused of fatally shooting Zijie Yan 严资杰 . The post continued to say “My bet is he’s a Chinese Nationalist.”In a statement from Wayne County schools, the district said Waters’ comments “do not reflect the views of the school district” and that the matter is now under review.Read the CBS-17 report: https://bit.ly/3ZsbS1j According to a report by WUNC on September 8, 2023, the death of Dr. Zijie Yan, triggered deep-seated anxiety and fear among Asian Americans in the Triangle. Jiu-Luen Tsai , 50, had been grappling with fear, frustration and grief. Like many other Asian Americans in the Triangle, he was afraid of how people would perceive him and his family after authorities identified graduate student Tailei Qi as the suspect. It reminded Tsai of instances when he and others in the Asian American community have been attacked.Tsai tried to talk to his 14-year-old son about it. “I honestly don’t know if he has experienced these things himself—xenophobia, racism and fear of gun violence,” Tsai said. “With a teenager, it’s especially hard to know. As a responsible parent, I have to talk about these things because these are truths in our world.”While the event is not characterized as a hate crime, it’s still an example of violence that’s impacted the Asian American community, said Jimmy Patel-Nguyen , the communications director at North Carolina Asian Americans Together.Events like the UNC shooting, as well as the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings, highlight a culture that’s prone to gun violence and the vulnerability of Asian immigrants in America, said Eileen Chengyin Chow , a Duke University associate professor of the Practice of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. However, when the gunman and victims are Asian, such as with the shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay in California earlier this year, there is a tendency to dismiss the events as being isolated to the Asian community, she added. Anti-Asian violence has increased especially after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. But similarly violent events that have impacted Asian Americans have been happening for decades.Cary resident Lily Chen , a community organizer and PhD student at UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Nursing, recalled when she was an international student at the University of Iowa in 1991. That year, Gang Lu , a graduate student, shot and killed three faculty members in the department of physics and astronomy. He also killed postdoctoral researcher, Linhua Shan , who Chen personally knew.Thirty-two years later, Chen experienced the same feelings that she did back then. She was also dismayed when a Wayne County high school principal posted an angry message on Facebook days after the shooting, speculating that the suspected shooter was “stealing intellectual property” on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.“It's like, can I have time even to grieve?” Chen said. “Can I just have time to spend time with my family, with my daughter, with my friends and not have to worry about these kinds of things?”Since the shooting, UNC social worker Susan Chung , has seen many international Asian students in her office and at mental health webinars. “They already feel like outsiders and they don’t feel included at the school,” Chung said. “They don’t feel seen. The incident that happened really escalated that. That’s kind of how they feel.” Chung herself immigrated from Taiwan when she was 12 years old and tries to act as a liaison between the two cultures. Even before the shooting, she said that international students have shared with her that they feel ignored by the school and have been bullied by their peers and professors.Read the WUNC report: https://bit.ly/3Py0mxX News and Activities for The Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar APA Justice has launched a Community Calendar to track the many events and activities. From the Committee of 100 career ceiling webinars, alien land laws, National Voter Registration Day, Franklin Tao's appeal hearing, to the AAUC National Unity Summit, they are all in a one-stop view. Options are available to look at a monthly, weekly, or a daily calendar, as well as an agenda view with event details.You can find the Community Calendar on the front page of the APA Justice website at https://www.apajustice.org/ . 2. 2023/09/11 Bay Area FBI Community Briefings Roundtable WHAT: Bay Area FBI Community Briefings Roundtable - San Mateo WHEN: Monday, September 11, 2023, 5:30 - 7:00 pm, PT WHERE: The San Mateo City Police Headquarter Community Meeting Room | 200 Franklin Pkwy, San Mateo, CA 94403 HOST: City of San Mateo: Amourence Lee, Mayor; Ed Barberini, Police Chief PRESENTATION: FBI San Francisco Field Office SPONSORS: Civic Leadership USA (CLUSA), The Asian American Foundation (TAAF); San Francisco Community Alliance for Unity, Safety, and Education (SFCAUSE) REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/3sRjBcH OBJECTIVES : Provide the Federal & regional perspectives from the FBI on Public Safety Build trust and relationships by reaching out to San Mateo Community & faith-based leaders Provide a mutual listening opportunity with follow-up actions. The roundtable format will feature selected public safety topics presented by the FBI, followed by a facilitated open dialogue in a roundtable discussion. 3. Behind Bay Area Preservation Dispute Is a Chinese American ‘Asparagus King’ According to the San Francisco Standard on September 10, 2023, Thomas Foon Chew , a young Chinese immigrant and entrepreneur in the canning industry, purchased the land in Palo Alto and built a cannery in 1918. Two years later, it grew to become the third-largest cannery of fruits and vegetables in the world, powered by a large and diverse workforce of Chinese-, Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking workers.Chew’s success turned him into a legendary and well-respected multimillionaire businessman whose company is thought to be the first to can green asparagus, earning him the moniker “Asparagus King.” Chew died in 1931 at the age of 42, and it is believed that 25,000 people attended his funeral in San Francisco's Chinatown. After his death, the cannery thrived until 1949.Now , more than 90 years since his death, a controversial plan to tear down parts of the former cannery site sparked a contentious debate within the local community members, and some of them want to preserve it as a rare piece of Asian American history. Monica Yeung Arima , a board member of Palo Alto History Museum, said this is a golden opportunity to save a critical part of both Chinese American and the city’s history.Palo Alto City Council heard hours of public comment in an early September meeting as people against the redevelopment plan held signs that read “Save the Cannery.” The council will vote on whether to proceed with the plan next week.Read the San Francisco Standard report: https://bit.ly/3LjVYQF Back View PDF September 11, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #41 Meeting Summary; Franklin Tao; Gang Chen; Science Honors And Policy; More #41 Meeting Summary; Franklin Tao; Gang Chen; Science Honors And Policy; More Back View PDF February 8, 2021 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #256 Registrations Open; Anming Hu; Students Targeted? Legislative Alert; Book Chapter; + #256 Registrations Open; Anming Hu; Students Targeted? Legislative Alert; Book Chapter; + In This Issue #256 · Registrations Open for Two Events Co-Hosted by The Baker Institute · Update of Exonerated Professor Anming Hu · Overblown or Legitimate: Are Chinese Students Targeted by CBP at U.S. Airports? · ALERT: Continuing Attempts to Revive The China Initiative and Texas Alien Land Bill · "New Red Scare: The China Initiative" Chapter in New Book · News and Activities for the Communities Registrations Open for Two Events Co-Hosted by The Baker Institute The National Science Foundation (NSF) launched its Research on Research Security (RoRS) program on July 12, 2023, to support the study of research security as required in the CHIPS and Science Act and following the federal requirements outlined in the National Security Presidential Memorandum-33 and its accompanying implementation guidelines .Following a virtual workshop on May 2, an in-person workshop will be hosted by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy on May 23-24, 2024. The workshop will bring together leading experts from academia, government, and industry to explore the threats and challenges facing the international research and innovation ecosystem. Participants will identify current themes, major issues, and challenges in research security, as well as chart a road map for the future of the NSF’s RoRS program.The workshop is led by Rice University’s Office of Research Security and the Baker Institute Science and Technology Program in close collaboration with the University of Houston, IPTalons, Inc., the Society of Research Administrators International, and the NSF (Grant No. 2348714).Dr. Rebecca Keiser , NSF chief of research security strategy and policy, will deliver a keynote address on the origins of the RoRS program on May 23 at 8:30 am CDT. Her remarks will be livestreamed. Registration to watch her remarks is open at: https://bit.ly/4brHcCr ***** On June 6, 2024, the Baker Institute and the Office of Innovation at Rice University will co-host a hybrid forum titled "A Dialogue Between Academic & APA Communities and The FBI."The event brings together Jill Murphy , the deputy assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, who oversees the FBI’s espionage investigations, and the leadership of the FBI Houston Field Office with members of the academic and Asian American communities to discuss the gaps between national science and technology policy and its implementation at the forefront of law enforcement.The Texas Multicultural Advocacy Coalition (TMAC) and APA Justice are co-hosts of this important forum. The communities will be represented by Gordon Quan , Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Quan Law Group, PLLC; Former Houston City Mayor Pro-Tem; David Donatti , Senior Staff Attorney, Legal Department, American Civil Liberties Union of Texas; and Gisela Perez Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum. Professor Steven Pei serves as Moderator.Register to attend the forum between the academic/APA communities with the FBI via Zoom at : https://bit.ly/3wjg759 Update of Exonerated Professor Anming Hu On February 27, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the indictment of Professor Anming Hu 胡安明 , an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK).Professor Hu, a naturalized Canadian citizen, 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).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. Despite the absence of evidence and misconduct, DOJ opted to pursue a retrial on July 30, 2021, prompting outrage by members of Congress, national and local organizations, the Asian American community, and the general public.On September 9, 2021, Judge Thomas Varlan issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order and 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," he wrote. On the part of UTK administrators, they concealed the federal investigation from Professor Hu, provided his records to the authorities without a warrant or informing him, suspended him without pay, and fired him shortly after. Without any attempt to protect its faculty, UTK was broadly criticized for throwing Professor Hu “under the bus.” On October 14, 2021, UTK offered to reinstate Professor Hu. On February 1, 2022, Professor Hu returned to his laboratory.It has been two years since Professor Hu was exonerated. He has agreed to speak at the June APA Justice monthly meeting and provide an update on his situation and his family.The APA Justice monthly meetings are by invitation only. The next meeting will be held on June 3, 2024. 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 . Overblown or Legitimate: Are Chinese Students Targeted by CBP at U.S. Airports? Recently, diplomats from China and the United States have debated over a new point of contention: How serious is the issue of Chinese students and scholars being subjected to secondary screening at airports upon arrival in the United States? Chinese diplomats have protested the treatment of Chinese students at the airport for months. Nicholas Burns , the U.S. Ambassador to China, reaffirmed that the U.S. is committed to opening its doors to Chinese students. Summer is coming; prospective students will come to the U.S. for school, and students in the country may travel back to China to visit their families. When those students return to the U.S., will they be “harassed” again at the airports?In a report published on May 20, 2024, The US-China Perception Monitor ( USCPM ) analyzed this question by focusing on how to read the numbers and how the Chinese students are stuck between U.S. Embassy or Consulates in China and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).For months, the Chinese media reported incidents of Chinese students and scholars undergoing secondary security checks and being held in “little black rooms” at U.S. airports. From January to March, students in Ph.D. science programs at Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, and other major U.S. research universities have been denied re-entry after visiting family in China, and in some cases, they were immediately sent back home, according to a Science report .The so-called secondary security check is an airport security measure used in the United States to select passengers for additional inspection. The State Department denied visas to 1,964 Chinese scholars in 2021 and 1,764 in 2022. Compared to many thousands of vias issued for Chinese students, the number of students affected is considered small.Nevertheless, visa denials and airport incidents inevitably negatively affect the morality of potential students and those already in this country, wondering whether coming to the United States is the right choice. Already, amidst tense U.S.-China bilateral relations, the number of students studying in the U.S. has declined sharply.Read the US-China Perception Monitor report: https://bit.ly/3WLxGpb .2024/05/10 中美印象简报 ： 中国学生被关“小黑屋”是否被夸大 ALERT : Continuing Attempts to Revive The China Initiative and Texas Alien Land Bill On May 22, 2024, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee will hold a markup hearing that includes H.R. 1398 , which is yet another attempt to relaunch the now-defunct China Initiative. Read more and watch the markup hearing: https://bit.ly/3UOqbLr On May 29, 2024, the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs will hold a public hearing that includes " Protecting Texas Land and Assets : Evaluate strategic land and asset acquisitions in Texas by foreign entities that threaten the safety and security of the United States. Further, evaluate large-scale purchases of single-family homes by domestic entities and its impact on housing affordability for Texas families. Make recommendations to ensure Texans are secure from foreign threats and homes are affordable in our state." Read the Notice of Public Hearing: https://bit.ly/3QV7ODx "New Red Scare: The China Initiative" Chapter in New Book Steven Pei , Jeremy Wu , and Alex Liang co-authored a chapter " New Red Scare: The China Initiative " in a new book titled "Communicated Stereotypes at Work." The book, co-edited by Anastacia Kurylo and Yifeng Hu , was published by Lexington Books on May 15, 2024. The editors and contributors of the new book posit that stereotypes communicated in the workplace remain a pervasive issue due to the dichotomy between the discriminatory and functional roles that these stereotypes can play in a range of professional settings. Contributors demonstrate that while the use of stereotypes in the workplace is distasteful and exclusionary, communicating these stereotypes can also appear—on the surface—to provide a pathway toward bonding with others, giving advice, and reducing uncertainty. The result of this dichotomy is that those who communicate stereotypes in the workplace may not view this communication from themselves or others as being problematic. Pei, Wu, and Liang opined that the FBI has a long history of surveillance of ethnic Chinese scientists in the United States. McCarthyism, the Economic Espionage Act, and more recently the China Initiative were initiatives adversely impacting Chinese and Chinese Americans living in the U.S. The stereotypes of Asian and Chinese scientists as “disloyal” stem from the perpetual foreigner trope. The key here is that most of them were U.S. citizens. They are as much an American as any other American, yet their “loyalty” is perceived as less trustworthy. This stereotype has harmful, life-altering consequences. News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2024/05/22 Heritage, Culture, and Community: The Future of America's Chinatowns2024/05/23 Responsible Collaboration Through Appropriate Research Security2024/06/03 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/06/06 A Dialogue Between Academic/AAPI Communities with The FBI2024/06/20-22 Social Equity Leadership ConferenceVisit https://bit.ly/45KGyga for event details. Back View PDF May 22, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #29 12/2 Webinar; "China Initiative" Reports And Statistics; 2020 Census #29 12/2 Webinar; "China Initiative" Reports And Statistics; 2020 Census Back View PDF November 19, 2020 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #394 Forbidden Citizens; AAJC Updates; USCET Resource Hub; Letter to Congress; Resistance+ #394 Forbidden Citizens; AAJC Updates; USCET Resource Hub; Letter to Congress; Resistance+ In This Issue #394 · Forbidden Citizens: Congressional Regrets of Chinese Exclusion Laws · Updates from Advancing Justice | AAJC · USCET: New Resource Hub on Academic Travel to China · NYT : 2,500 Scientists Open Letter to Congress · Science Editorial on Resistance · News and Activities for the Communities Forbidden Citizens: Congressional Regrets of Chinese Exclusion Laws During the APA Justice monthly meeting on May 4, 2026, Martin B. Gold , Partner of Capitol Counsel LLP, provided a comprehensive account of the successful effort, roughly 15 years ago, to secure congressional resolutions expressing regret for the Chinese Exclusion Laws—an effort that unfolded over more than three years (2009–2012) and required careful legal, political, and strategic coordination. The initiative began in 2009 in the office of Representative Judy Chu 趙美心 , shortly after her election. A coalition of Chinese American and broader Asian American organizations met to explore how Congress might formally acknowledge the historical injustice of the exclusion laws. Marty, then a partner at Covington & Burling, helped lead the effort on a pro bono basis. This allowed the team to dedicate substantial legal resources to researching what turned out to be a complex legislative history—not just the well-known Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, but a series of eight related laws enacted between 1879 and 1904, which collectively restricted immigration, denied naturalization, and institutionalized discrimination against Chinese immigrants. These laws remained in effect until their repeal in 1943 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt . From the outset, Marty emphasized that success depended on bipartisan support. Representative Chu secured a Republican co-sponsor in the House, while in the Senate, Republican Scott Brown served as lead sponsor with Democratic support from Dianne Feinstein . Notably, both Chu and Brown were relatively junior members of the minority party in their respective chambers—making the effort more challenging and underscoring the importance of coalition-building and strategic positioning. The resolutions were introduced in May 2011 and referred to the Judiciary Committees in both chambers. In the Senate, leadership from Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley enabled the resolution to move forward. The Senate passed the resolution on October 6, 2011, by unanimous consent—a significant milestone that demonstrated broad bipartisan agreement. The House process proved more difficult. Some members raised concerns that the resolution could be interpreted as criticizing immigration controls more broadly. The issue was not limited to immigration; the historical laws also denied Chinese immigrants the ability to naturalize, based on explicit claims that they could not assimilate. This combination of immigration and citizenship issues made the resolution more politically sensitive. The turning point came through intervention from House leadership, specifically the office of Majority Leader Eric Cantor . His Chief of Staff, Neil Bradley , played a key role in breaking the impasse. At Cantor’s direction, staff worked with Representative Chu to negotiate a compromise that would allow the resolution to move forward. As a result, the House version passed on June 8, 2012. While its language differed somewhat from the Senate version, the core substance and intent remained aligned. Marty emphasized that passage of the resolutions was not the endpoint. Without continued engagement, he noted, the achievement could easily have faded from public awareness. To prevent that, he and others undertook an extensive education effort, delivering roughly 50 talks across the country—from New York to Honolulu—primarily to Chinese American and Asian American audiences. These efforts focused not only on what Congress had done, but also on the broader historical context and significance of the exclusion laws. Marty highlighted several lessons from the effort: · Bipartisanship is essential : Meaningful legislative achievements, particularly on sensitive historical issues, require support from both parties. · Coalition-building matters : Success depended on coordination among community groups, legal experts, and congressional offices. · Leadership intervention can be decisive : The House breakthrough came only after direct involvement from senior leadership. · Substance requires rigor : The effort was grounded in deep legal and historical research, covering multiple decades of legislation. · Education must follow legislation : Without continued outreach, even significant achievements risk being forgotten. Marty concluded by expressing pride in the success of the effort and in the role played by Covington & Burling in supporting the work on a pro bono basis. He emphasized that both the legislative accomplishment and the historical lessons behind it remain important to preserve and communicate. Marty’s 616-page book, Forbidden Citizens: Chinese Exclusion and the U.S. Congress — A Legislative History , was released on July 4, 2012. It was the first comprehensive legislative history of the Chinese exclusion laws passed by Congress. The book was named an Honor Book by the Asian and Pacific American Librarians Association and won a Benjamin Franklin Award. It is widely regarded as an important and timely work given ongoing debates about immigration, discrimination, and civil rights. APA Justice produced a timeline visualization based on Marty’s book at https://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/78461/1882-Chinese-Exclusion-Act/ . Watch a video of Marty’s talk at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUqYIJYn0Hk (7:10). Updates from Advancing Justice | AAJC During the May 4 APA Justice monthly meeting, Joanna YangQing Derman , Program Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC provided updates on three topics: 1. FISA Section 702 Congressional activity in the days before recess produced a messy outcome: the House passed a 3-year clean extension that included an unrelated provision banning central bank digital currency, but the Senate Majority Leader rejected that provision as a poison pill. The immediate result is a 45-day extension to continue pushing for reforms — specifically a warrant requirement and closing the data broker loophole. She gave a special acknowledgment to CAPAC for co-leading a reform letter with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), and supported by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). 2. China Initiative H.R. 1468 — the "Protect America's Innovation and Economic Security from the CCP Act," advanced by the House Judiciary Committee in March — would effectively reinstate the defunct China Initiative under a new name. AAJC has been working in coalition with Stop AAPI Hate, Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), and Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) to oppose it. While it is unclear if or when the bill will reach the House floor, AAJC is circulating an opposition letter to the Hill, expected to go out by end of that week. Contact Joanna at jderman@advancingjustice-aajc.org for more information. 3. SBA Policy Changes New Small Business Administration (SBA) rules now require 100% U.S. citizen ownership to qualify for SBA loans — reversing prior policy that allowed limited foreign ownership. The changes affect the flagship 7(a) and 504 loan programs, microloans, and surety bonds, and include new documentation requirements and nationality-based restrictions specifically targeting individuals with ties to China and Hong Kong. Joanna warned that these changes create barriers to capital access for AAPI-owned small businesses — one of the fastest-growing entrepreneurial segments in the country — and risk discrimination based on perceived foreign ties rather than actual financial risk. AAJC has endorsed the Investing in the American Dream Act (Sponsored by Edward J. Markey and Rep. Nydia Velázquez ) and participated in a closed-door listening session with the senator alongside AAPI small business leaders. USCET: New Resource Hub on Academic Travel to China On May 11, 2026, the US-China Education Trust (USCET) released a new online Resource Hub on academic travel to China. The free platform provides practical guidance for students, scholars, faculty, and researchers navigating study, research, and collaboration opportunities in China amid today’s evolving U.S.-China academic exchange environment. The Resource Hub was developed in response to the sharp decline in Americans studying in China—now fewer than 2,000 students annually—highlighted in USCET’s 2026 America's China Talent Challenge report . Designed primarily for travelers in the social sciences and humanities, the Hub offers vetted information on visas, technology, security, academic freedom, funding opportunities, and institutional considerations. It also compiles lessons and perspectives from recent travelers to help users better understand current conditions and make informed decisions about academic engagement in China. USCET notes that the guidance reflects the experiences and best practices of scholars, students, and institutions involved in academic travel since 2020. The materials are intended as informational resources and should be considered alongside institutional policies, official government guidance, and individual circumstances. Key features of the Resource Hub include: · Operational Toolkit : Practical guidance on logistics, including visa processes and technology, as well as addressing security and academic freedom concerns. · Funding and Programs : A database of current fellowships, funding opportunities, and active academic programs (summer study, research) in China. · Crowd-Sourced Guidance : Insights and lessons from recent travelers, offering on-the-ground perspectives. · Target Audience : Focused on students, faculty, and researchers in the social sciences and humanities. For more information, visit the USCET Resource Hub: https://uscet.org/resource-hub/ . USCET formally launched the Resource Hub for Academic Travel to China on May 4, 2026 at a public webinar event "Should I Study in China?" The program brought together students and scholars to discuss current conditions on the ground, suggestions for navigating the academic environment in China today, and identifying how the Resource Hub can support travelers weighing the decision of whether to go to China. Watch the launch event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbYDDG1-cJo (59:20). NYT: 2,500 Scientists Open Letter to Congress According to The New York Times , there is mounting concern among scientists and former research officials following Donald Trump ’s dismissal of all members of the National Science Board, the independent body that oversees the National Science Foundation. More than 2,500 scientists signed a letter urging Congress to restore the board, calling the move an “alarming attack” on U.S. scientific research and innovation. The scientists warned that disruptions to NSF governance and funding could weaken America’s global scientific leadership at a time when China is rapidly increasing its investments in research and development. The concern was reinforced by the NSB’s own 2026 science and engineering report, finalized before the board’s dismissal, which concluded that China had overtaken the United States in overall research and development expenditures. Established in 1950, NSF distributes billions of dollars annually to support research across fields including artificial intelligence, astronomy, engineering, and the social sciences. Former board members and agency leaders say NSF is now operating under severe strain, with no confirmed director, staffing reductions, relocation disruptions, and proposed budget cuts exceeding 40%. According to the Grant Witness Project, the agency had committed only about 10% of its appropriated funding by May 1—roughly half the pace of previous fiscal years. Several former board members said relations with the administration deteriorated sharply in 2025 after NSF canceled hundreds of active research grants without consulting the board. Shortly afterward, NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan resigned, followed by additional departures from board leadership. Former members described increasing frustration over limited transparency and repeated responses from agency officials that key decisions were still “under discussion” with the administration. The report also highlights concerns that normal oversight processes were increasingly bypassed. Former board members pointed to a proposed $900 million Arctic research vessel project that appeared in the president’s budget request without undergoing standard NSB review procedures. Keivan Stassun , who chaired the board’s committee on large facilities, said the proposal “had not gone through any of the normal processes” before the board was dismissed. The White House defended the firings by citing constitutional concerns related to a 2021 Supreme Court ruling and argued that NSF remains aligned with Trump’s goal of strengthening American technological leadership. Former board members, however, warned that the combination of weakened oversight, funding uncertainty, and leadership instability places the agency in a “very precarious position” and could have long-term consequences for U.S. scientific competitiveness and national security. Read the New York Times report: https://nyti.ms/4wpw5Vq . Read the scientists’ open letter to Congress: https://bit.ly/4d68Ubb Science Editorial on Resistance A Science editorial examines the growing anxiety within the American scientific community following federal grant cancellations, immigration restrictions on foreign scientists, and repeated attempts by the Trump administration to sharply reduce science funding. Although Congress ultimately restored much of the funding, delays in distributing grants and continuing political uncertainty have left many researchers uncertain about how to respond. The editorial centers on a conversation Science editor-in-chief H. Holden Thorp had with historian Timothy Snyder , author of On Tyranny , about how scientists and universities should balance resistance to political pressure with the need to protect institutions and maintain professional ethics. Snyder argues that universities should allow criticism and activism rather than suppress them, while recognizing that different institutions and individuals may respond differently depending on their circumstances. The discussion highlights the importance of scientific integrity, using the refusal of the Annals of Internal Medicine to retract a vaccine-related study at the request of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as an example of maintaining professional standards under political pressure. Snyder emphasized that scientists cannot effectively respond to attacks by abandoning their own ethical and evidentiary standards. The editorial also explores the unequal nature of public debate, noting that critics of science often make broad political claims while scientists feel compelled to respond with rigorous evidence and precision. Snyder argues that this imbalance is common during periods of authoritarian pressure and that scientists should not imitate political rhetoric in response. Rather than prescribing a single form of activism, Snyder suggests that scientists contribute in different ways depending on their roles and personal circumstances. Some may engage publicly through protests or advocacy, while others may support the broader effort through local actions, mentoring, communication, or simply defending professional norms within their institutions. The editorial concludes that protecting science will require sustained collective action, clearer public communication about the value of research, and mutual support across the scientific community. While not everyone must become a public activist, Snyder argues that scientists should avoid passivity and that those taking visible risks in defense of science deserve broad backing from their peers. Read the Science editorial and watch the interview with Timothy Snyder: https://bit.ly/4ts490k (35:38) News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2026/05/12-14 Celebrating 250 - Building America’s Future Together 2026/05/13 The Model Minority Trap: How ‘Positive’ Stereotypes Harm Asian Americans 2026/05/20 Trump v. Barbara: Birthright Citizenship at the Supreme Court 2026/06/01 APA Justice Monthly Meeting 2026/06/10 Recollections, Pioneers and Heroes - Calvin TsaoVisit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. Cato: Trump v. Barbara: Birthright Citizenship at the Supreme Court WHAT : Trump v. Barbara: Birthright Citizenship at the Supreme Court WHEN : May 20, 2026, 2:00-3:00 pm ET WHERE : Webinar HOST : Cato Institute Speakers: · Paul Finkelman , President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy, Emeritus, Albany Law School and Visiting Professor of Law, University of Toledo College of Law · Dan Greenberg , Senior Legal Fellow, Cato Institute · Ilya Somin , Professor of Law, George Mason University, and B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute · Jack Chin , Edward L. Barrett Jr. Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of Clinical Legal Education, UC Davis School of Law. DESCRIPTION: Does the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee birthright citizenship to persons born in the United States to parents without permanent immigration status? This is an insightful discussion with a group of scholars who will break down Trump v. Barbara, consider the recent Supreme Court oral argument, and explore the approaches the Court might take as it reaches a decision. REGISTRATION : https://bit.ly/4dg8Kwt # # # 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 May 13, 2026 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #6 Reminder Of August 3 Meeting With Updated Agenda And More #6 Reminder Of August 3 Meeting With Updated Agenda And More Back View PDF July 29, 2020 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #271 Yanping Chen Brief; Franklin Tao Speaks; Land Bill Tracker; AASF/Stanford Symposium; + #271 Yanping Chen Brief; Franklin Tao Speaks; Land Bill Tracker; AASF/Stanford Symposium; + In This Issue #271 · AALDEF: Amicus Brief in Support of Dr. Yanping Chen · Professor Franklin Tao and Wife Speak on Their Experience and Plans · C100: Alien Land Bill Tracker Updated · AASF: Asian American Pioneer Medal Symposium and Ceremony · News and Activities for the Communities AALDEF: Amicus Brief in Support of Dr. Yanping Chen On July 29, 2024, the Asian American Legal and Education Defense Fund (AALDEF) and a coalition of 11 organizations filed a 43-page amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in support of Dr. Yanping Chen . The brief addresses issues of racial prejudice and the negative stereotyping of Asian Americans, particularly in the context of government actions against Dr. Chen. Dr. Chen was not charged after six years of FBI investigations started in 2010. She filed a lawsuit in 2018 against the Government for violating the Privacy Act after Fox News aired a series of reports by Catherine Herridge in 2017, based on leaked FBI materials, that suggested she was spying for China, causing her significant personal, professional and financial harm.On February 29, 2024, Judge Christopher Cooper held Catherine Herridge in civil contempt for refusing to divulge her source for her 2017 series of Fox News reports. He imposed a fine of $800 per day until Catherine Herridge reveals her source, but the fine will not go into effect immediately to give her time to appeal.Catherine Herridge appealed to the DC Circuit Appeals Court. The case number is #24 -5050.The brief underscores the historical marginalization of Asian Americans, emphasizing the persistent "forever foreigner" stereotype that depicts Asian Americans as perpetual outsiders regardless of their citizenship status or contributions to society. Such stereotypes have been perpetuated by media representations and have influenced governmental policies and actions, often leading to discriminatory practices. The brief argues that decisions in this case should be informed by a rejection of racial stereotypes and should uphold principles of justice and equality. It stresses the importance of the court recognizing the impact of racial bias on the credibility and reputation of individuals like Dr. Chen and the broader Asian American community.The brief urges the court to consider the broader social and historical context of racial discrimination against Asian Americans when making its decision. It calls for a careful examination of the evidence and arguments presented, ensuring that decisions are based on facts rather than prejudiced assumptions.The brief concludes by reinforcing the need for the judicial system to protect the rights and dignity of all individuals, regardless of race or ethnicity. It emphasizes that a fair and just outcome in Dr. Chen's case would contribute to the broader fight against racial discrimination and uphold the principles of equality and justice.The coalition of 11 organizations includes Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, Asian Americans United, the Asian Law Alliance, the Asian Law Caucus, the APA Justice Task Force, Chinese for Affirmative Action, the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality, Helen Zia and the Vincent Chin Institute, the Japanese Americans Citizens League, Muslim Advocates, and Stop AAPI Hate. For additional information, contact Stuart J. Sia , Communications Director, AALDEF, at (212)-966-5932 x203 and ssia@aaldef.org Read the AALDEF brief: https://bit.ly/3Aa4oY3 . Read the AALDEF press statement: https://bit.ly/3WCm06i . Read Dr. Chen's legal docket: https://bit.ly/3ufnqUP Professor Franklin Tao and Wife Speak on Their Experience and Plans It was a deeply emotional day for Professor Franklin Tao to speak for the first time at the APA Justice meeting on August 5, 2024. He thanked his family, lawyers Peter Zeidenberg and Michael Dearington , thousands of GoFundMe donors, brothers and sisters from his church, and the unwavering support from CAPAC, United Chinese Americans, Asian American Scholar Forum, APA Justice, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Committee of 100, Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance, Alliance for Impact, and many other organizations.Professor Tao’s ordeal has lasted nearly five years. From the day of his arrest on August 21, 2019, to the day the 10th Circuit Court acquitted him of the last count, it has been 1,786 days—each one filled with fear and desperation.A false accusation from a lying whistleblower led to Professor Tao’s arrest under the China Initiative. Professor Tao said he is not a spy, and he should never have been arrested. He was indicted on 10 felony counts. Thanks to his dedicated lawyers, Professor Tao and his wife fought the charges and ultimately prevailed. On July 11, the final count was acquitted.However, this victory is bittersweet. Throughout this ordeal, Professor Tao has lost almost everything. His academic career, built over 20 years of hard work and 16-hour days, has been destroyed. The legal battle was extremely expensive, costing $2.3 million. He and his wife borrowed from friends, tapped into their retirement savings, and raised over $800,000 through GoFundMe. Despite all these efforts, they are still $1.1 million in debt, and he has had no income for the past four years, leaving his family nearly bankrupt. In July 2020, Professor Tao had an agreement with Kansas University (KU) stating that no action would be taken until the conclusion of criminal proceedings. However, KU terminated him in January 2023 before the conclusion of these proceedings. This was a breach of the agreement.Professor Tao appealed because he is innocent of all the allegations. He has proven his innocence, but he has lost his job.He is now focused on regaining his faculty position at KU. In the past few years while he was fighting his case, Professor Tao published 30 papers and retained the capability of working as a faculty member. Hong Peng followed her husband’s talk to share her story. It is a story marked by suffering and injustice, but ultimately ending in a victory for justice.It was very, very hard to live under the dark clouds of injustice for almost five years. Franklin lost his career and nearly everything. Hong had to work long hours, multiple jobs in different hospitals to help her family survive. She could not count how many times she had to work 24 hours straight, how many times she had to pull off the highway to find a gas station to take a short nap or use cold water to wash her face to stay awake.Sometimes she felt so desperate that she cried in her car after work, questioning why this was happening to Franklin and her family. Then she had to wipe away her tears and moved on. She had to tell herself to stay strong for her husband, their kids, and their family. She deeply regrets how this affects their children who are twins.This all began on their first day of high school. They were followed by a drone that the FBI used to surveil them from the moment they got into the car until the moment they got out at curbside and walked into the school.Their son often cried alone in his room because he did not want his parents to worry. Their daughter had to see a psychologist to cope with the trauma.Before they started college last year, her son said to Hong, “mom, don’t worry about us. We are going to start our new life in college. We are going to be fine. There were times before both of us thought about suicide.” Her heart breaks whenever she thinks about how much this has impacted their kids.Franklin was treated like a criminal when he was innocent. He became extremely depressed, and had trouble sleeping and eating. From time to time before he slept, he would say “I almost wish I could just fall asleep and never wake up again. Then I wouldn’t need to think about all of this.”She was heartbroken to witness her loved one suffer so much because of this injustice.Physically, mentally, and financially Hong had to be the center of resource and support for her family. She was so drained. One time she got off the highway and was completely out. She did not know where she was, but it was the road she drove to work daily. It was scary because she could not afford to be sick. She had to be there for her family. Justice finally prevailed with the 10th Circuit Court acquittal of the last count against Franklin on July 11. This victory could not have been possible without the tremendous support they received from the organizations, community, family, friends, legal team, and countless individuals. Hong and Franklin are eternally grateful for the compassion and belief in the truth that were shown to them.In conclusion, Hong and Franklin look forward to Kansas University to reinstate Franklin, starting a new chapter in their lives and to a future where justice is not just a concept but reality for all. A summary for the August 5 APA Justice monthly meeting is being prepared at this time. Read Professor Tao's story: https://bit.ly/3y8SBsm C100: Alien Land Bill Tracker Updated On August 1, 2024, the Committee of 100 (C100) announced that its national database to track harmful alien land laws legislation has been updated. The C100 tracker and interactive maps are located at https://bit.ly/4d6G0Ft Summary of 2024 as of July 22, · 151 bills restricting property ownership by foreign entities have been considered by 32 states (115 bills) and Congress (36 bills). · Of the 151 total bills, 71 are under current consideration that would prohibit Chinese citizens from purchasing or owning property. · Of the 151 total bills, 12 passed and were signed into law in Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa (2 bills), Nebraska (2 bills), Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee (2 bills), and Utah, respectively. · Of the 12 bills passed so far, 7 prohibit Chinese citizens from purchasing or owning some form of property: Georgia’s SB 420, Indiana’s HB 1183, Nebraska’s LB 1301, Oklahoma’s SB1705, South Dakota’s HB 1231, Tennessee’s HB 2553 and SB 2639. Summary since the beginning of 2023: · 241 bills restricting property ownership by foreign entities have been considered by 39 states (205 bills) and Congress (36 bills). · Of the 241 total bills, 194 have been under consideration that would prohibit Chinese citizens from purchasing or owning property; 174 bills have been considered by 38 states and 20 have been considered by Congress. · Of the 241 total bills, 29 passed and were signed into law in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa (2 bills), Idaho (2 bills), Indiana (2 bills), Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota (2 bills), Nebraska (2 bills), Oklahoma (2 bills), South Dakota, Tennessee (4 bills), Utah (2 bills), Virginia, (2 bills), and West Virginia. · Of the 29 bills passed so far, 11 prohibit Chinese citizens from purchasing or owning some form of property: Arkansas’ SB 383, Florida’s S 264, Georgia’s SB 420, Indiana’s HB 1183 and SB 477, Nebraska’s LB 1301, Oklahoma’s SB1705, South Dakota’s HB 1231, Tennessee’s HB 2553 and SB 2639, and West Virginia’s SB 548. AASF: Asian American Pioneer Medal Symposium and Ceremony According to a press statement on August 2, 2024, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) hosted, in partnership with Stanford University Asian American Activities Center, the very first Asian American Pioneer Medal Symposium and Ceremony on July 27, 2024, at Stanford Memorial Auditorium. More than 1,300 persons registered for the event.The six Pioneer Medal Award recipients are Nasir Ahmed , Frank C Chang , Dawon Kahng , Teresa H. Meng , Raj Reddy , and Simon M. Sze . The symposium and award ceremony brought together some of the most distinguished minds in energy, artificial intelligence, life sciences, and leadership – including Nobel Prize laureates Steven Chu and Randy Schekman , Turing Award laureates Raj Reddy and John Hennessy , and leading industry figures, such as CEO and Founder of Zoom, Eric Yuan . It also included academic leaders such as Jonathan Levin , the 13th president of Stanford University; Arun Majumbar , the dean of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability; Tsu-Jae King Liu , the dean of the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley; and Andrea J. Goldsmith , the dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton University. The event also featured notable speakers such as Dr. Arati Prabhakar (U.S. Cabinet member and Science Advisor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy), Sethuraman Panchanathan (Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation), and Representative Judy Chu (D-CA 28th District and Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus). Read the AASF press statement: https://bit.ly/4dxYkHl News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2024/08/19 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 Summit2024/10/06 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. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Tsung-Dao Lee dies at age 97 According to AP, New York Times, and multiple media sources, Chinese American physicist Tsung-Dao Lee 李政道 (1926-2024), who in 1957 became the second-youngest scientist to receive a Nobel Prize, died at his home in San Francisco at age 97.His death was announced in a joint statement by the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute at the Jiao Tong University in Shanghai and the China Center for Advanced Science and Technology in Beijing. Born on November 24, 1926, in Shanghai, Tsung-Dao Lee made groundbreaking contributions to physics, leaving a lasting impact on both theoretical and experimental physics. Lee's academic journey began at the National Chekiang University and the National Southwest Associated University from 1943 to 1945. He then pursued graduate studies at the University of Chicago from 1946 to 1950, where he was chosen by Enrico Fermi, a Nobel laureate in physics, as a doctoral student. In 1950, Lee earned his Ph.D. degree. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1962.In 1953, he joined Columbia University as an assistant professor. Three years later, he became the youngest-ever full professor there. He became the Enrico Fermi Professor of Physics at Columbia University in 1964.In 1957, Lee, at age 31, was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics together with Chen-Ning Yang 楊振寧 . Robert Oppenheimer , known as the father of the atomic bomb, once praised Lee as one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists of the time, whose work showed “remarkable freshness, versatility and style.”Read the New York Times report: https://nyti.ms/4dBZ3qZ . Read the AP report: https://bit.ly/4d82uWo . 3. Verge : Customs Agents Need a Warrant to Search Your Phone Now According to the Verge on July 29, 2024, a federal judge in New York ruled that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can not search travelers’ phones without a warrant. The ruling theoretically applies to land borders, seaports, and airports — but in practice, it only applies to New York’s Eastern District. The ruling stems from a criminal case against Kurbonali Sultanov , a naturalized US citizen from Uzbekistan, who was ordered to hand his phone over to CBP after his name triggered an alert on the Treasury Enforcement Communications System identifying Sultanov as a potential purchaser or possessor of child sexual abuse material.The judge, Nina R. Morrison of New York’s Eastern District, denied Sultanov’s motion to suppress evidence, but ruled in favor of Sultanov on Fourth Amendment grounds, finding that the initial search of his phone was unconstitutional. CBP’s ability to search travelers’ phones has received increased scrutiny in recent months. In April, a bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asking for information on what data the government retains from these searches and how the data is used. “We are concerned that the current policies and practices governing the search of electronic devices at the border constitute a departure from the intended scope and application of border search authority,” Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI), Rand Paul (R-KY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Mike Crapo (R-ID) wrote. Read the Verge report: https://bit.ly/46wX7h6 . Back View PDF August 7, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #71 06/30 Roundtable; 07/12 Meeting; Mistrial; "China Initiative;" Yellow Whistle; Alert #71 06/30 Roundtable; 07/12 Meeting; Mistrial; "China Initiative;" Yellow Whistle; Alert Back View PDF July 8, 2021 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #181 Heritage Month; Alien Land Bills; C100 Conference; Monica Bertagnolli; Fulbright; + #181 Heritage Month; Alien Land Bills; C100 Conference; Monica Bertagnolli; Fulbright; + In This Issue #181 May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month Latest Developments on Discriminatory Alien Land Bills in Florida and Texas Committee of 100 Annual Conference Who is Monica Bertagnolli, Biden's pick to lead NIH? Want to Improve US-China Relations? Bring back Fulbright Program, Advocates Say Activities and News for the Communities May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month Asian Pacific American Heritage Month originated in June 1977 when Representatives Frank Horton (New York) and Norman Y. Mineta (California) called for the establishment of Asian/Pacific Heritage Week. Hawaii senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga introduced a similar bill in the Senate. Both bills passed, and in 1978 President Jimmy Carter signed the resolution. In 1990, President George H. W. Bush expanded the celebration from a week to a month. It became the AANHPI Heritage Month under President Joe Biden . May was selected as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month to commemorate the arrival in May 1843 of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States and the role of Chinese laborers in the completion of the first transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869.2023/04/28 White House: A Proclamation on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, 2023 2023/05/01 Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus: CAPAC Members and House Democratic Leader Celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, & Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2023/05/01 National Academy of Public Administration: AAPI Heritage Month Spotlight - Pursuing a More Perfect Union and an Equitable Society by Jeremy Wu On May 1, 2023, CNN updated a story about the terms such as Asian American. APA. APIDA. AAPI. and AANHPI to describe this population of more than 24 million people with roots in East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Hawaii, Samoa, Guam, Fiji, Tonga, Marshall Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands and other Pacific islands. It comprises scores of ethnic groups with distinct histories, cuisines, languages and cultures. It includes recent immigrants, those who have been in the US for generations and those who have endured centuries of colonization.The US government currently defines Asian Americans as those “having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent.” It uses the separate category of “Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander” to describe those “having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.”Read the CNN report: https://cnn.it/3NX7eo6 Latest Developments on Discriminatory Alien Land Bills in Florida and Texas According to an opinion by the Los Angeles Times on May 3, 2023, while our country celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida legislature are busy resurrecting a long-dead form of anti-Asian discrimination. The Florida Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 264 in April, and on May 3, the Florida House rushed to pass its twin, House Bill 1355, purportedly to prohibit the Chinese government from buying real estate in Florida. By targeting “any member of the People’s Republic of China,” the bill could also wreak havoc on the lives of ordinary people.On May 9, 2023, multiple media including Axios reported that Gov. DeSantis signed legislation that prevents certain foreign nationals from China and six other countries from purchasing what the state deems sensitive American land. It becomes effective on July 1, 2023. DeSantis also signed off on two other bills: one restricting government desktops or servers from downloading TikTok, an app owned by a Chinese company; and another prohibiting Florida colleges and universities from engaging in a partnership with schools overseas without governmental approval. Also on May 9, 2023, United Chinese Americans (UCA) issued a statement calling for national action against the discriminatory law that "among other things, prohibits Chinese nationals from acquiring real property in the state based solely on race, ethnicity and country of origin, ostensibly in the name of national security." According to the statement, UCA will work with Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance (CALDA), Florida Asian American Justice Alliance (FAAJA) and others to challenge this misguided Florida law and see to it that it is struck down by the Federal court or repealed by the people of Florida. UCA calls on Americans in all walks of life, corporations, civic organizations and faith-based groups, to condemn this act of blatant discrimination. A video titled " A Dark Day in America " (4:09) including statements by Haipei Shue, UCA President, and Anders Fung , Member of Millbrae City Council, was posted by Ding Ding TV.Also on the same day, CALDA issued a statement that the Florida bill may seem to be limited to real estate transactions, but in fact it regards the Chinese people as a threat to the national security of the United States and a target for isolation by the whole society. Despite some last minute changes, the bill still contains undisguised racial discrimination. These provisions mainly target ordinary people and various companies in several countries, prohibiting or restricting their basic rights to directly or indirectly purchase real estate. These provisions violate the US Constitution's prohibition of racial discrimination, and also conflict with the basic values of American society such as equality, tolerance and diversity.Once this discriminatory law is established, it will undoubtedly set off a wave of hatred against Chinese and even all Asians, and no one can be alone. States such as Texas, South Carolina, and Georgia are actively promoting bills similar to those in Florida.CALDA announced immediate legal action to overturn this discriminatory bill. It expects to file a lawsuit in Florida court in about a week, and a court injunction preventing the law from taking effect before the end of this month. CALDA has already begun assembling a team of attorneys and contacting potential plaintiff representatives. It will also work with all like-minded groups, including FAAJA and UCA, to stem this latest anti-Chinese wave. Texas Multicultural Advocacy Coalition (TMAC) and Civil Rights Town Hall on 2023/05/13 According to Houston Style Magazine on May 9, 2023, the Texas Multicultural Advocacy Coalition, with the support of Congressman Al Green , is organizing a Civil Rights Town Hall on May 13th, 2023, at 1 pm at FountainLife Center, located at 14083 S. Main St. Houston, TX 77035. The event will bring together a diverse group of community leaders and organizations, including Congressman Al Green, Rep. Gene Wu , Rep. Ron Reynolds , Bishop James Dixon (NAACP, Houston Branch), Wea Lee (International Trade Center), Judson Robinson (Houston Area Urban League), Dr. Steven Pei (United Chinese Americans), Nabila Mansoor (Rise AAPI), Niloufar Hafizi (Emgage Texas), Dawn Lin (Asian Real Estate Association of America), Gary Nakamura (Japanese American Citizens League, Houston), Claude Cummings, Jr. (Communications Workers of America), Kenneth Li (Asian American Business Council), Eileen Huang (United Association of Chinese Alumni), Dr. Sergio Lira (Greater Houston LULAC 4967), Dr. Pretta VanDible Stallworth , Hua Gu (Sino Professionals Association), Guowei Gu (Shandong Fellowship Association of Southern USA), Baohua Yang (Henan Fellowship Association of Southern USA), Liang Han (Southern Jiangsu Association USA), Yizhu Liao (Hunan Club of Houston), Kathy Xu (Texas Northeast Chinese Association), Casey Kang (Korean American Chamber of Commerce), Terrance Koontz (Texas Organizing Project), Ruth Kravetz (Community Voices for Public Education), Lani Cabral Pasao (People Caring for the Community), Stephen Yoe (Myanmar Chamber of Commerce), Harry Sun (Chinese Chamber of Commerce), H.C. Chang (OCA Greater Houston), William White (CAIR Houston) and many others. The participation of these organizations highlights the broad support for the event and the urgent need to stand against the harmful actions that threaten the rights and opportunities of communities of color.The primary objective of the town hall is to unite multicultural organizations and individuals against the racist and xenophobic Senate Bill 147 and the state takeover of the HISD school board. These actions are detrimental to communities of color: SB 147 threatens the right to property ownership, and the HISD takeover imperils access to quality education and equal opportunities.Read the Houston Style Magazine report: https://bit.ly/3nLxkzV Committee of 100 Annual Conference On May 5, 2023, Jeremy Wu , Founder of APA Justice and Member of the Committee of 100, delivered opening remarks to set the context on Turbulent Times for Chinese Americans. The presentations with and without script are posted at https://bit.ly/3NSmYZx . Eight categories of challenges are identified to be of top concerns to the Chinese American and scientific communities. 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 2023/05/07 Los Angeles Post: Focusing on Challenges Faced by Chinese Americans in Turbulent Times, Committee of 100’s 2023 Annual Meeting Concludes in Silicon Valley 2023/05/07 South China Morning Post: Asian-Americans should prepare for more hate, committee warns 2023/05/06 South China Morning Post: Asian-Americans face numerous hurdles to win greater acceptance and influence, experts say Who is Monica Bertagnolli, Biden's pick to lead NIH? According to Science on April 27, 2023, Monica Bertagnolli never had the luxury of easing into her new job as head of the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI).Several weeks after taking over the largest component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in October 2022, the then–63-year-old surgical oncologist was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer and underwent surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Early in April, she unveiled a plan to implement President Joe Biden ’s signature Cancer Moonshot initiative. And Biden is expected to cap Bertagnolli’s whirlwind first 7 months in Washington, D.C., by nominating her to become the 17th director of NIH, the federal government’s crown jewel of biomedical research.The previous NIH Director, Francis Collins , stepped down in December 2021. If confirmed by the Senate, Bertagnolli would be only the second woman to lead NIH, following Bernadine Healy , who stepped down in 1993.Once nominated, her first hurdle will be a hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee . Bertagnolli has never testified before Congress (and leading NCI doesn’t require Senate confirmation). The HELP panel is chaired by Senator Bernie Sanders (I–VT).On March 23, 2023, Science published an investigative report titled PALL OF SUSPICION - The National Institutes of Health’s “China initiative” has upended hundreds of lives and destroyed scores of academic careers and an editorial titled Eroding Trust and Collaboration . "Given the information available in the public domain, the scientific community could easily conclude that this is a xenophobic program to harm Chinese scientists and cut off international scientific cooperation. The federal government needs to figure out a way to let the NIH and the institutions reassure the community that this is all worth it," the editorial concluded.Read the Science report at https://bit.ly/3oWH1eY and its editorial at https://bit.ly/3z24z40 Want to Improve US-China Relations? Bring back Fulbright Program, Advocates Say According to the South China Morning Post on April 28, 2023, as tensions between Washington and Beijing keep rising, a loose alliance of former officials, politicians and ordinary US citizens are pushing to restore one of America’s oldest and most prestigious connections to China that observers hail as unmatched in its potential to put the relationship back on track.The Fulbright China program, which for over four decades sent American scholars to the country and brought their Chinese counterparts to the US, was cancelled in 2020 by an executive order from then-president Donald Trump over Beijing’s imposition of the national security law in Hong Kong. President Joe Biden has extended the order twice.Opposition came thick and fast from within and outside the Fulbright community. Seton Hall University professor Margaret Lewis , for example, likened the decision to “shooting ourselves in the foot”, and an alumni-led petition to restore the program garnered more than 700 signatures in two days.“Appalled” by the cancellation, Colleen O’Connor and fellow alumni formed a group of 100 volunteers called the Protect Fulbright China Coalition to push for its restoration. On March 29, 2023 Representatives Rick Larsen of Washington, Don Beyer of Virginia and Judy Chu of California reintroduced the Restoring Fulbright Exchanges bill .Under the Nationalist government in 1947, China was the first country to sign a Fulbright agreement with the US, though the program was paused after the Communist Party came into power in 1949. Since restoring operations after the two countries normalized relations in 1979, the US sent more than 3,500 Americans to China under the program and received more than 1,500 Chinese in the US. Proponents describe its impact as profound.The Fulbright China program counts among its alumni Kevin Nealer , a former member of president Barack Obama’s Intelligence Advisory Board; Scott Kennedy , senior adviser in Chinese business and economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; John Pomfret , The Washington Post’s former Beijing bureau chief; and legions of academics.As of last October, there were fewer than 400 American students in the country – a sharp contrast from 2018, when China was hosting more than 11,000.There are organizations in the Biden administration, particularly in intelligence and law enforcement, “who are opposing restoring the Fulbright on national security grounds”, said Dennis Wilder , a research fellow at the Initiative for US-China Dialogue on Global Issues at Georgetown University, while noting these concerns were not necessarily shared by the White House. Neither the Trump nor Biden administration spelled out what the concerns with the program were.Read the South China Morning Post report: https://bit.ly/3ngzvLl News and Activities for the Communities 1. Victims of Mass Shooting in Allen, Texas According to multiple media reports, eight people including four Asian Americans were killed, and at least seven others were injured in a mass shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets in Texas on May 6, 2023.Three of the victims killed in Saturday's shooting belonged to one family. Cindy Cho, 35, and Kyu Cho, 37, and their 3-year-old son, James Cho , were among the victims. Their 6-year-old son, William , was also shot and has been released from the ICU. He is now with his extended family. The Korean American family was visiting the Allen Premium Outlets to exchange clothes William had gotten for his birthday four days prior to the shooting. Aishwarya Thatikonda, an engineer from India who lived in the Dallas suburb, was among those killed. She was less than a week away from celebrating her 28th birthday. Thatikonda was at the Allen mall with a friend when the shooting took place. Her friend was wounded in the shooting. Her family is now planning to repatriate her remains to India with the help of the Telugu Association of North America. She received a master's degree in construction management from Eastern Michigan University in the US in 2020. For the last two years, she was working for a Dallas-based contracting firm on a US work visa.On May 9, 2023, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus issued a statement about the mass shooting. “While investigations into specific motive are ongoing, Allen, Texas, and the surrounding areas have among the highest percentage of Asian Americans outside of the coasts and half of the victims are also of Asian descent. With the shooter’s likely social media presence demonstrating an ugly promotion of neo-Nazism and violent white supremacist ideology, it remains clear Congress and elected officials around the country have a lot more to do to fight extremism here at home and create a safe, welcoming multiracial democracy for us all.“This is the second largest mass shooting in this country this year, but every single day Americans die from gun violence. From going to the mall, going to school, to celebrating Lunar New Year, knocking on the wrong door or driving down the wrong driveway, it is clear that the problem is the guns. We must ban assault weapons now. Letting these weapons of war remain on our streets comes at the cost of American lives.” 2. Turbulence Ahead: Racial & Religious Profiling at the Border and Ports According to Advancing Justice | AAJC on April 20, 2023, 22 years after 9/11, racial and religious profiling is still the harsh reality for many Americans. Last March, three Muslim-American travelers from Minnesota, Texas, and Arizona sued the Department of Homeland Security after they were stopped multiple times by U.S. officials over several years at the border and in international airports. They were interrogated to determine if they were Muslims, if they attended a mosque, and how often they prayed. The distress of these experiences has led one man to stop wearing a kufi and to stop carrying religious texts when he travels internationally to avoid scrutiny. In recent months, there have also been reports of academics and scientists of Chinese descent being stopped, questioned, and harassed by law enforcement upon re-entry into the U.S., creating a chilling effect for many in the community.Profiling people at the border due to their race, ethnicity, or religion is illegal under the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is required to base its enforcement activities solely on credible intelligence and legitimate law enforcement purposes.In recent years, several racial and religious profiling cases have been widely reported and further highlight the problem at the border. Racial and religious profiling has created an environment of fear for communities of color across the country, but there are steps you can take to stand up for yourself.Read the Advancing Justice | AAJC blog at https://bit.ly/3ndt0ZJ 3 . 'Anti-Asian Racism' names the sin of white supremacy in Catholic Church According to the National Catholic Reporter on April 29, 2023, Servite Fr. Joseph Cheah is hopeful that telling Asian American-centered stories will help communities and individuals begin to understand the ways in which racism and white supremacy have shaped history. In his latest book, Anti-Asian Racism: Myths, Stereotypes, and Catholic Social Teaching , Cheah takes a wide and integral view on how Catholic social teaching can inform the way Catholics engage in the work of anti-racism in the context of Asian American communities. Read the National Catholic Reporter interview at https://bit.ly/3ALaV8F 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 . Copyright © 2023 APA Justice, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in or have expressed interest. Our mailing address is: APA Justice P.O. Box 257 McLean, VA 22101-0257 Add us to your address book We do not share, sell, rent or trade any of your information with third parties unless you provide explicit consent. Read our Privacy Policy here . Back View PDF May 11, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #45 Chinese Immigrant Threat; House Hearing; 02/24 Webinar; 03/01 Meeting #45 Chinese Immigrant Threat; House Hearing; 02/24 Webinar; 03/01 Meeting Back View PDF February 22, 2021 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter