Newsletter - #96 Updates On Sherry Chen, Franklin Tao, Charles Lieber; Latest On Campaign; Events + #96 Updates On Sherry Chen, Franklin Tao, Charles Lieber; Latest On Campaign; Events + Back View PDF November 18, 2021 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #190: Florida Lawsuit; Section 702 Webinar; AANHPI Commission; US-China Science Pact; More #190: Florida Lawsuit; Section 702 Webinar; AANHPI Commission; US-China Science Pact; More In This Issue #190 Update on Florida Alien Land Bill Lawsuit - Schedule and Amicus Brief Registration Open: June 26 Webinar on Perils of Warrantless Surveillance Register Now: July 6 President's Advisory Commission on AANHPI Public Meeting New Scrutiny on U.S.-China Landmark Science Deal News for the Communities Update on Florida Alien Land Bill Lawsuit - Schedule and Amicus Brief According to Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance (CALDA), Judge Allen C. Winsor has set the following schedule: 2023/07/03 Florida government submits its objection to the motion for preliminary injunction 2023/07/11 Plaintiffs submits its reply 2023/07/18 U.S. District Court holds hearing The July 18 hearing will be held at 111 N. Adams Street, Tallahassee, starting at 1:30 pm ET. It will be public, but no photography and audio or video recording will be allowed. The Florida state law becomes effective on July 1, 2023. The Court may make a ruling on the injunction by early August. An immediate appeal by either side is anticipated. On June 14, 2023, 19 racial justice centers, affinity bar and professional associations, and civil rights organizations submitted a 25-page amicus curiae ("friend-of-the-court") brief in support of the plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction. The lead counsels are: Madeleine K. Rodriguez , Partner, Foley Hoag LLP Robert S. Chang , Ronald A. Peterson Law Clinic; Counsel for Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality Rose Cuison-Villazor , Rutgers Law School; Counsel for Center for Immigration Law, Policy and Justice Gabriel J. Chin , UC Davis School of Law; Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies This is a list of the coalition of 19 racial justice centers, affinity bar and professional associations, and civil rights advocacy organizations: Racial Justice Centers: Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality at Seattle University School of Law Center for Immigration Law, Policy and Justice at Rutgers Law School Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies at UC Davis School of Law LLS Anti-Racism Center of LMU Loyola Law School Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law at New York University School of Law Boston University Center for Antiracist Research Center for Civil Rights and Racial Justice at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law Affinity Bar/Professional Associations: Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Tampa Bay Conference of Asian Pacific American Law Faculty Hispanic National Bar Association National Asian Pacific American Bar Association South Asian Bar Association of North America Civil Rights and Other Advocacy Organizations: Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta Asian American Women’s Political Initiative Asian Law Alliance Chinese for Affirmative Action Japanese American Citizens League LatinoJustice PRLDEF Read the CALDA announcement: https://bit.ly/3qU2Ah2 (in Chinese). Read the amicus brief: https://bit.ly/42DT9Q8 Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) Media Release. In response to FBI policy changes. AASF issued a media release urging the US Government to take more steps to put an end to warrantless and discriminatory investigations on June 14, 2023. AASF and other national advocacy groups have vocally agreed that the FBI announcement falls short of the level of vigilance needed to hold intelligence agencies accountable to the many human rights and privacy abuses they have perpetrated against countless numbers of people—including the nation’s top researchers and scholars that contribute greatly to the United States’ leadership in science and technology.While AASF welcomes any efforts from the federal government to create mechanisms for increased transparency and accountability of its agencies, they call on the federal government to take more serious steps to reform Section 702 and FISA, and to address the legal loopholes that allow warrantless surveillance of innocent people. Read the AASF media release: https://bit.ly/3CBhz2b Registration Open: June 26 Webinar on Perils of Warrantless Surveillance The Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), APA Justice, the Brennan Center for Justice, and the Committee of 100 will co-host a webinar on "Perils of Warrantless Surveillance: The Case for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Reform." (note title of the webinar has been updated) WHEN: June 26, 2023, 4:00 pm ET/1:00 pm PT WHAT: The U.S. Constitution protects its people against unreasonable searches and seizures. However, under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the U.S. government engages in mass, warrantless surveillance of phone calls, text messages, emails, and other electronic communications between Americans and foreigners. Information collected under this law without a warrant can be used to prosecute and imprison people, even for crimes that have nothing to do with national security. Asian Americans, especially Chinese Americans and the immigrant and scientific communities, have been targeted for warrantless surveillance that led to wrongful and unjust prosecutions. The current authorization of Section 702 will expire on December 31, 2023. What should the Asian American and immigrant communities know about Section 702? If it is not sunset, what reforms will be needed? What are the next steps for the communities? WHO: Keynote speaker. Rep. Pramila Jayapal , the first South Asian American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives; a member of the House Judiciary Committee; Ranking Member of House Subcommittee on Immigration, Integrity, Security and Enforcement Moderator. Lillian Sing 郭丽莲 . Judge (retired), California Superior Court; first Asian American woman judge in Northern California Panelist. Gang Chen 陈刚 . Soderberg Professor of Power Engineering, MIT; Member, National Academy of Sciences; prosecuted under "China Initiative" with case dismissed; "We Are All Gang Chen" Panelist. Elizabeth Goitein. Senior Director, Liberty and National Security Program, Brennan Center for Justice Panelist. Ashley Gorski . Senior Staff Attorney, National Security Project, American Civil Liberties Union Panelist. Brian A. Sun 孙自华 . Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright; Board Member, Committee of 100 REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/42AbNIF Additional information about the webinar including bios of the speakers and references are posted at the Warrantless Surveillance webpage: https://bit.ly/3O6T43Q Register Now: July 6 President's Advisory Commission on AANHPI Public Meeting The President's Advisory Commission on Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) will hold its next meeting, the sixth of a series, on July 6, 2023 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The meeting serves to continue the development of recommendations to promote equity, justice, and opportunity for the AANHPI communities. It is open to the public and will be live streamed. The Commission seeks written comments that may be emailed to AANHPICommission@hhs.gov at any time. Individuals may also submit a request to provide oral public comments.For details, directions, and registration, visit: https://bit.ly/3NqpQMB .Dr . Robert Underwood , a member of the Commission, also urges all of us to feel free to communicate with him directly at anacletus2010@gmail.com . Read his remarks at the APA Justice monthly meeting: https://bit.ly/3qogBU1 . Watch his remarks at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnIrq1hfl4A (video 11:48 to 25:21) New Scrutiny on U.S.-China Landmark Science Deal According to Reuters on June 18, 2023, for over 40 years, a landmark agreement between the United States and China has yielded cooperation across a range of scientific and technical fields, a powerful sign that the rivals could set aside their disputes and work together.Now with bilateral relations in their worst state in decades, a debate is underway within the U.S. government about whether to let the U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement (STA) expire on August 27, 2023.The agreement, signed when Beijing and Washington established diplomatic ties in 1979 and renewed about every five years since, has been hailed as a stabilizing force for the countries' relations, with collaboration in areas from atmospheric and agricultural science to basic research in physics and chemistry. It laid the foundation for a boom in academic and commercial exchanges.Inside the U.S. government, including the State Department, which leads the negotiations, there are competing views about whether to renew the pact, let it expire or renegotiate to add safeguards against industrial espionage and require reciprocity in data exchanges. Given the state of U.S.-China ties, trying to renegotiate could derail the agreement.Read the Reuters report: https://reut.rs/42M8Rsz News for the Communities Confirmations of Nusrat Jahan Choudhury and Dale Ho On June 15, 2023, the U.S. Senate voted 50-49 to confirm Nusrat Jahan Choudhury to serve as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York, and voted on June 14, 2023 50-49 to confirm Dale Ho to serve as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. Rep. Judy Chu , Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), issued the following statement:“I am thrilled that the Senate has voted to confirm Nusrat Jahan Choudhury to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and Dale Ho to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.“Ms. Choudhury is a champion for racial justice, religious freedom, and privacy rights. While working at the ACLU, she challenged stop-and-frisk policies and the racial profiling and surveillance of Arab, South Asian, Muslim, and Sikh Americans. Ms. Choudhury’s confirmation is also historic, as she is now the first Bangladeshi American and first Muslim American woman to serve on the Federal bench.“Mr. Ho has a storied career as one of our nation’s leading civil rights lawyers and successfully argued at the Supreme Court against the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census. He most recently was the director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, where he spearheaded challenges on partisan gerrymandering, restrictive state voting laws, disenfranchisement of underrepresented and marginalized communities, and more. “I offer my heartiest congratulations to Ms. Choudhury and Mr. Ho on their historic confirmations. I commend President Biden for his ongoing commitment to ensuring that our judicial system reflects the diversity of our country, and I thank Majority Leader Schumer for his leadership on these successful confirmations.” Subscribe to The APA Justice Newsletter Complete this simple form at https://bit.ly/2FJunJM to subscribe. Please share it with those who wish to be informed and join the fight. View past newsletters here: https://bit.ly/APAJ_Newsletters . Back View PDF June 19, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #37 Letters To Biden And Raskin; GAO Report And Civil Rights Alert; And Lots More #37 Letters To Biden And Raskin; GAO Report And Civil Rights Alert; And Lots More Back View PDF January 7, 2021 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #208 Alien Land Laws; Voice from Guam; Asian American History; Statisticians in China; More #208 Alien Land Laws; Voice from Guam; Asian American History; Statisticians in China; More In This Issue #208 Tell Congress NO to Alien Land Laws and the Rounds Amendment A Voice from Guam - "Applying Leverage to Uncle Sam" Asian American History - The AsianWeek Database Project Statisticians in China Speak Up On Transparency of Chinese Government Data News and Activities for The Communities Tell Congress NO to Alien Land Laws and the Rounds Amendment Reminder: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) put out a call for the public to tell Congress: Say NO to Discriminatory Land Laws. Tell your Members of Congress to speak out against any law that falsely equates Chinese people with the Chinese government." We cannot allow history to repeat itself. Take one easy step to tell Congress NO to discriminatory land laws at https://bit.ly/3qRsFOh Breaking News: The National Fair Housing Alliance announced that it will file a lawsuit against the discriminatory alien land law in Florida during the APA Justice monthly meeting on September 11, 2023. Correction : Scott Chang, an attorney for the National Fair Housing Alliance, said that NFHA and other organizations are still investigating and are likely to file a lawsuit against the discriminatory alien land law in Florida during the APA Justice monthly meeting on September 11, 2023 1. Call for Action by Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC Advancing Justice | AAJC is also urging the public to join the opposition against Senate Amendment 813 otherwise known as the “Rounds Amendment” and say NO to this discriminatory land law. Follow the link here to voice your concerns to Congress. Additional resources on discriminatory land laws can also be found here . The U.S. has seen a resurgence of discriminatory land laws introduced and enacted in states across the country! Similar legislation has also been proposed in Congress and the latest example is the Senate Amendment 813 which has been included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024.Introduced by Sen. Mike Rounds (R-ND), the provision would effectively prohibit foreign nationals from China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran from owning agricultural land in the United States. It would require the President to block specific types of transactions based on recommendations from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). There are currently no exceptions for visa holders and there is a high standard for a waiver which has to be granted by the President of the United States. The good news is that there is still time to prevent the Rounds amendment from being formally adopted into law.Call your member of Congress and urge them to strike Senate Amendment 813 from the final version of the NDAA. When you talk with your elected official(s), let them know that you oppose continuing the legacy of discriminatory land laws. These types of discriminatory land laws have a long legacy in this country and single out citizens who otherwise have no connection to the actions of their governments, including the countries which have been deemed to be a “foreign adversary.” The amendment was adopted and subsequently included in the Senate version of the NDAA but coalition groups are currently applying pressure to strike out the amendment in conferencing. Help us win this fight! 2. National Iranian American Council (NIAC) Webinar On September 12, 2023, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) hosted a webinar titled " "Alien Land Laws: What's Happening Now and How You Can Take Action." Texas State Representative Gene Wu 吳元之 , who helped defeat Texas’ alien land law proposal, was the featured speaker to offer his insights. The success in Texas, where grassroots efforts narrowly blocked a reckless alien land law bill, underscores the power of collective action. This event was co-hosted by Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA). The webinar covered an in-depth analysis of the alien land laws, strategies on how to engage and counter these measures, call to action on fighting the Rounds Amendment, and a platform to ask questions and share concerns during a Q&A segment.Watch the NIAC webinar: https://bit.ly/45R0EWr (1:03:55) A Voice from Guam - "Applying Leverage to Uncle Sam" According to the Pacific Island Times on September 11, 2023, August was a busy month for federal travel to Guahan (Guam in Chamorro). The island was treated to the “scoping” meetings on the Enhanced Integrated Air and Missile Defense System (EIAMDS) on Guam. This occurred over three days in early August. The event was well-managed and well-staffed. We had representatives of the Missile Defense Agency that included flag officers and devoted advocates for the system.According to the report, "the organization of the events in poster sessions rather than townhall-style helped provide in-depth information but also avoided a public question and answer session."Criticisms of the planned EIAMDS were inevitable and on-point. The island is being offered a group of 20 'candidate' sites with little explanation about the actual uses of the sites and the intrusions they would make on our day-to-day lives. There was no explanation about which sites were just shooters or radar or sensor sites. There was no explanation about limitations made on uses of airspace and lands near the candidate sites. "There was a lot of discussion about how the island needs protection from ostensible Chinese missiles and the estimation of potential conflict was rated from probable to inevitable. We were told that we live in a dangerous world in which Chinese initiatives are rearranging the geopolitical character of the region. "At the end of the day, we weren’t being asked about whether we agreed with this assessment or how much of our lives and island we were willing to leverage in order to deal with this ominous trend. We were asked to make comments on the 'environmental impacts' of the proposed activity. The basic decision is out of our hands as a colony of the United States. "Many Guahan elected officials privately told me that 'leverage' is the key word. We shouldn’t worry too much. We will be able to leverage this massive intrusion into our lives in order to benefit the island. Leverage is the key word. "Paraphrasing Isaiah in the Bible, we can turn these Pentagon swords into Guam plowshares for our people. I could hardly wait for the opportunity to start leveraging the EIAMDS into hospitals, schools, jobs and businesses. Maybe we could throw in a little political empowerment. Not too much to ask for a vitally important colony which we were constantly told is part of the U.S. homeland. In the discourse over missile defense, Guam is part of America."The House Committee on Natural Resources held an oversight field hearing on August 24 at the Guam Hilton. The title of the hearing was 'Peace Through Strength: The Strategic Importance of the Pacific Islands to U.S.-led Global Security.' Called to testify were Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and CNMI Gov. Arnold Palacios . The three freely associated states were represented by Foreign Ministers Kaleb Udui Jr. of Palau, Ricky Cantero of the Federated States of Micronesia and Jack Ading of the Marshall Islands. "The purpose of the hearing was basically to build regional support for the U.S.-led Global Security efforts in this part of the world. This means that the Chinese threat across the board demands dramatic American action in order to stabilize the environment and continue U.S. hegemony. The role of the Micronesian islands is key to this effort, especially the recently concluded financial agreements between the United States and the three freely associated states."In order to ensure approval of these agreements by Congress, the identified rationales are the threats posed by China and the necessity of U.S. dominance. This field hearing will be used as part of the corpus of justification for approval of the compacts. The robust financial arrangements that have already been concluded can be seen as the 'leverage' that our Micronesian neighbors have been able to exert in Washington D.C. When and how was the leverage going to be applied by the territories?"Taking center stage were illegal fishing activities by the Chinese, descriptions of Chinese economic penetration in the CNMI (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) and Palau and allegations of bribery of officials in the FSM (Federated States of Micronesia)."Leverage is when you point out to the other side the negative consequences of not going along with your plan. There was no leverage, just the usual typical kind of hat-in-hand request, which many Guam officials have done for decades. "There is a rhetorical pattern that many island leaders can’t seem to shake. They think that loving Uncle Sam is a viable strategy for getting respect and assistance. The use of World War II experiences was vital to this approach. "But there is a lesson which everyone needs to know now. In the 21st century, asking Uncle Sam for assistance because we are poor, but loyal islanders neither attracts attention nor does it get rewarded. It is just old hat in Washington D.C. and actually has been since the time of Congressman Antonio B. Won Pat , who did use it effectively for a few years. But he had an audience in Congress that consisted of World War II veterans. That Congress does not exist anymore."The disruption caused by the ascendency of China is real. It has political, economic and strategic dimensions. It is unfortunate that in response to Chinese economic penetration, the primary antidote that Washington D.C. can think of for us is an anti-missile defense system. It took former National Guard General Rod Leon Guerrero to remind us that diplomacy should come first and that the EIAMDS should be a last resort. It isn’t exactly the message of the protestors, but it was closer than all of the other words uttered that day by our leaders."Author of the report is Dr. Robert Underwood, Former President of the University of Guam and Former Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC). He is also Commissioner to the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Please send your feedback to him at anacletus2010@gmail.com .Read the Pacific Island Times report: https://bit.ly/48c2in2 Asian American History - The AsianWeek Database Project From 1979 to 2009, AsianWeek chronicled the growth and development of Asian Pacific America within American history. Today, the AsianWeek Database Project brings back three decades of news, education, and entertainment surrounding the Asian American community. You can rediscover the people and events documented in the historical pages of the AsianWeek newspaper and website. Anyone can easily access this trove of information — for research, for reference, or to simply remember these important times in the community at: https://www.asianweek.com/ . In a beta version (there are typographical errors in the transcribed text that will be corrected in future versions), AsianWeek reported on "DOE's New Ombudsperson" on March 9, 2000.According to the report, " Jeremy Wu 胡善庆 faces a daunting task as the Energy Department's new ombudsperson, an office created as a result of a January report by the department's task force on racial profiling."He seeks to address the continuing problems within the department, especially among its Asian American staff, about the criminal prosecution of physicist Wen Ho Lee 李文和 . Many Asian Americans have rallied to the defense of Lee, as allegations have been made that he was singled out simply because of his Chinese heritage. "As a result, Wu says one of his goals is restore 'trust and faith through effective actions that would combat racial stereotyping or profiling and other unfair practices in the workplace, making the Energy Department 'a workplace of choice for not just Asian Americans but all Americans.'In an exclusive phone interview with AsianWeek just weeks after taking office, Wu discussed his responsibilities as the person who must 'identify systemic issues; gain some understanding of systematic issues; and recommend to managers or Energy Secretary [ Bill Richardson ] directly policy changes to benefit all managers and employees.'"The report was written by Frank H. Wu 吴华扬 (no relation to Jeremy Wu), an associate professor at Howard University Law School at that time. Today, he is President, Queen's College, City University of New York.Jeremy Wu retired from the federal government and is Founder and Co-Organizer of APA Justice.Dr. Steven Chu 朱棣文 served as the 12th Secretary of Energy under the Obama Administration from January 21, 2009, to April 22, 2013. He is the first person appointed to the U.S. Cabinet after having won a Nobel Prize. He is also the second Chinese American to be a member of the U.S. Cabinet.Bill Richardson passed away on September 1, 2023.Read the beta version of the March 2000 AsianWeek report: https://bit.ly/3sTvvDf Statisticians in China Speak Up On Transparency of Chinese Government Data According to the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), a non-government think tank in Beijing, the decision on August 15, 2023, by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of China to suspend the release of youth unemployment rates caught many by surprise. The NBS spokesperson's explanation for this decision, which cited differing public opinions on the scope and methodology of statistical calculations, was met with sharp skepticism and stinging cynicism.This development has reignited discussions about the government's transparency in statistical reporting. According to China's leading statisticians, while the NBS has made significant efforts to enhance the quality of statistical data, there remains a crucial need for China to draw lessons from the statistical systems of many Western governments. These systems often feature vibrant and open debates between the government and scholars.Statistical data is foundational for effective and sound economic choices, and the government should either make corrections or provide explanations when official figures are in doubt. The discrepancy between official figures and public perception is not uncommon, usually owing to people’s predominant exposure to specific sectors of the economy. This highlights the importance of providing statistical breakdowns that can help mitigate personal biases and boost public acceptance. It is essential for statistical bureaus to tune into the actual needs of the public and the market, and remain responsive by offering clarity on statistical indicators. A book reading event took place on June 18, 2023, nearly two months before the controversial NBS decision. Excerpts of the discussion by three academics are given below. 1. Wu Xiaoying 伍晓鹰, Research Professor of Economics at National School of Development and head of the Growth Lab "it was a daunting challenge to transform an outdated national statistical system designed for a planned economy and under Soviet influences to align with international standards and integrate into the international market and society."National statistical data are public goods... While national statistical agencies produce and manage data with public resources, they are not and should not be the exclusive owners of statistical data. "By reiterating that such data is a public good, we also encourage public scrutiny."Openness and competition are necessary to improve statistical data quality... the pivotal step is to welcome skepticism and recommendations from scholars at academic institutions and other government agencies."We should learn from the statistical system in many Western governments... Instead of complaining that the West dominates the rules, why can't we proactively participate in the rule-setting process?" 2. Huang Yiping 黄益平, Deputy Dean of the National School of Development and Director of the Institute of Digital Finance "China's statistical data, especially the earlier records, is indeed in doubt."Many may not be aware of the efforts statistical departments have taken to enhance data quality. "The NBS has made tremendous efforts to improve the quality of statistical data... This skepticism isn't baseless – manipulation of data did happen in the past."As someone who uses statistical data on a regular basis, I sometimes find a significant discrepancy between official figures and our intuitive perceptions."Despite differences between personal perceptions and the statistical data, the official figures are not necessarily faulty. "It's crucial to tune into what the public and the market really need. Statistics bureaus should ramp up their communication efforts with both groups to clarify data and indicators. "Even if such insights don't resonate with everyone, they can still significantly boost public comprehension and acceptance of data." 3. Xu Xianchun 许宪春, Distinguished Fellow at National School of Development of Peking University "If everyone publicly praises statistical work but privately criticizes the accuracy of the data, that would be unfortunate. I think different voices should be earnestly listened to to identify areas of concern and make necessary improvements."Whether it's for analyzing economic and social development trends, policy formulation, or academic research, government statistical data holds immense significance."If data discrepancies are found, regional statistical departments cannot alter them; corrections must be made at the enterprise level."Read the CCG report: https://bit.ly/48ckCwa News and Activities for The Communities APA Justice Community Calendar APA Justice has launched a Community Calendar to track events and activities of potential interest to the Asian Pacific American and academic communities. 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/ . 1. National Science Foundation Listening Sessions According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the National Science Foundation will host two listening sessions on the implementation of the Framework for Federal Scientific Integrity Policy and Practice developed by the National Science and Technology Council. The listening sessions, open to the public, aim to collect information perspectives to inform “(1) Federal agencies' finalization of Scientific Integrity Policies, in response to the Framework and its implementation memorandum from the Office of Science and Technology Policy ; (2) Federal agency processes, procedures, and practices related to scientific integrity; and (3) other elements of Federal implementation of the Framework.” The sessions will take place Friday, September 15, 1–3 p.m. ET and Wednesday, September 20, 5–7 p.m. ET. Register for the sessions: https://bit.ly/3PjupIo . The event is posted in the APA Justice Community Calendar: https://bit.ly/45KGyga 2. Teachers Workshop - Teaching Asian American Narratives through Literature WHAT: 2023 Teachers Workshop "Teaching Asian American Narratives through Literature" WHEN: September 27, 2023, 3:30pm PT/6:30 pm ET HOST: 1990 Institute EVENT DETAILS: https://bit.ly/48c4g6K PRESS KIT: https://bit.ly/466d2S2 TARGET GRADES: 6-12 DESCRIPTION: Expert speakers on this subject to help teachers bring a nuanced dialogue on intersectional perspectives into classroom discussions. In particular, we want to encourage teachers to bring oft-missing Asian American perspectives to their students and encourage more inclusive community building and understanding.The event is posted in the APA Justice Community Calendar: https://bit.ly/45KGyga . Back View PDF September 14, 2023 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 . 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Warrantless Surveillance Under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the U.S. government engages in mass, warrantless surveillance of Americans’ and foreigners’ phone calls, text messages, emails, and other electronic communications. Information collected under the law without a warrant can be used to prosecute and imprison people , even for crimes unrelated to national security. Given our nation’s history of abusing surveillance authorities and the covert nature of the legislation, we should be concerned that FISA and Section 702 is and will be used to disproportionately target disfavored groups—whether minority communities, political activists, or even journalists. Introduction This web page traces the evolution of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) from its origins as a safeguard against domestic surveillance abuses to its transformation into a powerful framework for global intelligence collection—and the profound civil liberties consequences that followed. Organized chronologically, it documents how crisis-driven expansions after 9/11 enabled warrantless surveillance authorities, how those authorities were codified through Section 702, and how practices such as “incidental collection” became normalized within U.S. intelligence operations. Critically, this evolution has had a disparate and enduring impact on Asian Americans, particularly those with familial, professional, or cultural ties across the Pacific. Because Section 702 targets non-U.S. persons abroad, communications involving Asian Americans are far more likely to be swept into government databases, queried without warrants, and treated through a lens of foreign suspicion. Over time, these dynamics have reinforced the “perpetual foreigner” stereotype, contributed to racial profiling in national security investigations, and blurred the line between foreign intelligence gathering and domestic civil rights protections. FISA and its amendments are not the only laws subject to misuse and abuse in the name of national security. The U.S. Constitution protects individuals against unreasonable searches and seizures; however, under Section 702 of FISA, the U.S. government engages in mass, warrantless surveillance of electronic communications. Information collected this way can be used to prosecute innocent individuals or for alleged crimes unrelated to national security. Given the nation's history of surveillance abuse and program secrecy, there is significant concern that Section 702 is and will continue to be used to disproportionately target disfavored groups, including minority communities, political activists, and journalists. The current authorization of Section 702 is set to expire on April 20, 2026. What is FISA? What is Section 702? The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, commonly abbreviated as FISA, was enacted in 1978, establishing regulated procedures for physical and electronic surveillance as a means to collect foreign intelligence information. The act was designed to create a legal framework that balanced national security needs with constitutional protections by requiring judicial oversight of domestic intelligence surveillance through a specialized court, the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). FISA’s enactment stemmed from widespread revelations of government surveillance abuses conducted in the name of national security during the Vietnam War and the Watergate era. Under the legislation, federal officials must first obtain approval from the Attorney General, Acting Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, or the Assistant Attorney General for National Security before seeking a FISC order authorizing electronic surveillance or physical searches. Section 702 is a provision of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, establishing procedures for acquiring foreign intelligence when communications travel through domestic communications infrastructure. For example, a U.S. person’s email communications could be collected if they are in contact with a person reasonably believed to be located outside of the U.S. who is in possession of “foreign intelligence information.” Under 702, the Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence are authorized to make and submit to FISC written certifications for the purpose of acquiring foreign intelligence information. Essentially, this legislation allows the government to surveil noncitizens overseas without a warrant. Soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the George W. Bush Administration began a series of questionable secret surveillance practices, including warrantless domestic wiretapping. Major amendments to FISA were subsequently made to legitimize and empower some of these secret operations. FISA was transformed into massive warrantless surveillance programs shrouded in secrecy, and Chinese Americans continue to be disproportionately impacted. FISA Amendments Act of 2008 The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 added a new Title VII to FISA, authorizing targeting of non-U.S. persons outside the U.S. Section 702 details additional limitations to such surveillance, requiring that the surveillance must be conducted in a manner consistent with the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Asian Americans Disproportionately Impacted Soon after the enactment of Section 702, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) declared economic espionage to be a major security threat to the U.S.In May 2017, the Committee of 100 presented a white paper, “ Prosecuting ‘Chinese Spies’: An Empirical Analysis of the Economic Espionage Act ” by legal scholar Andrew Kim of South Texas College of Law. Among other disturbing findings, the study showed an immediate spike in prosecutions against Asian Americans in 2008. A series of innocent naturalized Chinese Americans in private industry, federal government, and academia were accused of spying for China, but all of them were subsequently dismissed without explanation.Despite the heroic efforts of individuals to defend themselves against all odds, they and their families have suffered devastating damages in legal expense, emotional trauma, and reputational devastation. Serious Constitutional Issues When the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 was due for reauthorization in 2012, little was known about the warrantless, mass surveillance programs because they were shrouded in secrecy. Today, we know that even the FISA court had sharply criticized in its written opinion (declassified in April 2017) that the government reporting efforts were lacking in “institutional candor” and represent “a very serious Fourth Amendment issue.” This same FISA court has approved more than 99.5% of the government’s requests since the enactment of FISA in 1978. FISA and its amendments are not the only laws subject to misuse and abuse by the authorities in the name of national security. The magnitude of their adverse implication and impact has been difficult to assess due to the inherent secrecy and complexity; however, we do know that protection of privacy and civil liberty has been grossly inadequate under FISA and its amendments. Perspectives Supporting and Opposing FISA 702 At its core, FISA balances two opposing extremes—national security and the protection of civil liberties. This section discusses the rationale behind both support and criticism of the legislation. Support of FISA Proponents of FISA highlight the legislation's role as a crucial safeguard of American national security, emphasizing that proactive, preventative foreign intelligence surveillance protects the U.S. from critical threats. Christopher Wray, former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), advocated this position in front of the House Committee on Homeland Security in November 23, saying “loss of this vital provision, or its reauthorization in a narrowed form, would raise profound risk.” He continued, “for the FBI in particular, either outcome could mean substantially impairing, or in some cases entirely eliminating, our ability to find and disrupt many of the most serious security threats.” At the same hearing, the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) echoed these concerns, stressing the need to be able to determine “whether international terrorists could gain access to and pose a threat to the homeland.” Criticism of FISA On the other hand, opponents of FISA contend the legislation allows the U.S. government to collect sensitive information from or about U.S. citizens, threatening the integrity of the Fourth Amendment and the guaranteed civil liberties of Americans. Additionally, civil rights groups argue the legislation unfairly targets immigrants and people of color. This is not only because FISA targets individuals based on national origin, but also because immigrants are more likely to be in contact with non-U.S. citizens located abroad, and therefore their communications are more likely to be examined and investigated. On its website, the Electronic Frontier Foundation stated that FISA does not align with the intention of the American national security program, and “people on U.S. soil should not have their communications collected without a warrant.” The American Civil Liberties Union encourages people to be concerned that “Section 702 is and will be used to disproportionately target disfavored groups, whether minority communities, political activists, or even journalists.” Perspectives of Policymakers Various policymakers and political leaders have expressed conflicting views about the legislation, with some vacillating between support and criticism, underscoring the hypocrisy and political expediency often present in public office. At various times in their careers, Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard’s statements have exhibited this opportunistic behavior, and their statements are listed below. Kash Patel, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI): During FBI director Kash Patel’s confirmation hearing on January 30, 2025, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) asked Patel whether he viewed a warrant requirement to access the stored communications of Americans to be “workable” in the FISA context. Patel responded that such a warrant requirement “would not be comportive” to protecting American citizens. In other words, Patel did not see the necessity of a warrant in accessing stored communications of Americans, and thus he supports FISA Section 702 as it is currently written. In April 2024, less than a year prior, Congress reauthorized Section 702 and expanded the government’s surveillance powers. At that time, Patel publicly criticized the law’s passage, stating that former FBI director Christopher Wray “was caught last year illegally using 702 collection methods against Americans 274,000 times,” demonstrating his dramatic change of opinion in eight months. Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence: In December 2020, Tulsi Gabbard, then U.S. Representative for Hawaii, collaborated with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky) to propose legislation limiting government surveillance of Americans. This legislation would have repealed Section 702. Additionally, Gabbard criticized the intelligence community, saying it “has not been transparent or honest with the American people or even Congress about what they’ve been doing.” However, after her nomination in early 2025, Gabbard publicly supported Section 702, referring to it as a “critical” program that “must be safeguarded to protect our nation while ensuring the civil liberties of Americans.” Recognizing her sudden apostasy, Gabbard said her “prior concerns about FISA were based on insufficient protections for civil liberties, particularly regarding the FBI’s misuse of warrantless search powers on American citizens,” citing FISA reforms enacted since then that address those issues. Impact on Asian Americans Warrantless surveillance in the U.S., conducted through legislation such as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the China Initiative, has disproportionately affected minority communities and immigrants, including many Asian Americans. This section highlights the cases of Angwang, Xiaoxing Xi, and Gang Chen; however, these examples represent only a small fraction of those impacted. For a more comprehensive overview, please consult the full Impacted Persons list or the China Initiative webpage . Xiaoxing Xi 郗小星 Xiaoxing Xi was born and raised in China, graduating from Peking University with a BSc in physics in 1982 and later with a PhD in 1987. Following the completion of his education, Xi worked as a researcher in Germany before moving to the U.S. with his wife in 1989. Xi and his wife worked at Rutgers University and the University of Maryland, eventually settling in Pennsylvania. Xi’s wife works as a physics professor at Pennsylvania State University, while Xi became a professor at Temple University in 2009 and the chairman of Temple University’s physics department in 2014. In 2015, the Department of Justice accused Xi of illegally sending trade secrets to China, threatening him with 80 years in prison and $1 million in fines. Police raided Xi’s home and arrested him at gunpoint in front of his wife and two daughters. Xi later learned that agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation had been listening to his phone calls and reading his emails for months, possibly years. Some of the investigations against him had been authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, but many were completely warrantless and conducted under Section 702 of FISA and Executive Order 12333. Four months later, charges were dropped after Xi and his legal team proved that the government had failed to understand the science behind the accusations, but the damage was already done. Temple University suspended Xi from his position as chair of the Physics Department and forced him to take administrative leave, tarnishing his academic and professional reputation. In October 2019, Xi received the Andrei Sakharov Prize , w hich recognizes "outstanding leadership of scientists in upholding human rights." Baimadajie Angwang 昂旺 On September 21, 2020, Baimadajie Angwang, a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer, was arrested and charged with allegations of acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China, wire fraud, making false statements, and obstructing an official proceeding. He faced up to 55 years in prison and was considered a flight risk by the NYPD. Angwang was arrested at his home in Long Island in front of his wife and two-year old daughter. He spent six months in solitary confinement in Brooklyn before he was granted bail. On January 19, 2023, all charges against Angwang were abruptly dropped, but the NYPD has refused to reinstate him and has continued its internal investigation against him. A year later, New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban ordered the immediate firing of Angwang, choosing a harsher penalty than what was recommended by the NYPD disciplinary judge. Angwang moved to the U.S. as a teenager, enlisted in the Marines, and served in Afghanistan. He is a naturalized citizen. To this day, much of the evidence against him and the reason the charges were dropped remain classified, highlighting the covert nature of American intelligence surveillance and the disproportionate impact of warrantless surveillance on minority communities and immigrants. Gang Chen 陈刚 Born in Nanzhang, China, Gang Chen received an undergraduate and a bachelor's degree in engineering from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, before pursuing a PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. After completion of his PhD, Chen worked at Duke University and the University of California, Los Angeles, before settling at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2001. A year prior, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen. In January 2021, Chen was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, charged with wire fraud, failing to file a foreign bank account report in some tax years, and making false statements on his tax returns. The indictment provoked strong criticism, inciting the “We Are All Gang Chen” campaign and a massive outcry from the MIT community. The Department of Justice dropped all criminal charges against him on January 20, 2022. Timeline of Events APA Justice has created a comprehensive, interactive timeline chronicling the history of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and relevant context. Access the timeline here . Below, this webpage lists a brief summary of the five sections included in the timeline. I. Pre-FISA Prior to the enactment of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, concerns over government surveillance malpractice began to emerge, causing both legislators and the American public to pay more attention to national security and the protection of civil liberties. A decade before the enactment of FISA, the U.S. Supreme Court redefined the definition of a “search” or “seizure” under the Fourth Amendment in Katz v. U.S. Five years later, the Watergate scandal caused public outrage and increasing concerns of government abuse due to the burglaries and wiretapping that defined the crime. II. The Origin (1978–2007) This section describes the events following the initial enactment of FISA, including an executive order and the events of the case of Dr. Wen Ho Lee. Over two decades after the enactment of FISA, terrorists hijacked four airliners and crashed them into buildings, culminating in the deadliest terrorist attack in global history. Following 9/11, President Bush and the U.S. government enacted numerous stringent national security measures, including warrantless wiretapping of American citizens that was revealed by The New York Times . This controversy led Congress to seek a permanent statutory framework, culminating in the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. III. Codification and the Rise of "Incidental Collection" (2008–2017) In 2008, Congress enacted the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which included a new section, Section 702, that authorizes the targeting of non-U.S. citizens reasonably believed to be abroad. When the Amendments Act expired in 2012, Congress reauthorized it for another five years. In 2013, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden exposed the scope of U.S. mass surveillance under Section 702, further igniting public attention and discontent. Following the formation of APA Justice Task Force (APA Justice) in 2015, the Committee of 100 (C100), APA Justice, and a variety of civil rights groups contributed to and published a variety of letters and educational documents, drawing attention to racial or ethnic profiling of Asian Americans under FISA. IV. The China Initiative & Racial Profiling (2018–2023) In January 2018, Congress reauthorized Section 702 for six years, extending it until 2024. Eleven months later, the Department of Justice launched the China Initiative, a broad enforcement effort intended to counter alleged economic espionage and intellectual property theft linked to China. Over time, numerous cases under this initiative collapsed or were dismissed, revealing patterns of racial profiling, overreach, and insufficient evidence. V. Modern Reform and the 2026 Reauthorization (2024–Present) In April 2024, Congress again extended Section 702 for another two years, establishing the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act with a new expiration date of April 20, 2026. Since then, numerous analyses have been published, examining the potential future of the legislation. In May 2025, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director, Kash Patel, abruptly shut down the Office of Internal Auditing, a watchdog agency established in 2020 as a direct response to controversy surrounding the FBI’s use of Section 702. Additional References and Links American Civil Liberties Union: Warrantless Surveillance Under Section 702 of FISA American Civil Liberties Union: A Chinese American Scientist and His Family are Battling the FBI’s Profiling in Court DOJ Bureau of Justice Assistance: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) Federation of American Scientists: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Ac t Congress.gov : https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF11451 The Hill: Massie, Gabbard Team up on Bill to Repeal the Patriot Act NBC News: After Being Wrongfully Accused of Spying for China, Professor Wins Appeal to Sue the Government Punchbowl News: Gabbard Reverses Course on Key Intel-gathering Tool as Nomination Teeters

Attempts to Revive China Initiative Return to The China Initiative or Racial Profiling Table of Contents 2022/03/17 Community Town Hall: The End of The "China Initiative" 2025/01/30 Senator Jim Risch: Every Chinese Student is An Agent of the CCP 2025/02/21 Reintroduction of Bills to Reinstate China Initiative 2025/03/12 Webinar: The China Initiative: Policy, Practice, and the Asian American Critique 2025/03/21 Webinar: Fighting Racial Profiling and The Criminalization of Academia in North America 2025/04/08 Visa Terminations, Trump Reversal, and New ICE Policy Continuing Developments 2022/03/17 Community Town Hall: The End of The "China Initiative" Although it was announced by the Department of Justice that the China Initiative ended on February 23, 2022, there have been continuing attempts to revive it. On March 17, 2022, a Community Town Hall was held to discuss the end of the China Initiative. The open forum was not recorded. APA Justice issued a statement that said in part: “Ending the “China Initiative” is a promising start to correct the harms caused by the initiative, apply lessons learned, and rebuild community trust and confidence that were lost in our law enforcement and judicial system. “But we emphasize that this is just a start. “We, like many other organizations and individuals, have broad concerns that the end of the initiative is just in name but does not reflect a change in fact and substance.” Return to Table of Contents 2025/01/30 Senator Jim Risch: Every Chinese Student is An Agent of the CCP During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on January 30, 2025, Committee Chair Senator Jim Risch made statement that “each [Chinese student], whether they like it or not, is an agent of the Chinese Communist Party.” References and Links 2025/01/31 Senate Foreign Relations Committee: Chairman Risch Questions Witnesses at Hearing on the Malign Influence of China Return to Table of Contents 2025/02/21 Reintroduction of Bills to Reinstate China Initiative On February 21, 2025, Senator Rick Scott announced the reintroduction of his Protect America’s Innovation and Economic Security from CCP Act to reinstate and codify President Trump’s CCP Initiative under the Department of Justice (DOJ). On the same day, Rep. Lance Gooden reintroduced a companion bill in the House. References and Links 2025/02/21 Senator Rick Scott: Sen. Rick Scott Announces Bill to Reinstate President Trump’s CCP Initiative 2025/02/21 Rep. Lance Gooden: Congressman Lance Gooden Reintroduces Bipartisan Bill to Combat CCP Espionage and Protect U.S. Innovation 2023/03/07 Congress.gov : H.R.1398 - Protect America’s Innovation and Economic Security from CCP Act of 2024 (118th Congress) Return to Table of Contents 2025/03/12 Webinar: The China Initiative: Policy, Practice, and the Asian American Critique On March 12, 2025, Michigan State University's Asian Pacific American Studies Program hosted a webinar on the China Initiative, a Trump administration program that targeted Asian American scholars and researchers for investigation and prosecution. The event was moderated by Dr. Kent Weaver of Michigan State University. Professor Lok Siu of UC Berkeley and Dr. Jeremy Wu of APA Justice were featured speakers. A Q&A session followed after their presentation. References and Links 2025/03/12 Lok Siu (UC Berkeley): The Racial Profiling of AAPIs: Stereotyping Threat 2025/03/12 Jeremy Wu (APA Justice): China Initiative: Past and Present 中国行动的前世今生 Return to Table of Contents 2025/03/21 Webinar: Fighting Racial Profiling and The Criminalization of Academia in North America On March 21, 2025, the Chinese Canadian Faculty Project at Simon Fraser University, Canada, invited Dr. Anming Hu for an event named Fighting Racial Profiling and the Criminalization of Academia in North America both in-person and online. This event was one of the Chinese Canadian Faculty Project’s ongoing series of Academic Freedom, Anti-racial profiling and Labour Rights. The series is sponsored by the Labour Studies Program and the Simon Fraser University Morgan Centre for Labour Research, Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) and Canada-China Focus (CCF). The purpose of the Chinese Canadian Faculty Project is to engage and support researchers, scholars, as well as graduate students of Chinese descent and other minority groups to fight against racial profiling and defend academic freedom in the increasingly restrictive national security measures adopted by the Canadian government through its Named Research Organizations in Sensitive Technology Research Areas, and legalized control of academic freedom under the newly passed Bill C-70, the Countering Foreign Interference Act. Through organizing open conversations, the Chinese Canadian Faculty Project hopes to foster an inclusive and open academic environment. On the event, Dr. Hu shared his powerful story as the first academic wrongfully charged and went on trial under the China Initiative. He spoke about what he experienced, the impacts on his academic career, his life and his family. He speaks out against racial profiling, raising awareness of the dangers of overreach in national security measures targeting academia. Immediate impact of the event : As a Chinese Canadian, Dr. Anming Hu’s story was known to the Chinese Canadian academic community. The event attracted attention nationwide in Canada. Scholars in sensitive technology areas have wide fear of racial profiling and being wrongfully treated by their own government. Therefore, university professors, scholars and students participated widely. There were more than seventy attendees across North America. The participants addressed their concerns during the panel discussion. They consulted Dr. Hu with legal concerns, and what they should do to protect themselves. Dr. Hu responded with his own experience. Political impact : Beyond attracting academia attention, the event has also drawn interest from politicians. Senator Yuen Pau Woo participated in-person. He was concerned about whether the Canadian government provided adequate support to Dr. Hu when he encountered injustice. He asked whether the Canadian government took any action to help Dr. Hu during his investigation and trial. Did any Canadian diplomats, government agencies or parliamentarians stand up to support him. In addition, he also asked if a Canadian citizen encountered similar legal problems in China, would the Canadian government provide similar advice and support. Dr. Hu responded how the Canadian government instructed him to “follow US law” and provided no help. In comparison, Dr. Hu addressed how US congresswomen and congressmen provided assistance in his case. He hopes that the Canadian government will be more proactive in protecting its citizens in the future, especially when handling similar legal issues, and can act more forcefully and effectively. Social impact : A local Vancouver social activist Ally Wang participated the event in-person. The Stop Anti-Asian Hate Crimes Advocacy Group, which she co-founded, helped promote the event. She writes articles for Chinese language media. She has translated Dr. Anming Hu’s story into Chinese and will publish on a Chinese language magazine. In conclusion, the event raised attention to racial profiling against Chinese professors in the academy in both Canada and America. It called wide attention to academic independence and impartiality, firmly oppose political interference, and encourage everyone to actively participate in discussions among universities, policymakers and the public to jointly promote the construction of an inclusive and fair higher education environment. WHAT : Fighting Racial Profiling and the Criminalization of Academia in North America WHEN : March 21, 2025, 4:00 pm-6:30 pm PT/7:00 pm-9:30 pm ET WHERE : Hybrid event In Person: Room 7000, SFU Vancouver Harbor Centre Campus, 515 West Hastings Street Vancouver, BC V6B 5K3 Canada Webinar via Zoom HOST : Simon Fraser University, Labor Studies Program Moderator : Dr. Xinying Hu , Simon Fraser University Speaker : Dr. Anming Hu , University of Tennessee, Knoxville Discussants: Dr. Jane Wang , University of British Columbia Dr. Jie Yang , Simon Fraser University Return to Table of Contents The Case of Professor Xiaofeng Wang 王晓峰 Professor Xiaofeng Wang Xiaofeng Wang, a prominent cybersecurity professor at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB), was terminated on March 28, 2025—the same day FBI and Department of Homeland Security agents conducted searches at his homes in Bloomington and Carmel, Indiana. The university has not publicly disclosed the reasons for his dismissal. Professor Wang's wife, Nianli Ma—a systems analyst at the university—was also terminated on March 24, 2025. References and Links APA Justice Impacted Person: Xiaofeng Wang Return to Table of Contents 2025/04/08 Visa Terminations, Trump Reversal, and New ICE Policy Inside Higher Ed Tracker as of 2025/04/25 On January 29, 2025, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14188, which authorized the revocation of international student visas, targeting students involved in anti-Israel protests or those alleged to have violated laws during such demonstrations, particularly following the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. Revocation of student visas began to spread beyond the executive order as part of Trump's crackdown on immigration in early April 2025. On April 8, 2025, Inside Higher Ed began to track the revocation of F-1 or J-1 student status. As of April 25, 2025, over 280 colleges and universities have identified more than 1,800 international students and recent graduates who have had their legal status changed by the State Department. More than 100 lawsuits and dozens of restraining orders from federal judges challenged the Trump administration’s mass termination of student visa records. After 20 days of consistent legal defeats, the administration capitulated and reversed its decision on April 25, 2025. Notable lawsuits include Chen v. Noem (3:25-cv-03292) , filed April 11 in the Northern District of California by the Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance (华美维权同盟 CALDA) Jane Doe 1 v. Bondi (1:25-cv-01998) , filed April 11 in the Northern District of Georgia by CAIR-Georgia, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, and American Civil Liberties Union-Georgia. On April 29, Politico reported that the visa revocations were part of the "Student Criminal Alien Initiative," which involved running 1.3 million student names through a federal criminal database run by the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC). Approximately 6,400 matches were found, many of which were minor infractions or dismissed charges. Despite this, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) used the data to terminate student records in the SEVIS tracking system. In parallel, the State Department revoked visas for roughly 3,000 individuals based on similar data, separate from the SEVIS terminations. Hundreds of the terminations, an ICE official who helped oversee the effort said, came less than 24 hours after an April 1 email exchange between his office and the State Department, with little sign of review of individual cases to ensure the decisions were accurate. The lack of due process became especially clear during an April 29 hearing on the case of Patel v. Lyons (1:25-cv-01096) before U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, where ICE officials admitted that hundreds of terminations were made within 24 hours of receiving raw data—with little or no individual case review. “When the courts say due process is important, we’re not unhinged, we’re not radicals,” Judge Reyes said during an hourlong hearing. “I’m not on a lark questioning why students who have been here legally, who paid to be in this country by paying their universities … they’re cut off with less than 24 hours of consideration and no notice whatsoever." Akshar Patel brought the suit that led to the April 29 hearing. He is an international student from India who pursued undergraduate studies in computer science at the University of Texas at Arlington. He graduated prior to 2025 and has since been working in the computer science field in North Texas. HIs legal status in the U.S. was abruptly terminated after his name appeared in the ICE sweep of the NCIC database. He had faced a reckless driving charge in 2018 but it was ultimately dismissed. When colleges discovered the students no longer had legal status, it prompted chaos and confusion. In the past, legal statuses typically were updated after colleges told the government the students were no longer studying at the school. In some cases this spring, colleges told students to stop working or taking classes immediately and warned them they could be deported after the ICE sweep. According to AP News , NBC News , and multiple media reports on April 29, an internal memo to all Student and Exchange Visitor Program personnel, which falls under ICE, shows an expanded list of criteria for ICE to terminate foreign-born students’ legal status in the U.S., including a “U.S. Department of State Visa Revocation (Effective Immediately).” It was filed in court by the Justice Department on April 28 and dated April 26. Brad Banias , an immigration attorney who represents Patel, said the new guidelines vastly expand ICE’s authority beyond previous policy, which did not count visa revocation as grounds for losing legal status. In the past, if a student had their visa revoked, they could stay in the U.S. to finish their studies — they simply would not be able to reenter if they left the country. “This just gave them carte blanche to have the State Department revoke a visa and then deport those students even if they’ve done nothing wrong,” Banias said. On April 11, 2025, the Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance 华美维权同盟 (CALDA) filed a lawsuit Chen v. Noem (3:25-cv-03292) on behalf of four Chinese students enrolled at UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, University of Cincinnati, and Columbia. References and Links Inside Higher Ed: International Student Visas Revoked CourtListener: Patel v. Lyons (1:25-cv-01096) CourtListener: Chen v. Noem (3:25-cv-03292) CourtListener: Jane Doe 1 v. Bondi (1:25-cv-01998) 2025/04/29 AP News: The US government has a new policy for terminating international students’ legal status 2025/04/29 NBC News: Visa revocations can now lead to legal status terminations, according to internal memo 2025/04/29 Politico: Feds reveal how immigration squad targeted thousands of foreign students 2025/04/25 Politico: Trump administration reverses abrupt terminations of foreign students’ US visa registrations 2025/04/22 AsAmNews: Indian and Chinese nationals top list of student visa revocations 2025/04/17 AILA: Policy Brief: The Scope of Immigration Enforcement Actions Against International Students 2025/01/29 Executive Order 14188—Additional Measures To Combat Anti-Semitism Return to Table of Contents Continuing Developments Reference and Links 2025/04/16 US-China Perception Monitor: Fears of a China Initiative Revival Stir Anxiety Among Chinese American Academics Return to Table of Contents

Gee-Kung Chang 張繼昆 Docket ID: 1:21-cr-00109 District Court, N.D. Georgia Date filed: Mar 18, 2021 Date Ended: Apr 14, 2025 Robert Fisher , Partner at Nixon Peabody, was the defense attorney for MIT Professor Gang Chen 陈刚 . He spoke at the APA Justice monthly meeting on May 5, 2025, and introduced Professor Gee-Kung (GK) Chang 張繼昆 , whom Robert also represented with colleague Brian Kelly . Rob said this is a critical time for the country and for the Asian American community. Although the China Initiative was officially ended, similar prosecutions are still occurring—particularly targeting professors, scientists, and professionals with ties to China. Rob explained that GK was accused of wire fraud based on allegations that he and a colleague from ZTE conspired to misuse J-1 visa students, supposedly having them work at ZTE while being paid by Georgia Tech. However, the defense pointed out that, even according to the government’s own account, the students were working at Georgia Tech. The indictment was fundamentally flawed—it failed to allege that the financial component was the actual object of the fraud. As a result, the court dismissed most of the charges, leaving only one remaining. That final charge—visa fraud—was also challenged. GK had no role in the visa application process, and Georgia Tech had never provided training on compliance or rules regarding foreign collaboration. Without knowledge or training, there could not have been intent to defraud. Eventually, the government dropped the last remaining charge. GK was fully exonerated after a four-year ordeal under the era of the China Initiative. GK's case highlights a broader issue: many professors were once encouraged to collaborate with China, only to later face prosecution as political attitudes shifted. These retroactive investigations have damaged careers and chilled academic collaboration, especially within the Asian American community. Professor GK Chang shared his personal account of a harrowing legal ordeal during the May 2025 APA Justice monthly meeting. Quoting his written statement titled "From Injustice to Integrity: A Journey Through Fire," GK told his story that "I stand before you today, not as a victim of injustice, but as a witness to the power of integrity, forged in the fiercest fires of adversity. My journey was never just about reclaiming my freedom — it was about turning pain into a higher purpose, one that lights the way for those still suffering injustice." GK was born in China in 1947, moved to Taiwan as a baby during the Chinese Civil War, and came to the U.S. in 1970 for graduate studies in physics. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside in 1976 and became a U.S. citizen in 1981. With 23 years of experience in industry—including leadership roles at Bell Labs, Bellcore, Telcordia, and OpNext—GK became a pioneer in optoelectronic integration and fiber-optic communications, holding over 50 patents. He received multiple awards, including the R&D 100 Award and the Bellcore President’s Award. In 2002, he joined Georgia Tech as an Eminent Scholar Chair Professor. There, he led major NSF-sponsored research on fiber-wireless networks that laid the foundation for 5G and 6G technologies. He advised 30 Ph.D. students, published over 500 papers, and earned Fellow honors from IEEE and the Optical Society of America. He was recognized as a distinguished alumnus of National Tsing Hua University and received Georgia Tech’s Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award. On March 24, 2021, GK’s life was changed forever when nine federal agents arrested him at home without warning, accusing him of conspiracy and wire fraud under the now-defunct “China Initiative.” Despite his clean record and decades of academic and industry contributions, he was publicly indicted without prior notice. Though released on a low bail, the arrest devastated his personal and professional life. The media portrayed him as guilty, his reputation collapsed, and colleagues and friends distanced themselves, leaving him isolated and emotionally shattered. Despite being wrongfully indicted, GK stood firm, relying on his values, family, and a few loyal allies. Through careful review of over a million pages of documents with his legal team of Rob Fisher and Brian Kelly, he uncovered major flaws in the case against him: factual inaccuracies, missing evidence, and prosecutorial misconduct. The charges lacked legal grounding and were based partly on the testimony of a disgruntled former student. The government misunderstood academic norms and pursued the case without proof of intent, fraud, or personal gain—revealing a deeply flawed and unjust prosecution. Faced with multiple plea offers, including one to plead guilty to a single misdemeanor, GK refused to admit guilt for a crime he did not commit. He chose to fight on despite financial strain. A pivotal moment came in August 2023, when a prosecutor admitted in court that GK had not gained any money from the alleged offenses—contradicting the indictment’s claims. This crucial fact had been withheld from the grand jury, exposing serious prosecutorial misconduct and strengthening his case for vindication. The case shifted dramatically after the court dismissed 9 of the 10 charges on March 1, 2024. Empowered by this decision, GK demanded a speedy trial under the Sixth Amendment, confident of full vindication. However, the emotional strain took a serious toll: he suffered a heart attack in May 2024 and underwent emergency surgery. As he recovered, his focus turned not just to clearing his name, but reclaiming his dignity. The ordeal was nearing its end, but had already come at a profound personal cost. The final charge was dismissed on April 14, 2025, through a motion filed by the prosecutor and approved by the judge, fully exonerating GK without a trial. Yet, the long-awaited freedom brought no joy. After four years of legal battles, he was left emotionally scarred, physically worn, and financially depleted. Professionally, the damage was irreversible—four crucial years of innovation and contribution at the peak of his career were lost forever. Despite the pain, the ordeal brought GK clarity and a renewed sense of purpose. He emerged not only as a survivor but as a seeker—of truth, justice, and understanding. His faith in the justice system was shaken, as he came to see its vulnerability to error, bias, and ambition. He now believes that justice does not automatically protect the innocent and must be actively pursued with courage and conviction. Upholding what is right requires strength, even in the face of overwhelming adversity—because justice is never guaranteed, only earned. Quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , GK concluded his statement by stating: "I share my testimony, 'A Journey Through Fire,' not for sympathy, but as a warning—and as a beacon. "To those suffering similar injustice: "You are not alone. "And by standing together, "we can help ensure that no one else must endure this tribulation again." References and Links 2025/05/05 APA Justice Monthly Meeting: GK Chang and Robert Fisher (video 19:00 2025/05/05 Gee-Kung Chang: 20250505 GK Chang, A Journey Through Fire, revised July 19, 2025 .pdf Download PDF • 218KB 2025/04/15 Law360: Judge Ends 'China Initiative' Prosecution Of Ex-Ga. Tech Prof 2021/03/24 DOJ: Georgia Institute of Technology professor charged with Visa and wire fraud Previous Item Next Item

Jane Ying Wu 吴瑛 Case number: 2025L007963 Cook County Circuit Court Estate of Dr. Jane Wu v Northwestern University Date Filed: June 23, 2025 On August 31, 2024, South China Morning Post published an exclusive report on the tragic passing of Dr. Jane Ying Wu 吴瑛 , a prominent Chinese American researcher in neurology and genetics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Wu took her own life on July 10, 2024, after her lab was shut down and all records of her work were erased by Northwestern University. Her death has drawn attention to the negative impact of the "China Initiative" and "foreign interference" investigations by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which targeted scientists of Chinese descent. Over 250 scientists, most of them of Asian origin, have been scrutinized by the NIH alone, leading to job losses and severe personal and professional damages, and now an apparent loss of life. According to the report, there were only two indictments and three convictions as legal outcomes of the NIH's "China Initiative" investigations, yet at least 112 scientists lost their jobs as a result. The NIH Office of Extramural Research, headed by Dr. Michael Lauer , declined to say whether Dr. Wu was a target but a source informed about the matter said there were investigations of Dr. Wu. Dr. Wu was remembered by her peers as a warm, caring, and inspiring role model. Dr. Wu's contributions to neurodegenerative disease research and her involvement in training the next generation of scientists in the U.S. and China were widely recognized. She significantly influenced the careers of many scientists, including Dr. Bing Ren , who credits her with guiding him into molecular biology. “Dr Wu taught me basic molecular biology skills, and showed me how discoveries were made at the bench,” said Dr. Ren, who first met Dr. Wu in 1993 and worked under her direct supervision at Harvard University. “Dr Wu was the one that opened my eyes to the wonderful world of molecular biology, and convinced me to pursue a career in this field,” said the professor in cellular and molecular medicine at the University of California, San Diego. “The investigations killed her career,” said Dr. Xiao-Fan Wang , a distinguished professor in cancer research at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. “She was such a devoted scientist. Denying her the right to do research was like taking away the most important thing in her life,” Dr. Wang said. Dr. Wang is a former president of the Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America (SCBA) said the research community had been devastated by Wu’s death. “It’s hard to believe such a familiar and upbeat colleague has left us,” he said. In March 2019, SCBA, the Chinese American Hematologist and Oncologist Network, and the Chinese Biological Investigators Society write an open letter to Science , titled " Racial Profiling Harms Science ." "[We] hope that ... increased security measures will not be used to tarnish law-abiding scientists ...," the letter said. Molecular geneticist Adrian Krainer from the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York said, “I remember her as a kind and caring person. She was very devoted to training the next generation of scientists in both the US and China.” Born in Hefei, Anhui province in 1963, Dr. Wu graduated from Shanghai Medical University in 1986 and went on to earn her doctorate in cancer biology from Stanford University in the US. She did postdoctoral research at Harvard University and spent a decade at Washington University in St Louis as an assistant and then associate professor in pediatrics, molecular biology and pharmacology before joining Northwestern University in 2005. Northwestern University has not responded to multiple inquiries from the South China Morning Post since July 2024. Dr. Wu’s profile page on the medical school has disappeared. Other web pages, such as her publication and grant records on the Northwestern Scholar website, have also been deleted. “The university’s reaction is rather unusual,” said a Chinese American biologist based in Ohio, who did not wish to be named. “Normally, the school or the university would publish an obituary and keep the faculty’s webpage for a period of time.” Dr. Wu was buried in Chicago on July 17, 2024. She was 60 years old. Dr. Jane Wu's Estate Sues Northwestern University In June 2025, Dr. Wu's family, acting through her estate, filed a civil lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court alleging that the Northwestern University discriminated against her and contributed to her suicide. She was a tenured professor at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine. Following the NIH’s investigation and Northwestern University’s subsequent efforts to block her work, Dr. Wu suffered from a loss of vision as a result of a stroke she had under the stress of the investigation. She also experienced depression, but she was still able to work. In May 2024, Northwestern University handcuffed and removed Dr. Wu from her office, using her emotional disability as a “pretext” to evict her. The school then partially shut down her laboratory, dismantled her research team, reassigned her grants to white male colleagues, and committed her involuntarily to psychiatric care—actions taken without family consultation. Tragically, Dr. Wu passed away by suicide on July 10, 2024, two weeks after her release from the hospital. Following the one-year anniversary of her mother’s passing, Dr. Wu’s daughter, Elizabeth Rao 饶婕, opened up for the first time in an exclusive interview on the devastating impact of her mother’s treatment on their family and her own life. The lawsuit was filed with the Circuit Court of Cook County in Illinois on June 24, 2025. Case number is 2025L007963. It claims institutional discrimination based on her national origin, sex, and disability, citing violations of the Illinois Human Rights Act and seeking both compensatory and punitive damages. The case was assigned to Judge Jonathan Clark Green. A court hearing was held on December 1, 2025, starting at 9 am CT. Location is Court Room 1906, Richard J Daley Center, 50 W Washington St, Chicago, IL 60602. Northwestern University filed a motion to dismiss the case. The Cook County Circuit Court held a hearing on February 24, 2026. Judge Green rejected the university’s request for dismissal, allowing the case to move ahead. The next hearing is set for mid-May, 2026. References and Links Circuit Court of Cook County: Online Civil, Law, Chancery, Domestic Case Search (Law - Personal Injury and Contract Cases over $30K, malpractice, attorney codes) 2026/02/25 South China Morning Post: Suicide lawsuit against China-born scientist Jane Wu’s US university to proceed 2025/12/03 South China Morning Post: US university seeks to dismiss lawsuit by family of China-born scientist Jane Wu 2025/07/12 NBC News: After Northwestern scientist questioned for China ties died by suicide, family sues and speaks out 2025/07/01 South China Morning Post: Family of China-born neuroscientist Jane Wu files death-related civil complaint in US 2025/06/26 Daily Northwestern: Estate of Feinberg professor sues University for discrimination, role in suicide 2019/03/22 Science: Racial profiling harms science Previous Item Next Item

Newsletter - #113 2/7 Meeting Summary; Gang Chen Talks; Take Action; IHRN Statement; ODNI Accountability #113 2/7 Meeting Summary; Gang Chen Talks; Take Action; IHRN Statement; ODNI Accountability Back View PDF February 14, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

On June 17, 2021, APA Justice sent a letter urging the Biden-Harris Administration to respond to the standing FOIA requests and publicize the justification for the continuation of the "China Initiative." June 17, 2021 On June 17, 2021, APA Justice sent a letter to Erika Moritsugu, Deputy Assistant to the President and Asian American and Pacific Islander Senior Liaison at the White House, urging the Biden-Harris Administration to respond to the standing Congressional and Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests and provide full data and information publicly to justify the continuation of the "China Initiative" and related racial profiling policies and practices. In summary, without further delay, we respectfully request the Biden-Harris administration to: Release the data and information requested by Reps. Jamie Raskin and Judy Chu and Senator Roger Wicker for Congressional oversight and the public. Publish the 2017-2020 opinions of the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice as it has done annually since 1977. Release the data and information requested by Advancing Justice | AAJC, American Civil Liberties Union, and the Cato Institute under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). letter2moritsugu_20210618 .pdf Download PDF • 167KB On June 17, 2021, APA Justice sent a letter urging the Biden-Harris Administration to respond to the standing FOIA requests and publicize the justification for the continuation of the "China Initiative." Previous Next Letter to The White House Calling for Response to Inquiries