Newsletter - #105 2022 Starts with a Bang; NSPM-33 Guidance; More on Lieber Verdict/"China Initiative;" + #105 2022 Starts with a Bang; NSPM-33 Guidance; More on Lieber Verdict/"China Initiative;" + Back View PDF January 10, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #250 FBI Official Remarks; Florida Hearing/Rally/Ban; Contentious FISA; Commissioner Lee; + #250 FBI Official Remarks; Florida Hearing/Rally/Ban; Contentious FISA; Commissioner Lee; + In This Issue #250 · FBI Senior Official: "FBI Did Not Intend Negative Impact" · Florida: Hearing and Rally in Miami; Hiring Ban Harms Research · Biden Signs Bill Reauthorizing Contentious FISA Surveillance Program · Commissioner Yvonne Lee on USDA Equity Report and Asian American Farmers · News and Activities for the Communities FBI Senior Official: "FBI Did Not Intend Negative Impact" Speaking at the Committee 100 conference on April 19, 2024, a senior FBI official said the Bureau did not intend to create negative impact of prosecuting Chinese Academics with ties to Beijing under the previous China Initiative, according to a report by the South China Morning Post . “We value your ideas and your criticisms,” said Jill Murphy , deputy assistant director of counter-intelligence with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “It makes us better.”Murphy added that she is a supporter of scientific collaboration with China, and that the FBI values its relationship with the Asian American community, but said it must also ensure that American secrets are protected.“Hold us accountable,” she added. “My hope is that we can continue our work together.” Shan-Lu Liu , a virology professor with Ohio State University, said too many academics had been caught up in the law enforcement campaign, undermining US competitiveness, particularly in areas that have nothing to do with national security, such as the search for a cure for cancer.The scientific community has legitimate concerns, said David Zweig , professor emeritus with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.There are currently 100,000 Chinese-born scientists in the United States making an enormous contribution to US science and competitiveness.There’s nothing wrong with trying to entice talent to return and blunt the brain drain, he added. Several economies have talent programs, including Germany, Canada and Taiwan. “I am one of those drains,” said the Canadian, who now lives in the US. One lesson Asian Americans need to draw from this experience, said participants in the conference, is the need to stand up more forcefully politically and ensure the right balance is maintained between security and successful collaboration.China Initiative was launched in November 2018 under the Trump administration. It originally aimed at stemming industrial espionage by Beijing; instead, the program prosecuted scientific researchers and academics with ties to China, often without strong evidence for their charges. Facing strong backlash from the Asian American and scientific communities, the Biden administration disbanded the China Initiative in 2022. Brian Sun , Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright and C100 member, served as moderator for the session.Read the South China Morning Post report: https://bit.ly/4d3L0uP At the Committee of 100 gala in the evening of April 19, 2024, a lively discussion unfolded between Nicholas Burns , the current U.S. Ambassador to China, and Gary Locke , former U.S. Ambassador to China and current Chair of the C100. They engaged in an insightful exchange, delving into the current state and recent developments in U.S.-China relations, including an upcoming visit to China by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a pair of pandas from China is coming to the San Francisco Zoo in 2025, and the need for more U.S.-China people-to-people exchanges. Ambassador Burns said only about 900 American students are studying at Chinese universities today. This is far too few in a country of such importance to the United States. Rebuilding the student exchanges is under active consideration. Beijing has also taken steps to attract American students to study in China. Xi Jinping , President of China, said China is ready to invite 50,000 American students to exchange and study programs in the next five years during the APEC summit in San Francisco last year. Florida: Hearing and Rally in Miami; Hiring Ban Harms Research 1. Appeals Court Hearing and Community Rally Against Florida's Anti-Chinese Alien Land Law in Miami According to AP, Bloomberg News, Courthouse News, and other media reports, Ashley Gorski , senior staff attorney of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), told a three-judge panel from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals that “Florida is unlawfully restricting housing for Chinese people.” The state law known as SB 264 bars Chinese nationals and citizens from Russia, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Cuba, and Venezuela that Florida sees as a threat from buying property near military installations and other “critical infrastructure.” She asked the court to block the Florida law, calling it discriminatory and a violation of the federal government’s supremacy in deciding foreign affairs. Three of the individual plaintiffs reside in Florida on time-limited, nonimmigrant visas, and the fourth is seeking political asylum. They are being represented by ACLU, ACLU of Florida, DeHeng Law Offices PC, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), and the law firm Quinn Emanuel.The panel of three judges holding the hearing are Judge Charles R. Wilson , a Clinton appointee, and Trump-appointed Judges Robert J. Luck and Barbara Lagoa .Gorski compared SB 264 to long-overturned laws from the early 20th century that barred Chinese from buying property. “It is singling out people from particular countries in a way that is anathema to the equal protection guarantees that now exist,” Gorski told the court. The law specifically restricts people from China who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents from owning any real property in Florida, regardless of location. The sole exception is that people with a valid non-tourist visa or who have been granted asylum are permitted to purchase one residential property, but only if it is less than two acres and not within five miles of a military installation. Any person living in Florida that is “domiciled” in China must register their existing property with the state or face civil penalty and forfeiture consequences for failure to comply. Under the law, Chinese immigrants face up to five years in prison for trying to buy a home — the seller faces up to one year in prison — as well as thousands of dollars in fines.The challenge to Florida SB 264 is the biggest legal test so far for a torrent of state laws restricting land ownership by foreign individuals or entities. SB 264 revives a 100-year-old, discredited legal precedent that unconstitutionally discriminates against Asian immigrants. The 1920s case law has been superseded by subsequent rulings, Ashley Gorski told the Eleventh Circuit panel. SB 264 goes even further than that case, Terrace v. Thompson, in its explicit discrimination.The law has had a “chilling effect” for not only Chinese immigrants but Asian Americans generally in the state, said Bethany Li , legal director at AALDEF. “The law sends the message that Asians aren’t welcome in the state of Florida and some of the interactions that we’re seeing day-to-day are certainly reflective of that,” Li said in an interview.The U.S. government filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs, arguing that the law violates the Fair Housing Act and equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. "These unlawful provisions will cause serious harm to people simply because of their national origin, contravene federal civil rights laws, undermine constitutional rights, and will not advance the state’s purported goal of increasing public safety," the government wrote in its brief.Florida was one of 16 states that enacted legislation restricting land ownership by foreign entities or individuals last year, according to the Congressional Research Service. And lawmakers introduced bills to regulate foreign property ownership in another 20 states, it found. Opponents say Florida’s law is one of the most sweeping adopted so far.Read the AP report: https://bit.ly/4cZ4wZg . Read the Bloomberg Law report: https://bit.ly/44bPCes . Read the Courthouse News report: https://bit.ly/3w3zRte A coalition of Asian American organizations, community members, elected officials, and allies held a rally on April 19, 2024, in opposition to SB 264, a Florida law banning many Chinese immigrants from buying homes in large swaths of the state. The rally was held immediately following oral arguments at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.Activists from all over the country showed up for the rally. “Many people are leaving or considering [leaving]. The people are selling houses, because we don’t know what to do, you see, not welcoming,” Echo King , co-founder and President of the Florida Asian American Justice Alliance (FAAJA), told AsAmNews . “We don’t feel welcome. So you know, people are leaving.”King expressed during the rally that it is dangerous to conflate individuals with their country of birth. Bethany Li, legal director of AALDEF, echoed the sentiment that the law cannot be divorced from the current political climate, where both Republicans and Democrats have voiced anti-China rhetoric. “Unfortunately, from casting China as the enemy, what we see is that the direct impact of that type of anti-China rhetoric is actually on everyday interactions for Asian Americans in the United States. It worsens the types of daily interactions that we have on streets, in schools, and the workplace, trying to get homes,” Li told AsAmNews .Read the AsAmNews report: https://bit.ly/4b6WnQD . Read the press release by Stop AAPI Hate: https://bit.ly/4d4n62d 2. Science: Hiring Ban Disrupts Research at Florida Universities A report by Science on April 12 shared insights on the disruption caused by a new Florida law prohibiting the state’s 12 public universities from employing graduate students and postdocs from China and six other “countries of concern” without special permission. The report featured Zhengfei Guan , an agricultural economist at the University of Florida (UF), who failed efforts to recruit a new Chinese postdoc to join his research team last summer. The candidate rejected his offer because of concerns about the new law. The article further stated that the new law disrupts graduate admissions across Florida’s public universities. One UF department removed every student from a country of concern from a list of people the department wanted to hire as graduate assistants. Another UF department, dependent on students from the country on the list, has asked to lower its usual GPA requirement due to a lack of qualified local applicants.While universities can still hire faculty from targeted countries like China, the law is affecting recruitment. In UF's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the top two candidates for a tenure-track position declined offers due to the law's employment restrictions.Read the Science report: https://bit.ly/4aI2ET3 Biden Signs Bill Reauthorizing Contentious FISA Surveillance Program According to AP and multiple media reports, President Joe Biden on April 20, 2024, signed legislation reauthorizing a key U.S. surveillance law known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. The law gives the government expanded powers to monitor foreign terrorists and allows the government to gather communications from foreigners overseas without court warrants. For months, privacy and rights groups have argued that it violates Americans' constitutional right to privacy. The bill was blocked three times in the past five months, before passing the House last week by a 273-147 vote when its duration was shortened from five years to two years. Though the spy program was technically set to expire at midnight, the Biden administration had said it expected its authority to collect intelligence to remain operational for at least another year, which was approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.Barely missing its midnight deadline, the Senate approved the bill by a 60-34 vote. Hours before the law was set to expire, U.S. officials were already scrambling after two major U.S. communication providers said they would stop complying with orders through the surveillance program.A group of progressive and conservative lawmakers who were agitating for further changes had refused to accept the version of the bill the House sent over the previous week.The lawmakers had demanded that Chuck Schumer , D-N.Y., allow votes on amendments to the legislation that would address civil liberty loopholes in the bill. In the end, Schumer was able to cut a deal that would allow critics to receive floor votes on their amendments in exchange for speeding up the process for passage. The six amendments ultimately failed to garner the necessary support on the floor to be included in the final passage. One of the major changes detractors had proposed centered around restricting the FBI’s access to information about Americans through the program. Though the surveillance tool only targets non-Americans in other countries, it also collects communications of Americans when they are in contact with those targeted foreigners. Sen. Dick Durbin , the No. 2 Democrat in the chamber, had been pushing a proposal that would require U.S. officials to get a warrant before accessing American communications. “If the government wants to spy on my private communications or the private communications of any American, they should be required to get approval from a judge, just as our Founding Fathers intended in writing the Constitution,” Durbin said.Read the AP report: https://bit.ly/4a2k1gB Commissioner Yvonne Lee on USDA Equity Report and Asian American Farmers During the APA Justice monthly meeting on April 8, 2024, Commissioner Yvonne Lee began with warm memories of Dr. Robert Underwood who also spoke at the meeting, fondly recalling his inspiring demeanor and urging all present to embrace accountability and responsibility as public servants.Commissioner Lee has also dedicated her career to public service, having served on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and is the only Asian American member of the USDA Equity Commission that produced a final report for the Secretary of Agriculture in February 2024. The final report contains 66 recommendations. Three of them are specific concerns from the AANHPI community perspective. · Language access, which Commissioner Lee was happy to report, has been fully implemented last year. · Issues related to procurement, minority contracting, sub-contracting, and similar opportunities. · Land ownership. Commissioner Lee emphasized the report's significance as an official federal document chronicling AANHPI community involvement in American agriculture. She discussed the decline of Asian American agricultural dominance, citing historical discrimination. “Dating back to the 1880s, Asian American farmers have contributed two-thirds of California’s produce. Asian American growers introduced asparagus, celery, strawberries, sugar, and beans, to the American palate,” Commissioner Lee wrote in 2023. “When we examine how we want to advance social and economic justice for underrepresented communities and families, we must consider local food systems and how they were shaped. Discriminatory laws dissipated much of Asian American businesses and producers’ work in the agriculture industry.” Today Asian American farmers produced less than 2% of the food output nationwide. The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act was a major contributor to the decline of Asian American participation in farming as it often extended to people of Asian-descendent and specifically prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers. The Act was a gateway to additional discriminatory and exclusionary laws such as the Alien Land Laws which banned Asian Americans from owning land.The USDA Equity report serves as a poignant reminder of past achievements and ongoing challenges.There is a parallel to today’s continued assault to diminish our right to access land and properties and our role as full-fledged Americans because of a perceived background. "We can use this document to reflect and to use it to educate the public and to continue to advocate within and beyond our communities," Commissioner Lee said as she urged collective reflection and advocacy, particularly regarding recommendation number 37 on page 52 of the USDA Equity Report —"Right to Access Agricultural Land"—as a means to combat discrimination and safeguard community interests.The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an interagency committee chaired by the Secretary of Treasury, has the authority to review, approve, or deny any proposed foreign transactions that might raise national concerns, including in the food and agricultural sector. Currently, USDA is not a CFIUS member, however, the U.S. Treasury may designate USDA as a co-lead in a CFIUS investigation on a case-by-case basis. The Equity Commission recommends that USDA serve as a permanent member of the committee and request the necessary Congressional appropriations to carry out this role.Commissioner Lee explained that this gives the public an additional tool to apply our voice and our advocacy to have one more voice to amplify.Read Commissioner Lee’s 2023 blog: https://bit.ly/3xMfb9C . Read the USDA Equity Report: https://bit.ly/4ceyXKE . A summary for the April monthly meeting is being prepared at this time. The virtual monthly meeting is by invitation only. It is closed to the press. If you wish to join, either one time or for future meetings, please contact one of the co-organizers of APA Justice - Steven Pei 白先慎 , Vincent Wang 王文奎 , and Jeremy Wu 胡善庆 - or send a message to contact@apajustice.org . Some Facts about Asian American Farm Workers · The agricultural labor movement was inspired by Filipino leaders and workers who pulled their resources together and brought in Cesar Chavez . Read the NPR report about the forgotten Filipinos Who Led A Farmworker Revolution: https://bit.ly/4d6vsX0 · The Bing Cherry was named after a farm worker known by the name of Ah Bing , not Bing Crosby . Ah Bing was a head foreman for a commercial cherry nursery near the city of Milwaukie, Oregon. He was known to be a Chinese immigrant and worked at the nursery for over 35 years. He returned to China in 1889 to visit his family. While he was visiting, tensions rose in the Pacific Northwest against Chinese workers due to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. New restrictions were placed on travel, and borders were sealed, preventing Ah Bing from returning to the United States. He did not leave records or any information behind, leading Bing cherries to be the only memory. Read the Atlas Obscura report: https://bit.ly/4b4bRoJ · Before Disneyland, strawberry fields flourished. In 2022, PBS recounted the Fujishige family’s journey, starting in the 1920s when their Japanese parents faced land ownership restrictions due to racist laws. In 1942, when the U.S. military forced Japanese Americans to evacuate the West Coast, the Fujishige family moved in with relatives in Utah. Despite adversity, the brothers bought a 58-acre berry farm for $3,500 in 1953, after the Supreme Court overturned the Alien Land Law. They grew strawberries, vegetables and herbs. Despite Disney's offer to buy the land for $90 million, they refused. The city attempted to seize the land in 1985, leading to Masao Fujishige 's tragic suicide. Expressing solidarity with other people of color who have struggled to hold on to their land across the United States, Hiroshi Fujishige told the LA Times in 1991 that he didn't want to sell too early because he "didn't want to end up like those Indians who used to own Manhattan Island.". The family finally sold the farm in 1998, paving the way for Disney's California Adventure. Read the PBS report: https://bit.ly/3Qd7Ki7 News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2024/04/30 Understanding Implicit Bias and How to Combat It2024/05/02 AAGEN 2024 Executive Leadership Workshop2024/05/04 Corky Lee's Asian America: Fifty Years of Photographic Justice Book Tour2024/05/05 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting 2024/05/06 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/05/13-14 2024 APAICS Legislative Leadership Summit2024/05/14 Serica Initiative: 7th Annual Women's Gala dinnerVisit https://bit.ly/45KGyga for event details. Back View PDF April 22, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #90 Anming Hu Offered to be Reinstated; Advocacy Actions; Criminal Injustice Report; More #90 Anming Hu Offered to be Reinstated; Advocacy Actions; Criminal Injustice Report; More Back View PDF October 18, 2021 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #52 Science, NAS, APS, And AAU Voice Concerns; Actions On Anti-Asian Hate; AAUC Podcast #52 Science, NAS, APS, And AAU Voice Concerns; Actions On Anti-Asian Hate; AAUC Podcast Back View PDF April 2, 2021 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

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

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

Newsletter - #132 Repair Damage Done by DOJ; 2022/07/11 APA Justice Monthly Meeting; UCA Conventions #132 Repair Damage Done by DOJ; 2022/07/11 APA Justice Monthly Meeting; UCA Conventions Back View PDF July 5, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #314 3/3 Meeting; 3/4 Alien Land Laws Webinar; 3/12 MSU China Initiative Webinar; Lawsuits+ #314 3/3 Meeting; 3/4 Alien Land Laws Webinar; 3/12 MSU China Initiative Webinar; Lawsuits+ In This Issue #314 · 2025/03/03 APA Justice Monthly Meeting · 03/04 Webinar on Fair Housing Rights and Alien Land Laws · 03/12 MSU Webinar on China Initiative · Updates on Lawsuits Against Trump Administration Executive Actions · News and Activities for the Communities 2025/03/03 APA Justice Monthly Meeting The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held via Zoom on Monday, March 3, 2025, starting at 1:55 pm ET.In addition to updates by Judith Teruya , Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), Joanna YangQing Derman , Program Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC, and Kai Li 李凯 , Vice President, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), speakers are: · Grace Meng 孟昭文 , Chair, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) (invited) · Jessica Chen Weiss 白洁曦 , Founding Faculty Director of the Institute for America, China, and the Future of Global Affairs (ACF), SAIS, Johns Hopkins University · Michelle Lee , President and Board Chair; Brian Pang , Chief Operating Officer and Head of Partnerships, Stand with Asian Americans · Clay Zhu 朱可亮 , Co-Founder, Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance (CALDA) The virtual monthly meeting is by invitation only. It is closed to the press. If you wish to join, either one time or for future meetings, please contact one of the co-organizers of APA Justice - Steven Pei 白先慎 , Vincent Wang 王文奎 , and Jeremy Wu 胡善庆 - or send a message to contact@apajustice.org . *****The February 2025 APA Justice monthly meeting summary is posted at https://bit.ly/43dlMHN . Past monthly meeting summaries are posted at https://bit.ly/4hyOV4i We thank the following speakers for their remarks and update reports: · Gary Locke 骆家辉, Chair, Committee of 100; former U.S. Ambassador to China; former U/S. Secretary of Commerce; former Governor of the State of Washington · Julia Chang Bloch 張之香, Founder and Executive Chair, US-China Education Trust; former U.S. Ambassador · Judith Teruya , Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) · Joanna YangQing Derman , Program Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC · Kai Li 李凯 , Vice President, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) · Bethany Li , Executive Director, Asian American Legal Defense Education Fund (AALDEF) · Scott Chang , Senior Counsel, National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) 03/04 Webinar on Fair Housing Rights and Alien Land Laws WHAT: Fair Housing Rights & Alien Land Laws: Challenges and Advocacy for the Asian American Community WHEN: March 4, 2025, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm ET WHERE: Webinar HOSTS: Committee of 100 and APA Justice Opening Remarks: Cindy Tsai, Interim President, Committee of 100 Moderator: John D. Trasviña, Former Assistant Secretary of the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Panelists: · Hope Atuel , CEO/Executive Director, Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) · Scott Chang , Senior Counsel, The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) Closing Remarks: Jeremy Wu, Founder and Co-Organizer, APA Justice DESCRIPTION: With new laws limiting property ownership based on nationality, real estate professionals and advocates are stepping up to challenge these discriminatory policies. This webinar will provide critical insights into how these restrictions are reshaping the housing landscape and what we can do to fight back. What you will learn: · Your Rights Under the Fair Housing Act – Understand the legal protections in place to combat discrimination. · How These Laws Affect Asian Homebuyers & Real Estate Professionals – Hear real-world impacts from industry experts. · Community & Legal Advocacy in Action – Learn how grassroots efforts and legal challenges are pushing back and how you can get involved. Stay ahead of these evolving legal challenges by exploring Committee of 100’s interactive map , which tracks ongoing land ownership exclusion laws, and APA Justice’s Alien Land Bills webpage , where you will find the latest updates on lawsuits and policy developments. REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/3EOqGke 03/12 MSU Webinar on China Initiative WHAT: The China Initiative WHEN: March 12, 2025, 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm ET WHERE: Webinar HOST: Asian Pacific American Studies Program, Michigan State University Moderator: Kent Weber, Assistant Director of Asian Pacific American Studies, Assistant Professor of History, Michigan State University Speakers: · Lok Siu , Professor of Ethnic Studies and Associate Vice Chancellor of Research, UC Berkeley · Jeremy Wu , Founder and Co-Organizer, APA Justice Task Force DESCRIPTION: A virtual discussion on the life and afterlife of the China Initiative, a Trump Administration program that has used racial profiling and fears of espionage to target Asian American scholars and researchers for investigation. REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/4hVaITO Updates on Lawsuits Against Trump Administration Executive Actions As of February 23, 2025, the number of lawsuits against President Donald Trump 's executive actions reported by the Just Security Litigation Tracker has grown to 91.Some of the recent developments: 1. National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education v. Trump (1:25-cv-00333) On January 20, 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order directing the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director, with assistance from the Attorney General and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), to terminate all DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs, offices, and positions, as well as "equity-related" grants and contracts.On February 3, 2025, Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit on behalf of four organizations representing different affected groups: · American Association of University Professors (AAUP) – representing faculty members · National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education – representing diversity officers in academia · City of Baltimore – representing a public sector grantee · Restaurant Opportunities Centers United – representing a private sector grantee The lawsuit challenges the executive order as unconstitutional, arguing that it usurps congressional power and violates the First and Fifth Amendments by suppressing speech and discriminating against certain groups.On February 21, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Adam B. Abelson issued a memorandum opinion and granted a n ationwide preliminary injunction against the order. According to a statement from AAUP, the court explicitly cited evidence from AAUP members, finding that: · Plaintiffs and their members had suffered “concrete actual injuries” due to the administration’s actions. · AAUP members and their institutions would either be forced to restrict their legal activities and expression related to DEI or forgo federal funding altogether. This ruling marks a significant legal challenge to the administration’s directive, with broader implications for DEI policies across public and private institutions. Read the AP News report: https://bit.ly/4hOmZtK 2. Injunctions Against Drastic Cuts in Medical Research Funding According to AP News on February 21, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley extended her temporary restraining order blocking cuts to National Insitutes of Healh (NIH) research funding. The order will remain in place until she rules on an injunction, which would provide a more permanent decision.Judge Kelley is presiding over three lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts: · Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. National Institutes of Health (1:25-cv-10338) · Association of American Medical Colleges v. National Institutes of Health (1:25-cv-10340) · Association of American Universities v. Department of Health & Human Services (1:25-cv-10346) The states and research organizations argue that the cuts are illegal and directly contradict bipartisan congressional action from former President Donald Trump’s first term, which explicitly prohibited such reductions. “It violates bipartisan appropriations law. I should know—I helped author that provision,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) during a Senate budget debate on February 21, 2025. John Bueker , an attorney representing the research groups, argues that the cuts threaten to derail scores of clinical trials of new treatments, with universities saying they will have to “stop or not enroll patients.” “Let’s think about that. A clinical trial is a last hope for a lot of people,” Bueker said.The NIH, the primary funder of biomedical research in the U.S., awarded approximately $35 billion in grants in 2024. These funds are divided into: · Direct costs – covering researcher salaries, laboratory supplies, and project-specific expenses. · Indirect costs – supporting essential infrastructure such as electricity for lab equipment, hazardous waste disposal, research compliance staff, and janitorial services. The Trump administration previously dismissed indirect costs as “overhead,” but universities and hospitals argue they are essential for sustaining research. The new policy would cap indirect costs at 15%, a move NIH estimates would save $4 billion annually. Critics argue the impact would be devastating. “It’s like forcing a company to sell a product for $10 when it costs $15 to produce,” said Devon Cimini , a grants administrator at Florida State University. “Quite bluntly, if this cap goes into effect, there wouldn’t be much research anymore.”According to POLITICO on February 12, 2025, red-state universities are also pushing back against the cuts, warning they could be forced to close labs and lay off staff due to sudden funding shortfalls. “This change isn’t a cost savings; it’s a cost transfer,” said Jeffrey Gold , president of the University of Nebraska system, predicting that research capabilities would shrink and states would have to fill the funding gap. The impact could be severe across multiple institutions: · UT Southwestern Medical Center in Texas estimates a potential annual loss of over $100 million. · The University of Alabama-Birmingham warned that the cuts could trigger widespread job and economic losses. · The University of Kentucky has sent officials to Washington to urge its congressional delegation to prevent tens of millions of dollars in additional costs. As legal battles and political pressure mount, the future of NIH research funding remains uncertain. 3. Dellinger v. Bessent (1:25-cv-00385) According to the Washington Post on February 21, 2025, a divided Supreme Court has delayed ruling on the Trump administration’s request to remove the head of an independent government watchdog agency. The justices will wait until at least after a lower-court hearing in the coming week before making a decision.This is the first case to reach the Supreme Court involving President Donald Trump’s broad efforts to reshape the federal bureaucracy. The administration had sought to overturn a District Court order that allows Hampton Dellinger to remain as head of the Office of Special Counsel while his lawsuit over the firing proceeds. Established by Congress in the late 1970s, the agency is responsible for protecting whistleblowers within the federal government from retaliation.At the heart of Dellinger’s case is a test of Congress’s authority to limit presidential power and insulate certain agencies from political influence. When lawmakers created the Office of Special Counsel, they sought to ensure its independence by allowing the president to remove the director only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office” during the five-year term.The case presents an early test of how the conservative-majority Supreme Court, which includes three Trump-appointed justices, will respond to challenges against the president’s sweeping efforts to assert greater control over the federal government. In his first weeks back in office, Trump removed more than a dozen inspectors general , replaced top ethics officials, and dismissed the heads of agencies responsible for protecting federal workers and investigating government misconduct. Several of these actions are now being challenged in court.Highlighting the case’s broader implications, a group of law professors specializing in financial regulation has urged the Supreme Court to ensure that any ruling in Dellinger’s case does not weaken the independence of the Federal Reserve. They emphasized that central-bank autonomy is critical to maintaining a strong U.S. economy. 4. Early Wins on Birthright Citizenship According to the Washington Post on February 24, 2025, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong , the son of Chinese immigrants, made his stance clear when asked in December about Donald Trump ’s pledge to end birthright citizenship: “I would be the first to sue.” Three weeks later, he was the first — but he was not alone.The day after Trump signed the executive order, all 22 Democratic-led states, along with Washington, D.C., and the city of San Francisco, filed legal challenges, arguing the order was unconstitutional. The lawsuits were filed in two federal courts—a 32-page complaint in Seattle and a 50-page filing in Boston. Judges in both cases have since issued nationwide injunctions blocking Trump’s order.Legal scholars widely agree that the matter is settled law, citing the 1898 Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark . In that case, the Court affirmed that Wong Kim Ark, a San Francisco-born son of Chinese immigrants who had been denied reentry to the U.S., was a citizen under the 14th Amendment.San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said the city’s support for the lawsuit is rooted in its historical connection to the Wong Kim Ark case. “Our office wants to make sure the story is told accurately and litigated fully,” said Chiu, who has been in touch with Wong’s descendants. He added that the family is “horrified at the idea that the 14th Amendment and that case could be summarily ignored by the president of the United States.”At least 10 lawsuits have been filed against the Trump administration’s executive order 14160 on birthright citizenship, with four injunctions issued so far.On February 19, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit declined the administration’s emergency request to lift a nationwide injunction blocking Trump’s order, rejecting its argument that the preliminary injunction was overly broad. This marks the first time an appellate court has weighed in on the legal challenges to the executive order.The three-judge panel unanimously rejected the request. Judges William C. Canby Jr. and Milan D. Smith Jr. wrote that the administration had not made a “strong showing” that it would succeed on the merits of its appeal. In a six-page concurring opinion, Judge Danielle Forrest emphasized that setting aside a court order on an emergency basis should be an exception rather than the rule, and that the appeal did not meet that threshold. In rejecting the emergency plea, the panel upheld a nationwide injunction ordered February 6 by U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour in Seattle, who called Trump’s executive order “blatantly unconstitutional,” while paving the way for the case to be brought before the Supreme Court. News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2025/03/02 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/03/03 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2025/03/04 Fair Housing Rights & Alien Land Laws: Challenges and Advocacy for the Asian American Community2025/03/12 MSU Webinar on China Initiative2025/03/16 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/03/30 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting 2025/04/07 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2025/04/13 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/04/24-26 Committee of 100 Annual Conference and Gala Visit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. # # # APA Justice Task Force is a non-partisan platform to build a sustainable ecosystem that addresses racial profiling concerns and to facilitate, inform, and advocate on selected issues related to justice and fairness for the Asian Pacific American community. For more information, please refer to the new APA Justice website under development at www.apajusticetaskforce.org . We value your feedback. Please send your comments to contact@apajustice.org . Back View PDF February 25, 2025 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

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June 7, 2019 A fallout from racial profiling Chinese American scientists is the loss of talent by the U.S. in an increasingly competitive world for talents. A June 7, 2019 Asian Times article provides ample current and past examples and a succinct summary of how " US will regret persecuting Chinese scientists . " Racial profiling harms the long-term interests of America by forcing talented and renowned scientists, many of them naturalized U.S. citizens, out of the country into the welcoming arms of China. Ironically, profiling those in China's talent recruitment programs actually facilitates China’s recruitment. Stigmatizing all students from China, which exceeded 350,000 at US universities in 2017, as potential spies for China will not enhance but harm the pipeline of American research and innovation. This May 29 essay titled " My Science Has No Nationality " by a young Chinese American female physicist describes the plight of many of today's Chinese American scientists. 2019/07/15 Inside Higher Ed: Attacking Chinese on Our Campuses Only Hurts America Examples of America's Lost Talents Dr. Xin Zhao , a prize-winning applied physicist from the College of William and Mary in Virginia, had to relocate his startup venture to commercialize some of the school’s patented nanotechnology from the U.S. to China after a federal investigation that included a failed sting, airport stops and an unfounded child-porn search. Dr. Chunzai Wang , a U.S. citizen and one of the foremost experts on ocean-atmosphere interaction, climate change, and hurricanes in the world, is now a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in China. He was a research oceanographer in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He received the NOAA Research Scientist of the Year award in 2012 and 2013. Dr. Xifeng Wu , a U.S. citizen, is now Dean of School of Public Health, Vice President for the Second Affiliated Hospital and the Director for National Institute of Health Big Data, Zhejiang University in China. She was Director, Center for Public Health and Translational Genomics and Professor, Department of Epidemiology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in January 2019. Dr. Xiaorong Wang is now a Distinguished Professor of School of Chemical Science and Engineering and of Institute for Advanced Study at Tongji University at Shanghai, China. He was a project and group leader at Bridgestone Americas Center for Research and Technology and received the Bridgestone/Firestone CEO Award for distinguished research. Dr. Xuesen Qian (1911-2009) is known as the founder of engineering cybernetics and father of the space program for China. He was a co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the U.S. During the Second Red Scare in the 1950s, the U.S. government accused him of communist sympathies. After spending five years under house arrest, he was released in 1955 and deported to China. The head of the US Navy at the time was quoted as saying that Qian’s deportation was "the stupidest thing this country ever did. He was no more a communist than I was and we forced him to go.” Latest from BBC: Qian Xuesen: The scientist deported from the US who helped China into space Previous Next America Loses Talent by Racial Profiling

The APA Justice Task Force submitted a statement for a briefing with Senator Mark Warner and his staff on August 6, 2020. August 6, 2020 The APA Justice Task Force submitted the following statement for a briefing with Senator Mark Warner and his staff on August 6, 2020. updateonracialprofilingmarkwarner_20200805 .pdf Download PDF • 513KB The APA Justice Task Force submitted a statement for a briefing with Senator Mark Warner and his staff on August 6, 2020. Previous Next Briefing with Senator Mark Warner