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WHAT WE'RE TRACKING
? Asian Americans have the highest COVID-19 death-to-population ratios of any race in four states, and Filipino Americans are dying at an alarming rate in California.
? 150 members of Congress are urging Attorney General Barr to provide updates on what the Justice Department is doing to combat anti-Asian bias.
?️ President Donald Trump reignited the legal fight over the 2020 census and accelerated his tough-on-China campaign.
?️ The Democratic National Committee plans to roll out a second wave of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) endorsements for Joe Biden in August.
? Plus… The latest on immigration and a look at the week ahead.
The Big Story
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS—AMERICA’S WORSENING RACIAL DISPARITIES: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, and there is no end in sight. Here’s what you need to know…
- The latest: A USA Today analysis of data from the COVID Tracking Project shows that Asian Americans have the highest COVID-19 death-to-population ratios of any race in Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, and Vermont. For example, members of the Asian community in Nevada—the epicenter of early efforts to woo AAPI voters this cycle—account for 15.9% of deaths despite making up 7.9% of the state’s population. Filipino Americans are similarly dying at an alarming rate in California, accounting for at least 35% of COVID-19 deaths in the state’s Asian population, the Los Angeles Times’ Tiffany Wong writes.
- Separately… The analysis found that Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are the most disproportionately affected communities in Alaska, comprising just 1.2% of the state population but 5.9% of deaths. We noted last week that the virus is also infecting and killing NHPIs at higher rates than other racial groups in California, Hawaii, and Oregon.
- Perfect storm: The pandemic is impacting some AAPI communities more than others due to preexisting health conditions, lack of access to medical services, occupational hazards, and additional long-standing social and economic inequities. Disparities in access to COVID-19 testing facilities are also present in some predominantly AAPI communities like Minneapolis and Riverside, California.
- Why this matters: As schools mull reopening in the fall, the latest numbers may influence parents who fear that students could be exposed to the virus or face increased anti-Asian harassment. In Minnesota, a survey by the state’s Education Department found that Asian American respondents were the least likely to want to send their children back to in-person classes.
2020 Watch
BIDEN’S ENDORSEMENT HAUL: Democratic National Committee AAPI Caucus Chair Bel Leong-Hong plans to roll out a second wave of endorsements for Joe Biden from prominent AAPI leaders next month as the race enters a crucial stretch, according to a form reviewed by The Yappie.
- The details: The names are expected to be released around August 20, the final night of the nearly all-virtual Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee. Young Asian Americans are among the delegates that will participate in the three-day event, NBC Asian America reports.
- Refresher: The DNC unveiled its first wave of endorsements on July 17, and Biden received the backing of groups like the AAPI Victory Fund, the Asian American Action Fund, and Grace Meng’s (D-New York) ASPIRE PAC earlier this year.
MAKING MOVES—Eric Salcedo has joined the Biden team as Midwest Coalitions Director after previously leading AAPI outreach at Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign.
DUELING OP-EDS—Nelson Garcia is encouraging other longtime Filipino American Republicans to endorse Biden in an Asian Journal column, while Asian Pacific Americans For Trump coalition co-chair Kimberly Yee (R) touts the president’s economic record in the Arizona Daily Star.
ON OUR RADAR—The number of openly LGBTQ+ AAPI elected officials in the U.S. stood at 17 in June, a slight increase compared to four years ago, the LGBTQ Victory Institute says in its latest Out For America report. The total is likely to grow over the next 12 months, The Advocate notes.
ONE RACE TO WATCH—PELOSI CHALLENGER STUMBLES: Shahid Buttar, the democratic socialist attorney challenging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), faces allegations of sexual harassment and mistreatment of staff, The Intercept reports.
The Trump Era
TRUMP REIGNITES LEGAL BATTLE OVER CENSUS: President Trump faces at least three new federal lawsuits after he signed a memorandum excluding undocumented immigrants from congressional apportionment last week, NPR’s Hansi Lo Wang reports. Meanwhile, a federal judge in Maryland greenlit a request by civil rights groups to amend a complaint challenging Trump’s previous executive order on citizenship data.
- Potential impacts: Advocates say the president’s memo would harm AAPI voters and three states could lose House seats if undocumented immigrants are struck from the census, according to a Pew Research Center analysis.
WHITE HOUSE ACCELERATES CHINA PUNISHMENTS: The Trump administration is intensifying its tough-on-China campaign, with the U.S.’s sudden decision to shutter the Chinese consulate in Houston rattling Texas’ Chinese American community. Earlier this month, the White House unveiled sanctions against Chinese officials for the country’s internment of Muslims and encroachment in Hong Kong, and announced plans to cancel some student visas, POLITICO notes.
AAPI GROUPS SLAM FAIR HOUSING ROLLBACK: The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) condemned the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s “harmful” decision to dismantle the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, a sweeping Obama-era policy aimed at combatting housing discrimination.
UPDATE—ICE ISSUES FRESH GUIDANCE: New international students will not be able to enter the country unless they are enrolled in an in-person class, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Friday. The latest action amends initial guidance that barred foreign students’ entry if they had an online-only course load.
DACA APPLICATIONS ON HOLD: The Trump administration told a federal judge on Friday that new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program are being “held” as DHS officials weigh their next steps, the Washington Post reports. The Obama-era policy shields more than 16,000 undocumented AAPI immigrants from deportation
On The Agenda
WHAT TO WATCH—Senate Republicans are expected to unveil their $1 trillion stimulus bill on Monday as negotiations over the next coronavirus relief package and FY2021 appropriations bills continue. The House Judiciary Committee holds a hearing related to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Wednesday.
UPDATE—CHU’S NO BAN ACT CLEARS HOUSE: The House passed Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Rep. Judy Chu’s (D-California) NO BAN Act in a historic victory for Muslim civil rights groups. The landmark measure, which repeals President Trump’s travel ban and prevents the establishment of future restrictions without justification to Congress, has little chance of advancing in the GOP-controlled Senate.
LAWMAKERS PRESS BARR ON ANTI-ASIAN HATE: More than 150 members of Congress—led by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-California)—are calling on Attorney General William Barr to provide updates on what the U.S. Department of Justice is doing to address the rise in anti-Asian hate incidents stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, the Center for Public Integrity reports. Barr testifies before Congress on Tuesday.
- Related… From NBC Asian America’s Kimmy Yam: “How Ted Lieu’s Asian American upbringing led to his role as Twitter’s political clapback king.”
MENG MOVES TO BLOCK TRUMP’S CENSUS PLAN: Rep. Grace Meng (D-New York) has introduced the “No Funds for Apportionment Exclusion Act” to block President Trump’s directive barring undocumented immigrants from being counted in congressional apportionment, the Queens Courier reports, and House Democrats plan an emergency hearing on the census on Wednesday.
AAPI Nation
NUMBER OF THE WEEK—2,400: The estimated number of individual hate crime and incident reports received by the AAPI Emergency Response Network since January.
Here’s what else is happening across America..
- Ohio state Senator Tina Maharath (D-Canal Winchester) is urging Gov. Mike DeWine (R) to establish an AAPI Affairs Commission through executive order.
- Michael Kwan, a Utah municipal judge who championed the rights of Asian Americans and made headlines for his criticism of President Trump, has died at 58.
- A new report from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) reveals the disparate economic impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on Asian Americans, LAist reports.
- The East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU) is calling for “the elimination of all white and white-inspired Greek life.”
- City & State NY has published its list of the 100 most influential Asian Americans in New York politics and policy.
- Asian Americans are continuing to confront anti-Blackness in their own communities, WNYC’s Katherine Fung and the Boston Globe’s Deanna Pan write.
- 36 Los Angeles-based Korean American associations are calling for Trump to apologize after Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) claimed in a Washington Post op-ed that the president called South Koreans “terrible people.”
- POLITICO documents how California’s Vietnamese American community rallied behind nail salons during the state’s first coronavirus shutdown.
- Steve Ly, mayor of Elk Grove, California, faces a censure vote over allegations that he pressured his former campaign manager to remove a critical Facebook post, the Sacramento Bee reports.
The Week Ahead
Submit events and updates to [email protected]:
MONDAY, JULY 27—Filipino Americans for Biden hosts a Zoom call on immigration and voter education. The Trump campaign’s AAPI engagement team trains voters in Pennsylvania, phone banks in Minnesota, and organizes a virtual “APA MAGA Meet-Up.” NAPABA presents a discussion on Asian and Black allyship.
TUESDAY, JULY 28—Asian American women leaders share their thoughts on the state of workers’ rights at a Biden campaign webinar, and members of NCAPA’s #AAPI2020 coalition play census-themed games on Facebook.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 29—OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates kicks off its “Resilient Communities” summit, AAPI Progressive Action facilitates a conversation on presidential appointments, and the newly relaunched Asian Americans Against Trump project hosts a virtual fundraiser. ECAASU, NAKASEC, and the Woori Center throw a “phone bank party.”
THURSDAY, JULY 30—APAICS’ annual Women’s Collective Summit begins, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) speaks with the Washington Post, and Equality Labs hosts a session on the power of transformative justice in South Asian spaces.
FRIDAY, JULY 31—The AAPI Victory Fund and the Indian American Impact Fund host a fundraiser to support Sara Gideon (Maine), Sri Preston Kulkarni (TX-22), and Hiral Tipirneni (AZ-6).
SATURDAY, AUGUST 1—Dear Asian Youth (DAY) and the College Key Foundation present an AAPI politics career panel.
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