DEEP DIVE—BERNIE’S PUSH TO WIN THE AAPI VOTE: Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (D-Vermont) became the latest presidential candidate to establish a robust national Asian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizing program as his campaign ramps up efforts to court AAPI voters ahead of the Nevada and California primaries. Here are the details…
- What happened: Organizer Supreet Kaur led the launch of the ‘APIs for Bernie’ volunteer team with a strategy webinar on Sunday evening. The campaign now has a Slack channel dedicated to AAPI volunteers, and materials in Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese have been made available in the Bay Area, according to California Political Director Jane Kim.
- Meanwhile, Sen. Sanders was one of two Democratic candidates that participated in an AAPI Victory Fund Q&A session with Rep. Judy Chu (D-California) and Rep. Grace Meng (D-New York), with Sanders vowing to create the most diverse administration in American history.
- Why it matters: The Sanders campaign “does not take the AAPI community for granted and is committed to engaging directly and living the values of diversity and inclusion,” according to a memo on AAPI organizing shared with The Yappie. “Bernie 2020 recognizes the importance of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community … and is prioritizing a robust outreach program to engage a community that is traditionally left out of the political process.”
- What’s next: The rollout of the program and Asian language literature comes as Democratic hopefuls are gathering in Nevada, which is home to one of the fastest-growing Asian American communities in the country.
On the Agenda
ANTI-AAPI HATE CRIMES ROSE SLIGHTLY IN 2018, FBI SAYS: The number of victims of anti-AAPI “single-bias” hate incidents increased in 2018, according to newly-released FBI statistics. Of the 5,155 victims of race, ethnicity, and ancestry-motivated hate crimes, 3.4% were victims of anti-Asian bias, while 0.5% were victims of anti-Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander bias. Read more.
- A deeper look: At Syracuse University, Asian American students are grappling with a surge in hate crimes and bias-related incidents directed towards Asians on campus, the Daily Orange’s Amy Nakamura reports. Read more.
CA GOV. PARDONS THREE IN BID TO BLOCK DEPORTATIONS: In a victory for AAPI activists, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has pardoned three men facing deportation to Southeast Asia. AAPI rights groups including the Asian Law Caucus and the Asian Prisoner Support Committee had rallied in support of one of the men—44-year-old Cambodian refugee Saman Pho—who was detained by immigration authorities last month. Read more.
- Meanwhile… Chinese American activists in California have launched signature-collecting efforts to recall Gov. Newsom from office, according to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune’s Christopher Yee. Read more.
APALA UNVEILS REPORT ON STATE OF AANHPI WORKERS: Declining Asian American union membership rates and the community’s lack of familiarity with the labor movement are among the many challenges when it comes to organizing AANHPI workers, according to a new report from the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. Read more.
HARVARD STUDENTS SLAM APOLITICAL ASIAN ORGS AFTER DACA WALKOUT: Roughly 400 people have signed an open letter denouncing Asian American student organizations at Harvard for failing to co-sponsor a walkout in support of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Crimson’s Amanda Su and Amy Li report. Read more.
2020 Watch
HARRIS PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR AANHPIS IN NEW PLATFORM: Federal agencies would be directed to develop action plans “to advance civil rights and educational and health equity for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities” if Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California) wins the presidency, according to a detailed AAPI platform published last week by her campaign and reviewed by The Yappie.
- The document, aimed at wooing AAPI voters, also calls for the dismantling of language barriers, the revising of federal data collection to include ethnicity, and the creation of a $12 billion capital grant and technical support program to assist AAPI small businesses. Read more.
SCOOP—BIDEN CAMPAIGN PLANS AAPI NATIONAL CALL THURSDAY: Former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign will hold an AAPI national call with senior staff and a “special guest” at 6 p.m. EST on Thursday, National AAPI Director Amit Jani tells The Yappie. Participants can RSVP here for dial-in information.
- The call comes after the campaign formally unveiled its ‘AAPIs for Biden’ coalition last month at an event featuring Olympic figure skater and adviser Michelle Kwan.
MAKING MOVES—DCCC NAMES FIRST-EVER AAPI MEDIA ADVISOR: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the entity charged with helping elect Democrats to the House of Representatives, has tapped Darwin Pham to be its first-ever deputy national press secretary handling AAPI media outreach and voter engagement. Read more.
The Trump Era
BREAKING—MINA CHANG QUITS AFTER ALLEGATIONS SHE EMBELLISHED HER RESUME: A senior State Department official has resigned, effective immediately, following an NBC News investigation that found that she embellished her resume and made unfounded claims about her education and experience, POLITICO reports. Read more.
- The details: Mina Chang, the 35-year-old deputy assistant secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of Conflict and Stability Operations, made a series of misleading claims about her professional background—even creating a fake TIME magazine cover with her face on it—and falsely claimed to be a Harvard graduate, according to an NBC News story published last Tuesday.
- The Trump administration had considered Chang for an even more senior government post last year, announcing an intent to nominate her to oversee the U.S. Agency for International Development’s work in Asia The nomination was withdrawn in September without public explanation.
- “Resigning is the only acceptable moral and ethical option for me at this time,” Chang wrote in her resignation letter obtained by POLITICO. “A character assassination based solely on innuendo was launched against me attacking my credentials and character … My superiors at the Department refused to defend me, stand up for the truth, or allow me to answer the false charges against me.”
UPDATE—SCOTUS APPEARS READY TO ALLOW TRUMP TO END DACA: The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appears inclined to let the Trump administration terminate an Obama-era program that shields more than 16,000 undocumented AAPI immigrants from deportation, the New York Times reports. An expected ruling in 2020 could determine the fate of more than 16,000 AAPI “Dreamers,” including many from South Korea, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, and China. Read more.
TOP HOMELESSNESS OFFICIAL IS OUSTED AS WH PREPARES CRACKDOWN: Matthew Doherty, the executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, has been forced out as the White House considers options for a sweeping crackdown aimed at homelessness in California, Washington Post reports. Read more.
- Some context: The news comes amid an expanding homelessness and poverty crisis among the nation’s AAPI communities. According to 2017 figures from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, homelessness among Asian Americans is growing more quickly than any other racial group.
- Asian Americans also have the highest rate of poverty in New York City, and a PRRI/AAPI Data survey released Monday found that 1 in 4 California AAPIs are working and struggling with poverty.
IMMIGRATION HARDLINERS TAKE THE HELM AT DHS, USCIS: Acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli has been elevated to become acting deputy secretary at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) following the Senate confirmation of Chad Wolf as DHS secretary, BuzzFeed News reports. Read more.
- Meanwhile… Kathy Nuebel Kovarik has been promoted to acting deputy director of USCIS, and John Zadronzy, an ally to White House Senior Adviser Stephen Miller, has been named acting USCIS chief of staff. Read more.
On the Hill
UPDATE—SENATE PREPARES TO EXPEDITE VOTE ON HK BILL: The Senate is preparing to bring the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act to the floor under an expedited process and the bill could pass as early as next week, Bloomberg reports citing a Senate aide. Read more.
- As we’ve previously noted, the act would impose various penalties on individuals found to be curtailing Hong Kong’s freedoms and require the State Department to annually certify whether Hong Kong is autonomous enough to justify its special trade status under U.S. law.
- Demonstrators in Hong Kong have called on Congress to move quickly on the bipartisan proposal, and the House unanimously passed it by voice vote in mid-October. The legislation also has broad support among AAPI groups, including 18 Million Rising.
CAPAC EXAMINES RISE OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN DEPORTATIONS: Refugees and representatives from the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) and Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta participated in a forum examining the unprecedented increase in the detention and deportation of Southeast Asian Americans under the Trump administration, according to Rep. Judy Chu (D-California), who leads the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Read more.
- “The Trump administration … continues to pressure Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam to increase deportation through the use of visa sanctions,” SEARAC Executive Director Quyen Dinh told members of Congress, including Reps. Grace Meng (D-New York) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington). More than 17,000 Southeast Asian Americans have been given final orders of removal.
- Also this week: Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus leaders are calling for senior White House Adviser Stephen Miller to resign after a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center claimed that Miller sought to promote theories popular with white nationalists in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential elections. Read more.
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