Welcome to The Yappie’s Asian American + Pacific Islander politics briefing! Send tips and feedback to [email protected], apply to join our team, and support The Yappie‘s work by making a donation.
On the Hill
NAKASEC RAMPS UP IMMIGRATION PRESSURE: The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium’s civic engagement arm urged Vice President Kamala Harris in a letter this week to defy the Senate parliamentarian in a legislative bid to create a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.
- What’s happening: Advocates have called on Harris and Democrats to pass immigration protections through a process called reconciliation, which allows a bill to circumvent a potential filibuster but is usually reserved for budget-related legislation. Lawmakers have so far been frustrated with the Senate parliamentarian, an official who makes non-binding determinations on the eligibility of a bill, and her decision to rule against their attempt to include immigration reform in the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better package.
- The NAKASEC Action Fund called the parliamentarian’s opinion “riddled with flawed reasoning” and held a sit-in in front of the White House, where 51 people shaved their heads in protest. “We cannot wait any longer. It’s time for Democrats to deliver,” the group’s COO Becky Belcore said in a statement.
CONGRESS BACKS HIGHER MEDICAID FUNDING FOR ISLANDS: Last week, House Democrats passed a bill to avert a government shutdown—and attached to that legislation was an extension of extra Medicaid funding for the U.S.’s five island territories.
- American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands “have fixed Medicaid reimbursement rates regardless of the need, and often find themselves advocating for more funding in front of Congress to make up for shortfalls,” writes the Honolulu Civil Beat’s Anita Hofschneider.
- The islands are also highly vulnerable to natural disasters and higher health disparities, according to Pacific Daily News’ Jackson Stephens. Often, patients are forced to fly off of their island to receive advanced care for illnesses like cancer.
- The additional funding allows the territories to enroll more people in Medicaid, access more specialized drug treatments, and provide more holistic service.
THE TRUMP PROBES: A key report released by the Senate Judiciary Committee this week outlines Trump’s attempts to undermine the results of the 2020 election—including forcing the resignation of U.S. Attorney Byung Jin “BJay” Pak for “not doing enough to address false claims of election fraud” in Georgia. The Atlanta attorney quit abruptly on Jan. 4 after investigating and finding no evidence to support claims of “suitcases of illegal ballots” in the state.
- Meanwhile… Top Trump aides including former Defense official Kash Patel have been advised to ignore subpoenas from the committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell notes.
BIDEN’S PICK FOR DRUG CZAR ADVANCES: The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of Rahul Gupta to serve as head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy via voice vote on Thursday, clearing a path for a full vote in the Senate.
OC DISASTER TESTS KIM, STEEL: Calls for a potential ban on offshore drilling are growing in the wake of last week’s massive oil spill, which will have ripple effects for California’s Orange County community. First-term GOP Reps. Michelle Steel and Young Kim sought a federal disaster relief declaration and called on Biden to investigate the pipeline’s past “history of violations,”
ICYMI—¯\_(ツ)_/¯: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) faced backlash after congratulating Korean American judicial nominee Lucy Koh and “your people” for having a “hard work ethic” during her confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
The Biden Era
UPDATE—MORE AAPI WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE: After soaring to a record high of 15% at the start of the pandemic in May 2020, Asians’ unemployment rate continues to decline—falling slightly from 4.6% to 4.2%, according to the jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday. Unemployment fell for Asian women from 4.2% in August to 3.4% in September, while remaining unchanged at 4.6% for Asian men, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research reports.
USCIS REVIVES PAROLE PROGRAM FOR FILIPINO VETS: The Biden administration plans to continue the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole (FWVP) program following the Department of Homeland Security’s abrupt reversal of a Trump-era decision to terminate it, per a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) notice reviewed by The Yappie. The statement is likely to satisfy AAPI lawmakers and Filipino American civil rights groups who were angered by USCIS’s initial announcement in August 2019.
SPOTTED—President Joe Biden has formally authorized the presidential advisory commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders through Sept. 30, 2023, The Yappie’s Andrew Peng reports. The move, buried in an executive order published last month, allows the 25-member panel of AANHPI leaders to operate within the Department of Health and Human Services for two years before requiring another renewal.
- Note: Presidents from both parties have routinely reestablished the commission through executive action since its creation in 1999. However, the group famously endured two waves of resignations during the first month of Trump’s presidency in 2017—though it became clear fears that it could be permanently gutted were unfounded.
UPDATE—DOJ, HHS MEET WITH AAPI GROUPS ON HATE CRIMES LAW: U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta appeared virtually before AAPI activists Tuesday to solicit feedback on the government’s implementation of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, according to a Justice Department statement.
OUTGOING STATE OFFICIAL REBUKES BORDER POLICY: Harold Koh, a senior adviser at the U.S. State Department who recently resigned to take a position at Oxford University, made headlines after POLITICO reported an internal memo in which he slammed Biden’s use of the Title 42 policy to expel migrants at the border, condemning his actions as “illegal” and “inhumane.”
On the Trail
MAKING MOVES—Veronica Yoo, the Democratic National Committee’s former director of AAPI media who most recently served as a Pentagon speechwriter, has joined the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as senior advisor for AAPI engagement.
COUNTING ON VIRGINIA: With the state’s gubernatorial race in a dead heat, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) brought in Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff to galvanize AAPI voters in Loudoun County on Saturday.
- Why this matters: So far, McAuliffe has the upper hand in the battle for the state’s rapidly growing AAPI electorate, according to the latest polling from Monmouth and Emerson. The AAPI Victory Fund, a Democratic PAC, threw its support behind McAuliffe in June—and his campaign touted endorsements from more than 160 AAPI leaders in August.
- But ahead of the tight Nov. 2 election, Republicans are also attempting to sway AAPI voters, with Glenn Youngkin launching an AAPI coalition in July chaired by GOP lieutenant governor candidate Puneet Ahluwalia. Democrats argue Youngkin has no credibility and previously blasted him for using the word “yellow” to describe Asians, the Washington Post notes.
AAPI TRAILBLAZERS—ADRIAN TAM’S FIRST YEAR: Hawaiʻi state lawmaker Adrian Tam (D) became the state’s only out LGBTQ elected official last November after narrowly unseating a long-time incumbent and facing off against a Proud Boy in the general election. Tam spoke to The Yappie’s John Camara about the hardships he faced during his ascendancy and the islands’ most urgent priorities.
A TALE OF THREE CITIES: Boston, Cincinnati, and Seattle will have at least one thing in common come Election Day next month: an AAPI Democrat as their leading candidate in their general mayoral races, POLITICO’s Marissa Martinez writes.
- Michelle Wu, the Taiwanese American Boston City Councilor, topped her primary with 33% of the vote. In Cincinnati, Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval, who is Indian and Tibetan, attained nearly 40%. Black and Japanese lawyer Bruce Harrell, a former Seattle City Councilman, came out on top with 34%. Their campaigns will culminate at the ballot box on Nov. 2.
ONE RACE TO WATCH—Conservative activist Yukong Zhao (R), a staunch opponent of affirmative action who fell short in his bid to represent Florida’s 7th congressional district last year, has announced his candidacy for Florida’s state House District 50. In 2014, Zhao founded the Asian American Coalition for Education, which brought complaints against several universities and lobbied a federal judge to strike down Harvard’s race-conscious admissions policies.
AAPI Nation
NUMBER OF THE WEEK—1/32: That’s how Native Hawaiian you have to be to inherit protected land in a new bill introduced by Rep. Kai Kahele (D). In 1920, over 20 years after the U.S. annexed Hawai‘i, Congress passed a bill to rehabilitate Native Hawaiians with a government-sponsored homesteading program. The law imposed a blood quanta system. To qualify, people had to prove they were at least 50% Native Hawaiian. Descendants needed 25% to inherit the land. Over time, the number of people that qualified drastically decreased. Kahele’s new bill, if passed, would ensure that many more Native Hawaiians are able to hold onto their ancestral land.
Here's what else is happening across America..
- Rep. Michelle Steel (R) has introduced legislation to rename a post office in California’s Little Saigon to “General Tran Hung Dao Post Office” after a Vietnamese military strategist, NextShark’s Michelle De Pacina reports.
- The Sikh Coalition called for the U.S. State Department to expedite the resettlement of Sikhs and Hindus stranded in Afghanistan after suspected Taliban fighters vandalized a gurdwara in Kabul.
- A panel formed to investigate missing Native Hawaiian women and girls is gaining renewed attention after Gabby Petito sparked a conversation about media coverage of missing women of color. The little data that exists suggests Native Hawaiians are disproportionately represented among the state’s sex trafficking victims, the Associated Press’ Audrey McAvoy notes.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed the Angelo Quinto Act, named after a Filipino man who died during a mental health crisis while a police officer knelt on his neck, into law along with seven other police reform bills, Al Día’s Brittany Valentine writes.
- Asian American children are undiagnosed when it comes to learning disabilities due to a number of factors that include cultural barriers, the model minority myth, and shame, NBC Asian America’s Victoria Namkung reports.
- Minnesota’s Hmong farmers fear they may lose their land to a proposed bridge project that would “encroach on multiple acres of farmland,” according to the Sahan Journal’s Andrew Hazzard.
- Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang has left the Democratic party, announcing the launch of a new “Forward'” party and changing his voter registration to “Independent.” He was criticized for appearing on a Fox News segment with Tucker Carlson shortly after.
- AAPI renters and homeowners in Seattle are confronting growing housing emergencies, the Northwest Asian Weekly's Mahlon Meyer reports.
- Muslims faced a difficult anniversary on 9/11 as the remembrance brought back memories of mass detention and abuse from officials, the Associated Press’ Gary Fields and Noreen Nasir write.
- A PAC launched by Rep. Andy Kim (D) made six endorsements in support of AAPI candidates in his home state of New Jersey, including Edison Township councilman Sam Joshi for mayor in his city of 100,000.
- Over 50% of incarcerated AAPIs report experiencing childhood physical and emotional violence, according to Asian Prisoner Support Committee’s groundbreaking survey of over 500 incarcerated and formerly incarcerated AAPIs. Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders also face longer sentences in prison compared to East and Southeast Asians.
- A roughly six hourlong Facebook outage wiped out diasporic connections around the world as WhatsApp went down. WhatsApp hosts a wide range of AAPI communities, especially among Indians. The blackout led to panic and concern about possible future outages.
- Finally… Native Hawaiians are ramping up protests against the Thirty Meter Telescope under construction on Mauna Kea, KITV Island News’ Tom George reports.
Enjoying The Yappie? Make a donation, forward this briefing to a friend. or subscribe here. You can also follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
