Politics briefing: White House unveils national AAPI strategy

? Good morning, and welcome to The Yappie’s AAPI politics briefing — your guide to the policy news and activism affecting Asian Americans + Pacific Islanders. Send tips and feedback to [email protected] and support our work by making a donation. 

— Edited by Shawna Chen

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The Biden Era

? NEW NATIONAL AAPI STRATEGY ANNOUNCED: The federal government has released the U.S.’s first National Strategy to Advance Equity, Justice, and Opportunity for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities in a bid to highlight and better coordinate actions on issues that impact AAPIs. A special event hosted by White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) marked the release of the strategy, which comes after several gains in AAPI representation in the Biden administration.

• What’s included: 32 federal agency plans will focus on the continued promotion of safety and equity for AAPI communities. Community leaders also hope to make progress on “critical priorities” including data disaggregation, language access, and combatting anti-Asian hate.

?️ PULSE — RELEASE OF TYRE NICHOLS FOOTAGE STUNS NATION: The name Tyre Nichols was splayed across headlines around the world last week after the city of Memphis released bodycam and surveillance footage showing five of its police officers repeatedly beating, kicking, and pepper spraying Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man. The horrific videos—in which he can be heard crying and screaming for his mother—reinvigorated protests against police brutality and America’s system of law enforcement.

• The vice president said in a statement Friday that “Tyre Nichols should have made it home to his family. Yet tonight, once again, America mourns a life brutally cut short at the hands of those sworn to protect and serve … Congress must act with urgency and pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.”

• Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai‘i) and other AAPI Democrats echoed her call for police reform. “I commend the Memphis Police Department for quickly charging the officers who fatally beat Tyre Nichols,” ​​Hirono tweeted. “Police brutality and the use of excessive force is far too common in America.”

• Stop AAPI Hate highlighted the need for solidarity with Nichols’ family and the Black community. “We are outraged & we are once again reminded that our fight for safer communities cannot be won until we put an end to police violence and institutional violence,” the organization said on Twitter.

• The Memphis Police Department has since fired the five officers and disbanded the specialized unit they were assigned to. 

? POTENTIAL CHANGES TO VISA FEES: A new proposal released by the Biden administration would raise the fees companies must pay for employment-based visas, TheWall Street Journal’s Michelle Hackman writes.

• For the H-1B visa, which allows immigrants in specialty occupations to live and work in the U.S. for up to six years before applying for permanent residency, the primary fee would increase from $470 to $1,595.

• For the L-1 visa, which allows companies to transfer employees in managerial positions to the U.S. from abroad, the primary fee would increase from $460 to $1,985.

• For the EB-5 visa, which allows foreign investors to apply for permanent residency if they invest a certain sum of money in a U.S.-based commercial enterprise, the primary fee would increase from $3,675 to $11,160.

• What to watch: The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has posted the proposal for ​​a 60-day comment period. A new fee structure will be released once feedback is incorporated.

? ICYMI — ROBERT HUR TO LEAD BIDEN RECORDS PROBE: Attorney General Merrick Garland has tapped former federal prosecutor Robert Hur to serve as special counsel in the investigation of classified records recovered from Biden’s residence and former office, The Yappie’s John Camara writes.

• The National Archives asked all former presidents and vice presidents to search for classified documents in their possession after the FBI discovered several in former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home last week, reports Colleen Long of the Associated Press.

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On The Hill

✍️ LIEU PUSHES FOR GREATER SCRUTINY OF AI: Rep. Ted Lieu (D-California), vice chair of the Democratic caucus and the highest-ranking Asian American in the House, is urging Congress to take direct action to better understand artificial intelligence and its impacts, both seen and unseen. 

• As one of the few Congress members with a computer science background, Lieu warned of the dangers that AI could pose—including its potential to foment extremism and domestic terrorism—in an opinion piece for the The New York Times.

• In his words: “Facial recognition systems used by law enforcement are less accurate for people with darker skin, resulting in possible misidentification of innocent minorities,” he wrote in one example. (A 2019 study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology found that the majority of commercial facial-recognition systems misidentified African American and Asian faces more often than white faces.)

• Lieu is calling on Congress to establish a nonpartisan commission that can provide recommendations on AI regulation. He has also introduced a resolution to support a greater focus on artificial intelligence in Congress—and wrote it using the AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT.

CONGRESSIONAL VIETNAM CAUCUS LAUNCHES: Rep. Michelle Steel (R-California) will serve as co-chair of a new caucus that focuses on the relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam and other issues that impact Vietnamese American communities. Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-California), Lou Correa (D-California), and Chris Smith (R-New Jersey) will also co-chair.

• Steel, who is Korean American, and Correa both represent Orange County, which has the largest Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam. Lofgren’s district in the Bay Area also has a large Vietnamese community. 

?‍ In other caucus news: Rep. Andy Kim (D-New Jersey) is now the founding member of the Congressional Dads Caucus, which launched this week as a group seeking to bring visibility to working parents.

• “[M]y kids are the reason I’m in Congress. I do this job for them,” Kim tweeted. “I want our kids to have better futures, and I hope this caucus plays a part in that by helping dads and moms across our country.”

MAKING MOVES: Rep. Ami Bera (D-California) will chair the NewDem Action Fund, the fundraising arm of the center-left caucus New Democratic Coalition, for the 2024 election cycle. Bera previously served as the caucus’ vice chair for outreach.

• Plus: Steel has been appointed to the China Select Committee, a new congressional group focused on competition with China, and will hold a seat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees taxes and is the oldest congressional committee. 

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Campaign Watch

UPDATE — HARMEET DHILLON LOSES BID TO LEAD RNC: Incumbent Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Ronna McDaniel defeated challenger Harmeet Dhillon to win her bid for re-election last week. Dhillon, a legal adviser to Trump’s 2020 campaign who assisted in efforts challenging the election results, entered the race as an unexpectedly strong contender and seemed to make headway during the weeks leading up to the election.

• But McDaniel won handily, receiving 111 votes compared to Dhillon’s 51. MyPillow founder Mike Lindell received four votes, while Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-New York), who was not a candidate, received one vote.

• Throughout the campaign, Dhillon faced scrutiny for her background as a Sikh American born in India. Though she maintained she would uphold the principles of religious liberty, members of McDaniel’s team initiated a whisper campaign to cast doubt on her “Sikh faith,” POLITICO’s Natalie Allison reports.

• “We took on the most entrenched establishment in US conservatism, some at great personal & professional risk, no fear or hesitation,” Dhillon wrote in a tweet on Saturday thanking her supporters. “I promise to keep fighting for an RNC that wins in 2024!”

?️ ELECTION 2024 — DAVE MIN SEEKS ORANGE COUNTY HOUSE SEAT: California state Sen. Dave Min (D) has announced he is running to represent California’s 47th district in the House after Rep. Katie Porter (D), the district’s current lawmaker, declared her 2024 Senate bid earlier this month. Porter, who won re-election with 51.7% of the vote compared to Republican challenger Scott Baugh’s 48.3% in November, endorsed Min in what could be another close race.

• Min, who is Korean American and a former business law professor, was recently named chair of California’s Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water. Min also serves as the vice chair of the state’s Asian and Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus.

• About 19% of voters in California’s 47th congressional district identify as AAPI, according to Min. Baugh and Rep. Harley Rouda (D) have also said they will vie for the seat in 2024.

? KEEP ON YOUR RADAR — Ro Khanna, a Democrat who has represented California in the House since 2017, is one of the names being tossed around as a contender for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-California) seat in 2024, The Guardian’s ​​Maanvi Singh notes. Feinstein, 89, has not said whether she will seek re-election, but many California Democrats, including Porter and Rep. Adam Schiff, have already declared their campaigns.

• Khanna has said he is waiting to see if fellow progressive California Rep. Barbara Lee enters the primary. Multiple news outlets have reported that he could be eyeing a presidential run in 2028—some of his allies have even suggested a bid for the White House as early as 2024. Khanna previously said he would not run if Biden seeks re-election.

Hung Cao, the Republican who narrowly lost to Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D) last November in Virginia’s 10th congressional district, is eyeing a Senate run in 2024, POLITICO’s Marianne Levine writes. Cao, a Vietnamese refugee and Navy veteran, emerged as a strong fundraiser during the 2022 election cycle. Several high-profile Republicans backed his campaign, including Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Correction (1/8/2023): A previous version of this article incorrectly described the district Dave Min is seeking to represent. California's 47th congressional district covers parts of Orange County, including Irvine, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Seal Beach.

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