Homeland security bans Filipino workers from H-2B visa program

UPDATED: Jan. 31, 12 p.m. to include information on Mar-A-Lago.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it is banning Filipino workers from the H-2B visa program for at least a year, based on a finding that as much as 40 percent of H-2B workers from the Philippines "overstay" beyond the period their visa allows them to work in the United States.

About 1000 visas a year are used by Filipinos in recent years and the impact varies according to region.

"The Philippines is to Guam what Mexico is to California," said John Robertson, president of AmOrient Engineering and an official in the Guam Contractors Association.

On Guam, Filipino H-2B visa holders work mainly in construction. Historically, local worker numbers haven't met Guam's need for a mass of workers committed to work day after day doing field construction work.

Guam's ties to the Philippine labor market also became crucial during the hotel construction boom on Guam between the 1980s and 1990s.

And now that Guam is in the midst of another military buildup – with the Department of Defense's development of a Marine Corps base, in addition to the Air Force and Navy bases that have been here a long time – more workers from the Philippines are being brought in and more are expected to be brought in.

On the mainland, H-2B visa holders work in businesses like amusement parks that need extra staff during summer or ski resorts that need help during the winter months are most likely to use this program. Other businesses that use this program include construction, golf courses, cruise lines, resorts, seasonal recreational facilities and other tourism based businesses.

These positions can be for both skilled and unskilled workers. So there isn’t a requirement that the job be for those with a college degree or equivalent, like there is for the H1B Visa program. But businesses do need to be able to show or explain why they need to hire foreign nationals. So if there’s no shortage of U.S. workers who are willing and able to do the job, businesses may not be able to hire using the H2B Visa program.

In fiscal year 2017, 64 agricultural visas and 767 seasonal work visas were issued in the Philippines, according to State Department data.

The federal notice does not affect those who currently hold valid visas, it said, though they would be affected if they applied for an extension.

“DHS and DOS are concerned about the high volume of trafficking victims from the Philippines who were originally issued H-2B visas and the potential that continued H-2B visa issuance may encourage or serve as an avenue for future human trafficking from the Philippines,” the notice read.

A civil rights nonprofit based in Los Angeles that has represented survivors of human trafficking from the Philippines said the decision was "short-sighted and not the way to mitigate human trafficking."

“We have seen that many Filipinos in the United States endure human trafficking, deceptive recruitment practices and other forms of labor exploitation,” Christopher Lapinig, registered legal services attorney at Advancing Justice-LA, said in a statement.

"Filipinos do suffer from human trafficking as a result of abused H-2A and H-2B visas," Laboni Hoq, litigation director at AAAJ — Los Angeles, said in a statement. "The government needs to provide greater protections for H-2A and H-2B visa holders, not cut off access to these visas entirely."
​
“Instead of targeting vulnerable populations, the Administration should address greedy corporations and abusive employers," said Alvina Yeh, executive director of Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance.  

Aside from the Philippines, Ethiopia and the Dominican Republic were also removed from the list of countries eligible for the said visa programs.

In a statement dated Jan. 22, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs noted that the U.S. was within its rights to deny the visas and reminded Filipinos to follow immigration rules.

"Nonetheless, the Philippines is open to the possibility of working with the United States in addressing these issues, as it has previously done so with similar concerns involving the Filipino Community there," the statement read.

By the way, Trump benefits

Despite the ban targetting Filipinos, the H-2B visa program has actually expanded beyond the 66,000 cap. Last year, the Trump administration allowed an extra 15,000 H-2B visas to be allocated.

Funny, one of the employers who has benefited from the H-2B program are Trump properties, including Mar-A-Lago, according to Vox.

As part of the program, businesses must pay round-trip airfare or bus fare to bring the approved workers from abroad (the vast majority of them come from Mexico). The H-2B database shows requests from Mar-a-Lago dating back to 2013, and this practice has not stopped since Trump became president.

And a Vox analysis of hiring records for seasonal workers at three Trump properties in New York and Florida revealed that only one out of 144 jobs went to a U.S. worker from 2016 to the end of 2017. Foreign guest workers with H-2B visas got the rest. Since they were hired before the ban was implemented, their immigration status won't be affected - at least, not until they try to extend the visa.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Bill introduced to award Congressional Gold Medal to Fred Korematsu

KOREMATSU INSTITTUE

Karen Korematsu, stands before a portrait of her father, Fred Korematsu.

On what would have been his 100th birthday, Congress introduced bicameral legislation Tuesday (Jan. 30) to award Fred Korematsu the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of his fight against the illegal incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and his work to advance civil rights.

“Fred Korematsu stood up for the rights of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, and continued his fight for decades to expand civil rights and overturn his own false criminal conviction,” said Senator Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, one of the sponsors of the legislation. “Awarding the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress’ highest civilian honor, to Fred Korematsu is a fitting tribute to his lifelong pursuit of justice and equality.”

Sponsoring the bill in the House, is Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif. “Mr. Korematsu was an outspoken activist, a fighter for justice, and a hero to many – including myself," says Takano. 

"As a son of Japanese Americans who lived through Japanese internment during World War II, I find Mr. Korematsu’s legacy to be a guiding light for the work that I do in Congress. His life’s work placed civil rights at the forefront and it has been one of the cornerstones in the movement to build an America where everyone can be treated equally under the law."

In 1942, at the age of 23, Korematsu was arrested for refusing to enter the internment camps for Japanese Americans. After his arrest, he appealed his case all the way to the Supreme Court, which upheld Executive Order 9066 based on military necessity. 

Four decades later, on Nov. 10, 1983, Korematsu’s criminal conviction was overturned in a federal court in San Francisco. Korematsu remained a civil rights advocate throughout his life and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from President Bill Clinton in 1998. He passed away on March 30, 2005 at the age of 86.

“My father, Fred T. Korematsu, was born in Oakland, California 100 years ago today. A civil rights pioneer, he dedicated his life to ‘stand up for what is right,’ and he worked to ensure what happened to him and other Japanese Americans will never happen again to any other minority group,” said Karen Korematsu, founder and executive director of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute and daughter of Fred Korematsu. "Through this bill, it is a reminder that we must Stop Repeating History and, like my father, continue to champion civil liberties and the Constitution for all.”

“This legislation is an important acknowledgement of the injustice suffered by my grandparents, parents, and more than 115,000 others who were relocated and imprisoned based on nothing more than their heritage,” said Takano. “This stain on our history must serve as a warning of what happens when we allow fear and hate to overwhelm our basic respect for one another."

“The specter of the Korematsu decision haunts us to this day,” said National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) president Pankit Doshi. “With this bill, Congress has the chance to repudiate the Supreme Court’s ruling and prevent the country from repeating a dark chapter of our nation’s history."

“This legislation is an important acknowledgement of the injustice suffered by my grandparents, parents, and more than 115,000 others who were relocated and imprisoned based on nothing more than their heritage,” said Takano. “This stain on our history must serve as a warning of what happens when we allow fear and hate to overwhelm our basic respect for one another."

Tuesday's legislation is a follow-up to a bill introduced Dec. 18, 2018 the anniversary of the widely-condemned Korematsu Supreme Court decision that led to the internment of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II, U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth, D-IL and Hirono introduced the Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act of 2017 (S. 2250) to prevent similar civil and human rights travesties from happening on U.S. soil ever again. 

Their legislation is named in honor of the late U.S. Congressman Mark Takai from Hawaii for his long-time leadership on this issue prior to his passing. 

With President Trump’s continued efforts to restrict minority and immigrant civil and human rights, the bill would help our nation stop repeating history by ensuring that no individual is imprisoned or detained based upon a protected characteristic such as race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation. Takano introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“We, as a nation, must never forget or repeat the horrors thousands of Japanese Americans experienced as prisoners within our own borders, said Duckworth. "We must also continue to do everything we can to ensure such a national travesty never happens again. I’m proud to introduce this bill with Senator Hirono in remembrance of my dear friend and former colleague Mark Takai to reinstate our commitment to protecting civil liberties and strengthen our resolve to ensure we never again repeat such shameful acts.”
______________________________________________________________________________

Nathan Chen threepeats at U.S. Figure Skating Champiionship

US. FIGURE SKATING

NNATHAN CHEN

By Louis Chan
ASAM NEWS

Nathan Chen is so dominating his sport the commentators are running out of superlatives to describe it.

The Utah native scored 342 points to dominate the U.S. Figure Skating Championships winning his third straight U.S. Championship.

“All hail Nathan, the great. He took me to another world, said Johnny Weir, the last U.S. skater to win three straight championships. “There is a dreamy quality to the music selection. He’s taken skating to an entirely new world.”

Tara Lipinsky, who won Olympic gold in 1998, went over-the-top in her praise.

“He is a god. He is not human,” she proclaimed. “This is it, guys. This is what skating is about. He’s pushing the boundaries."

Chen so dominated with his multiple quad jumps that the only suspense going into Sunday’s free skate was which skater would take second place -- Vincent Zhou of San Jose or Jason Brown of Los Angeles. Brown held a narrow lead over Zhou after the short program. In the end, Zhou finished second, about 58 points behind Chen after Brown fell while attempting a quad in the long program.

“I’m so happy right now,” Chen said about his victory. “That program went exactly as I wanted it to.”

Chen will skip next month's Four Continents Championship in California in order to concentrate on his Yale studies. Although he is a heavy favorite going into the Worlds March 18-24 in Japan, Chen isn’t taking anything for granted.

“Worlds is a whole another ballgame,” he cautioned.

After the competition, the top three men, Chen, Zhou and Brown were chosen to represent the U.S. at the World's Championship. Waiting in the wings if any of thte top three could not compete is the No. 1 alternate, Tomoki Hiwatashi.

Views From the Edge contributed to this report.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Tulsi Gabbard to officially launch her campaign Feb. 2 in Hawaii

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is stumbling out the gate after announcing her intention to run for President in 2020.

The congressmember will hold hold a rally Feb. 2 in Hawaii to formally launch her 2020 campaign.

Gabbard will use the rally in Oahu to "gather with friends, family, and supporters to share her vision for the future of our nation," her campaign said.

The rally will also give her campaign a chance to get back on track after the four-term Democratic representative prematurely announced her presidential bid  during an interview with CNN's Van Jones on Jan. 11. 

Her campaign staff was caught off guard when Gabbard announced her candidacy earlier this month. Her website was not ready and a video had not been approved yet. No public appearances were planned immediately after the announcement to continue the momentum of the announcement.

The video was finally released Jan. 29, almost three weeks after the Van Jones interview.

On top of everything else, she got into a public spat with influential Sen. Mazie Hirono which upset Hawaii's Democrats and had to defend her past affiliation with an organization that had an anti-LGBTQ agenda.

And it doesn't look too good that her campaign manager Rania Batrice, an aardent supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders, has decided to leave the campaign after the rally. Gabbard's sister, Vrindavan, will take over the position.

If all that isn't enough, a popular state Democrat will be running for Gabbard's District 2 seat in 2020 giving the possibility that Gabbard could lose the Presidential race and the her Congressional seat in the same year. 

Gabbard has been seen as a rising star for the Democrats until 2016 when she resigned from the Democratic National Committee when the committee threw its support behind Hillary Clinton's campaign so that Gabbard could back Sanders.
______________________________________________________________________________

Filipina American asks Kamala Harris about her immigrant roots

SCREEN CAPTURE / CNN

A Filipina American professor was able to ask a question about Sen. Kamala Harris' heritage during her town hall in Des Moines, Iowa last night (Jan. 28) that was broadcast on CNN.

towards the end of town hall, Eliza Dy-Boarman, a Pharmacy Professor at Drak University, asked her question  of the presidential candidate. (You can listen to it at the 50:30 mark.)

Eliza Dy-Boarman: Hi, Senator Harris. I'm the proud daughter of a Filipino immigrant and I know you also share immigrant roots. How did the aspect of this upbringing shape your character and how might this perspective be useful to you as you peruse for the United States presidency?

Sen. Kamala Harris: Thank you for that question. You know, my parents came here believing in a dream. It's a dream they had for themselves, a dream they had for their daughter, my sister and me. It's a dream of living in a way about freedoms, about equality, about the ability to pursue one's passions.and contribute to their community and to  their society. And that in many ways has informed the way I think about my country. I love my country. I love my country. And one of the reasons is that we are a country  founded in noble ideals. we were founded on the ideals that are behind the writing of the Constitution of the United States and its amendments, the Bill of Rights the Declaration of Ind. those words spoken in 1776 - that we are all and should be treated as equal. I believe in those ideals. I also know we have not achieve those ideals. I know that. But, part of the strength of who we are is that we say we will fight for those ideals. We are aspirational by nature. And one of the reasons I am running for president of the United States, is because I know and I am prepared to fight to fight for those ideals, especially if they are under attack; especially when we have an administration that does not understand that we honor a free press (applause), that we honor freedom of association, that we honor the belief  that all people are  equal and should be treated that way. But truly, my background in terms o what my parents believed and what they  instilled in us is what has formed so much of what I think about my country. And why I love my country.

There it was! Dy-Boarman started her question, "I'm the proud daughter of a Filipino immigrant ..." - the perfect lead-in for Harris to respond in kind, "I , too, am the proud daughter of an Indian immigrant ...." but she didn't.

It was a softball question and Harris should have knocked it out of the ball park by giving the senator an opportunity to claim her mixed heritage as the daughter of a mother from India and a father from Jamaica. If she had only mentioned that she is half-Indian it would have been a more satisfactory answer for many AAPI viewers. 

That sort of public acknowledgement of her roots, would go a long way to quiet people in  in the AAPI community who have not fully embraced Harris because of her apparent hesitancy to say publicly that her mother is from India; that her middle name is Devi, that she spent summers in India.

In a New York Times oped, Harris did not hesitate to talk about her mother, who had a strong impact on her life and viewpoints.

We understand the political need for Harris to identify more strongly with the African American community; that Harris grew up amidst the black community in Berkeley and Oakland, Calif.; and that she chose to attend Howard University, one of the historically black institutions of learning -- but it wouldn't hurt that once in while, she would say -- loud and clear, without any hedging -- that she is half-Asian.

Harris - for the most part - was well prepared in answering the questions put forth by the Iowans. The first question about race, she knocked out of the ballpark. "Let's speak truth ... racism still exists."

She was also asked about her feelings ob the possibility of being the first black woman president (again, she failed to mention her other half). 

Her response to what to do about the participants in the Deferred Arrival of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was one her best of the night. "We (America) made a promise" that was broken by the current administration.

Even the question about her role as San Francisco's District Attorney and California's  Attorney General that questioned her image as a progressive was well-memorized, citing all the reforms that she instituted in those roles.

It's very early in the presidential campaign and Harris (and the other candidates) still have time to hone their messages and I expect that she will correct some of these early miscues. 

Harris' Des Moines town hall was one day after she officially launched her campaign for 2020 in a rally held in her hometown of Oakland, California in front of a crowd of 20,000; and a little more than a year before the Iowa Caucus, the first Primary vote for Democrat delegates.
______________________________________________________________________________

Powerful photo portends Hollywood's future

AT THE Screen Actor Guild awards show Sunday night, the casts of two landmark motion pictures got together for a significant photo that says a lot about the future Hollywood hopefully will embrace.

There is a lot of symbolism when the casts of Crazy Rich Asians and Black Panther joined  each other for this photo posted by CRA director Jon M. Chu on his Instagram account. Both films were breakthroughs for subject matter and casting.

Both films broke down the old Hollywood belief that films with  minority leads would not appeal to general (white) audiences. First Black Panther and in August, Crazy Rich Asians, broke box office records and opened the door to explore storylines and actors that reflect  U.S. audiences.

Dozens of projects are now underway or under development with more diverse casts because of the critical and financial success of those two films.

For the photo, they were joined by winner of SAG's Best Actor award-winner Darren Criss and Mike Meyers.

Mike Meyers?

To quote Chu, "This photo is beautiful."
_______________________________________________________________________________

Smithsonian exhibit about WWII internment camps travels to Arizona

ASAM NEWS

A Smithsonian exhibit on the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans opened in Phoenix, Arizona Sunday (Jan. 27), reports AZ Central.
The walk-through exhibit entitled Righting A Wrong: Japanese Americans And World War II will “bring heart-wrenching personal stories, fascinating documents, stunning photographs, and engaging interactives to audiences across the nation,” states the Smithsonian website. “Embracing themes that are as relevant today as they were 75 years ago, the exhibition takes a deep look at immigration, prejudice, civil rights, heroism, and what it means to be an American.”

Arizona was home to two incarceration camps, both located on tribal reservation land. The Gila River War Relocation Center, on the Gila River Reservation south of Phoenix, held more than 13,000 Japanese Americans. At the Poston Relocation Center on the Colorado River Reservation south of Lake Havasu, 17,000 people were held. Both camps were open from 1942 to 1945.

The exhibit will be open through April 7, 2019 at the Arizona Capitol Museum. From there the exhibition will go to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, followed by Minnesota, Utah, and New Mexico.

________________________________________________________________________________

Oakland rally officially launches Kamala Harris bid for POTUS

  SCREEN CAPTURE / DIOKNO

Sen. Kamala Harris kicks off her campaign for president of the United States.

KAMALA HARRIS officially launched her presidential campaign Sunday in her hometown of Oakland, Calif.

To the cheers of over 20,000 people who waited for hours and underwent security checks,  the California senator touched on the themes that she would be using in her campaign,  to work towards an America "by the people and for the people."

"I was born just a few blocks from here," she said in Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakland City Hall. "I’m so proud to be a daughter of Oakland. My parents met as graduate students at UC Berkeley, where they were active in the civil rights movement.

Stressing her immigrant heritage, she said: "They were born half a world apart from each other. My father, Donald, came from Jamaica to study economics. My mother, Shyamala, came from India to study the science of fighting disease. My parents came here in pursuit of more than just knowledge. Like so many others, they came in pursuit of a dream -- for themselves, for me, and for my sister Maya."

"We were raised by a community with a deep belief in the promise of our country -- and a deep understanding of the parts of that promise that still remain unfulfilled," she continued. "We were taught to see a world beyond just ourselves. To be conscious and compassionate about the struggles of ALL people. We were raised to believe public service is noble and the fight for justice is everyone’s responsibility. That, in many ways, formed my life."

KAMALA HARRIS FOR PRESIDENT

The audience of all races, ages and genders, repeatedly interrupted her speech with cheers of  "Ka-ma-la, Ka-ma-la." 

Her platform includes a pledge for Medicare for all. "Health care is a fundamental right," she said. 

"Education is a fundamental right," she continued.

She attacked Trump's plan for a wall on the Mexican border. "Folks, on the subject of transnational gangs, let's be perfectly clear: The president's medieval vanity project is not going to stop them,"

Dreamers, she said, referring to the young people brought to this country illegally as young children, should have a path to citizenship.

"When we have children in cages, crying for their mothers and fathers, don't you dare call that border security," she added later. "That's a human rights abuse."

"We were raised by a community with a deep belief in the promise of our country -- and a deep understanding of the parts of that promise that still remain unfulfilled. We were taught to see a world beyond just ourselves. To be conscious and compassionate about the struggles of ALL people. We were raised to believe public service is noble and the fight for justice is everyone’s responsibility. That, in many ways, formed my life."

Harris said she was running for president "to fight for an America where no mother or father will have to teach their young son that someone will stop him or kill him because of his race."

"Even though we have powerful forces trying to sow hate and division, the truth is that, as Americans, we have much more in common than what separates us," according to her prepared remarks.

KAMALA HARRIS FOR PRESIDENT

Over 20,000 people attended the Kamala Harris rally in Oakland, Cali9fornia on Sunday.

If elected, Harris would beom the first Asian American president and the first African American woman president.

After the rally, she was supposed to travel to Iowa, the state that holds it's caucuses a little more than a year from now.

Her campaign headquarters will be in Baltimore, Maryland,where, like Oakland, there is a large African American community.

Lauren Zabel, who works in tech, told a reporter: “Kamala is an intersectional candidate. She has an Indian mother and a black father. Her husband is Jewish. She’s a stepmother. I think a lot of people can relate to that.”
_________________________________________________________________________________

SAG Awards: A great night for Darren Criss and Sandra Oh

SCREEN CAPTURE

Darren Criss accepts The Actor statuette at the SAG awards.

By winning the Screen Actors Guild statuette Sunday (Jan. 27), Darren Criss completed a  sweep of this year's major acting awards.

Criss won the Best Actor in A Limited Series offered by SAG, the union of his acting peers, Sunday (Jan. 27).

"I find it appropriate that this statuette is sort of choosing between which masks to use, and the character that I played, Andrew Cunanan, unfortunately, used masks to destroy things,” the Filipino American actor said in his acceptance speech. “So as an actor, my goal is to hopefully create something positive, to use masks to create a positive change." 

With the statue of The Actor in his possession, Criss becomes the first Filipino American to win any of the acting honors that includes the 2018 Emmy, Golden Globe, and Critics’ Choice Award for his groundbreaking performance as serial killer Andrew Cunanan in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. Best known for his light-hearted ole in Glee, Criss took full advantage of playing against type to portray the dark, deranged psychopath who killed five people before taking his own life.

"So for all of the friends and families that are still affected by the destruction that he wrought, I hope that they know our goal was not to make a spectacle of their tragedy, but to create a positive dialogue about social issues and bring to justice things that were in the shadows.”

SCREEN CAPTURE

Sandra Oh thanks the actors who gave her words of eencouragement.

Sandra Oh was awarded The Actor for her role in Killing Eve in the Best Actress in A Drama Series, repeating the honors she received at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice. This was her fourth SAG win and sixth nomination.

She made a point in thanking three African American actors for their words of encouragement during her career.

“I want to thank Alfre Woodard,” Oh said in her acceptance speech. “In 1997 -she’s never going to remember this, she whispers in my ear – I’m so proud of you up there. We fight the same fight.’ Jamie Foxx in 2006 pulled me aside and said, ‘Keep going.’ And in 2017, Lena Waithe, she just embraced me and said, ‘You already won. It’s in the work’ So thank you to my fellow actors. Thank you so much.”

Backstage, Oh was asked to opine on diversity in Hollywood. “Are we there yet? Of course not. But it’s always good to have something to aspire to and move towards, for us to see ourselves is a deeply human need and I’m here to do my best to fulfill that.”

The actors of Crazy Rich Asians was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, a prize that went to Black Panther, another film that like CRA disproved Hollywood's belief that films with nonwhite themes and casts could not be successful.

SCREEN CAPTURE 

Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Ken Jeong and Constance Wu introduced a clip from 'Crazy Rich Asians.'

_________________________________________________________________________________

Asian American actors await SAG awards this Sunday

Some of the cast members of 'Crazy Rich Asians.'

LEADING UP to the Oscars in February, the Screen Actor's Guild awards later today, Sunday, Jan. 27, with a host of Asian American thespians among the nominees.

If the results of the Golden Globes and Critics Choice awards are any indication, Sandra Oh and Darren Criss will most likely walk away with trophies.

Oh is nominated as Best Actress in a Drama Series for her work in BBC America's  detective thriller, Killing Eve, a category she captured for the Golden Globes and Critics Choice awards. Criss won those plaudits, along with an Emmy, for his portrayal of serial killer Andrew Cunanan in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace that was shown on the FX network.

Darren Criss and Sandra Oh.

The big question is if the actors of Crazy Rich Asians get the nod for Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture.

If the Crazy Rich Asians cast wins the SAG award, it would have to be a upset considering the heavyweight competition in that category. 

CRA faces stiff competition from the ensemble casts of BlacKkKlansman, Black Panther, Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star Is Born. Crazy Rich Asians and Black Panther are the only nominated ensembles that didn’t receive an individual acting bid, which could end up hurting their chances. 

What might help the CRA actors is that unlike the Academy Awards, where none of the cast received any acting nominations, television actors vote for their favorites. Except for international star Michelle Yeoh, most of the CRA cast are more familiar for their work on the small screen. Constance Wu (Fresh Off the Boat), Gemma Chan (Humans), and Ken Jeong (Community, Dr. Ken), Harry Shum, Jr (Glee, Shadowhunters) are or have been television regulars. Even the legendary Yeoh has quickly gained a following for her recent work in Star Trek: Discovery.

In addition, the cast already picked up a notable win at the Critics’ Choice Awards for the Best Comedy Film but CRA's actors lost to the cast of The Favourite, for best ensemble. Crazy Rich Asians also reaped nominations for Best Comedy/Musical Film and Best Comedy Actress for Wu at the Golden Globe Awards and Yeoh was nominated as Best Supporting Actress.

Crazy Rich Asians cast members celebrate at the Critics Choice awards.

We also have to take into account the current climate in Hollywood that seems to be opening up opportunities for Asian American actors and Asian-centric projects that have been bolstered by the success of Crazy Rich Asians and follow-up acclaim and popularity for John Cho's work in the feature, Searching, and Lana Condor in the Netflix favorite, For All the Boys I've Ever Loved.

The Crazy Rich Asians cast is the first all-Asian cast to lead a Hollywood film in 25 years so an ensemble win would make a powerful statement to the motion picture and TV industry, especially since historically, actors of Asian descent have been under-appreciated or even overlooked entirely. 

One other factor that may work in CRA's  favor, aside from its cultural impact, the cast may benefit from being in a feel-good, crowd-pleasing movie that many people are in need of right now, given the current political climate in the country; it’s a movie that resonates with a wide range of people beyond Asian American movie-goers, one of the most loyal film audiences according to a recent Nielsen survey.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards airs live on Sunday, Jan. 27, at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on TBS and TNT.
________________________________________________________________________________

'Top Chef' favorite Fatima Ali succumbs to cancer

FATIMA ALI, 1990-2019

Fatima Ali, the Pakistan-born chef died after her nearly year-long battle against cancer.
A contestant in the Top Chef show's Season 15 that aired earlier this year, she finished iseventh out of 15 chefs but her personality won over the audiences and was voted Fan Favorite on the Bravo network show hosted by Indian American personality Padma Lakishmi.

The network released this statement Saturday (Jan. 26): "Bravo's Top Chef family, we are deeply saddened to share the news that Fatima Ali has lost her courageous battle with cancer. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time. People not only fell in love with her cooking, but fell in love with her personality and heart. We hope that the beautiful memories shared with her will provide comfort to everyone who knew and loved her."

The 29-year old Ali left her Pakistani hometown at age of 18 and moved to New York to pursue her dream of becoming a professional chef.

She enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America and scored her first job as a junior sous chef at Café Centro in New York. She eventually became the youngest executive sous chef at Macy's Stella 34, and later became executive sous chef at La Fonda Del Sol.

Ali was first diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, back in late 2017, as that season of Top CheF was just starting to air. The chef had declared herself cancer-free this past summer but revealed that it was back in the fall.

By the summer of 2018, she said she was cancer-free. But in October she wrote an essay for Bon Appetitt that her cancer had returned "with a vengence" and had been given less than a year to live.

Two weeks ago, she posted on social media that her health was declining.

“Right now all I need are prayers; prayers that are simple,” she continued. “I hope, because a wish is putting on too much responsibility on the other, that you will somehow find forgiveness in your big heart for whenever I must have hurt you. I thank you a million times over for when you have given me joy.”

Last week, many of Ali’s Top Chef friends gathered in Los Angeles to show support during what were some of her final days.

INSTAGRAM / CHRIS SCOTT

Friday, Lakshmi, cancelled a Facebook Live event "for personal reasons." The Top Chef host posted:

_________________________________________________________________________________

Kamala Harris gets an action figure .. and Trump, too

FCTRY

These days, you haven't really "arrived" until you have your own action figure.

In a press release, Brooklyn-based company FCTRY has announced the release of an action figure in the likeness of California's Senator Kamala Harris, reports The Hill.

FCTRY boasts that the 6-inch Harris figures are “a perfect size for all uses” whether “you want to keep her on your desk for all to see, or bring her to your next Senate hearing.”

The doll-maker's timing couldn't be more perfect. Last week, the California Democrat announced her candidacy for the White House in 2020. 

“Think of the impact California has had on our culture,” FCTRY CEO Jason Feinberg said in a statement about the company’s Harris doll, according to the American Bazaar. “Same-sex marriage. Computers, of course. Movies. Even small things like avocado toast! As a proud New Yorker, it’s a little hard to admit this, but California always figures things out a bit before the rest of us.”

“Right now it’s hard to look at Kamala Harris and not get that same sense,” Feinberg said.

The Harris action figure won't be available until spring, says the FCTRY release, but the doll manufacturer is taking pre-orders.

FCTRY

Earlier this month, the Brooklyn-based manufacturer announced the release of its special counsel Robert Mueller, the special counsel, who’s investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. 

It’s also fashioned figurines bearing the likenesses of Harris’s fellow 2020 White House contender Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former President Obama. 

Not to be left out, the current president has an “Evil Trump” figure — complete with a pointed middle finger — made in his image during the 2016 campaign. Ironically, the Trump dolli is the company's best seller for more than one reason.

The company says the $20 Trump figure — which features removable hair, “Twitter-sized hands” and “sturdy and durable shoes for stepping on feelings” — was originally crafted as a way to mock the then-GOP presidential candidate.

“Following the (2016) election, sales surged, and it became clear that a growing number of customers were Trump supporters,” FCTRY said in a news release.

“When the immigration ban went into effect, it became clear,” FCTRY founder Jason Feinberg wrote in a recent Medium post, “If we want to stand for something, we must take nothing.”

“So, as of today, we are giving 100% of the profits from our Trump Action Figures to the ACLU,” Feinberg wrote, adding that the company is seeking out other nonprofit organizations “working to hinder the darkest parts of Trump’s agenda.” Thus far, the company has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the civil rights organization.
______________________________________________________________________________