Irrfan Khan: 'Slumdog Millionaire' and 'Life of Pi' actor dies

Irrfan Khan, 1967-2020

ASAM NEWS

Irrfan Khan, a veteran Hollywood and Bollywood actor, has died at the age of 53, NBC Chicago reports.

Khan passed away on Wednesday after being admitted to Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital with a colon infection. He had been diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer in 2018 but appeared to recover from it.

Khan was born on Jan. 7 1967, to Saeeda Begum and Yaseen Khan in Rajasthan, India, The New York Times reports. He was one of four children.

In the 1980s, Khan began his career playing small roles on Indian television, according to The New York Times. His film debut came in 1988 with a small role Salaam Bombay!, an Academy Award-nominated film, Rolling Stone reports. He would go on to star in dozens of Bollywood films. I

Khan would make his mark on American cinema in 2007, with his role in the English language Bollywood film The Namesake. In 2008, he played a police detective in Slumdog Millionaire. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture. He would go on to star in films like Life of Pi, The Amazing Spiderman, Jurassic World and Inferno, the sequel to The DaVinci Code.

Actors and world leaders have taken to social media to honor Khan’s life and work.

Mindy Kaling, one of Hollywood’s most prolific Indian American entertainers, called Khan her “favorite actor” and praised the “subtlety and sensitivity” in his performances.

“Irrfan Khan’s demise is a loss to the world of cinema and theatre,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote in a tweet. “He will be remembered for his versatile performances across different mediums. My thoughts are with his family, friends and admirers. May his soul rest in peace.”

Khan is survived by his wife Sutapa Sikdar and their two sons.

Cornavirus devastates two Filipino American families of healthcare workers

TAPIRU FAMILY

Luis II Tapiru, left, and his parents Josephine and Luis, Sr., Tapiru.

It is not unusual for family members to follow other relatives into similar careers. This tendency has devastated two Filipino families that chose jobs in the healthcare field.

Josephine Tapiru, a nurse, and her husband Luis, Sr., who was also a part-time caregiver, were fighting for their lives at AMITA Health St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, Illinois, when their son, Luis Tapiru, 20, died of the virus alone in his apartment on April 10.

Four days later, Josephine Tapiru, 56, who worked as a nurse at a nursing home, succumbed to the virus.

On April 16, Luis Sr. was informed of the deaths of his son and wife. Doctors waited until he was off a ventilator before telling him.

“He was in shock. He was in tears. He couldn’t believe it,” said the family’s other son, Justin Tapiru, 28, who helped deliver the news via FaceTime from Canada, where he lives.

CORONAVIRUS

• Nurse dies a week short of retirement
• 4 more healthcare workers fall

Originally from the Philippines, the Tapirus moved to Chicago from Gatineau, Quebec, about 13 years ago. Other family members, including Josephine Tapiru's mother, still live in Canada.

Those Canadian relatives knew the younger Luis, a student at Harold Washington College, was alone in the family's condo and checked in on him frequently. On April 13, Luis II told his brother Justin and grandmother that he felt fine.

However, the grandmother could sense Luis II wasn't feeling well and told him to go the hospital. Follow-up phone calls went unanswered. The next day, when police responded to a request for a well-being check, the deceased Luis II was found on his couch.

Friends in Canada established a GoFundMe campaign to help defray funeral expenses.

PABATAO FAMILY

Healthcare workers Alfredo and Susan Pabatoa died within days of each other.

Earlier, the coronavirus claimed the lives of both Alfredo and Susana Pabatoa, a New Jersey couple. Alfredo, 68, was a medical transporter, while Susana, 64, was an assistant nurse at a nursing home. They died in March, within days of each other.

Alfredo Pabatoa died first on March 26 at Hackensack Meridian Health Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, N.J.

A few floors away, his wife of 44 years was also battling the virus. When her daughter, Sheryl Pabatoa told Susana about her husband's death, Susana seemed resigned, said Sheryl Pabatoa. She asked her daughter to locate her "Do Not Resuscitate" paperwork so she could sign it.

Sheryl and her siblings debated whether they should ask the physicians to remove the breathing tube at their mother’s wish, but ultimately decided to let her fight the virus.

Four days later, she died.

“She tried to fight. But she had no progress or regression. We were probably just keeping her alive," Sheryl Pabatao said.

The Pabataos were neighbors in the Philippines. They got married in 1976 and immigrated to the US in 2001.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Hospitals' and states' reluctance to keep records of the race of those who have died from coronavirus has made it difficult to obtain the true toll of AAPI who have fallen to the pandemic. Views From the Edge has had to rely on local publications to find out the identities and ethnicity of the COVID-19 victims.

COVID-19 takes life of JACL leader

LILLIAN KIMURA, 1929-2020

Lillian Kimura, the first woman to be elected National President of the Japanese American Citizens League. She was 91 years old.

According to her niece, Margaret Golden, Kimura’s death on April 23 was the result of COVID-19. She was living in New Jersey at the time of her death.

“I am deeply saddened upon hearing the news about Lillian’s passing. Lillian struck me as an extremely kind and generous person from the day we met at the EDC/MDC Bi-District Council meeting in 2007," said David Lin, JACL National President 2012-2016

"She encouraged me to serve and she mentored and coached me when I was on the National Board. And above all, she inspired me to dedicate my service to the JACL just as she had.”

Throughout her career, Kimura was a tireless advocate for civil rights through all of her work at the YWCA where she rose to the position of Associate Executive Director. 

The year of her election to the JACL leadership opened the door for resolutions condemning sexual harassment, supporting family leave, and supporting a woman’s right to choose abortion. Over the next two years, JACL increasingly supported gay rights including the right to serve in the military, culminating in a 1994 resolution supporting gay marriage.

“Lillian was a force of nature. She became JACL National President at a time when few women had broken through the glass ceiling to lead national civil rights organizations," said Karen Narasaki, former President and Executive Director of AAJC. Narasaki worked for JACL in the Washington office during Kimura's reign. 

"I learned a lot about leadership from watching her. She was one of the women executives at the YWCA that ensured that issues at the intersection of race and gender were a priority and that Asian American girls were included at the table.," Narasaki recounted.

"She had an inclusive vision of a multicultural democracy and a strong sense of the role JACL could and should play in helping to build it. Under her leadership, JACL became the first major national civil rights group of color to endorse marriage equality, long before the issue got to the Supreme Court. The nation has lost another woman warrior for equality.”

At the age of 13, Kimura and her family were incarcerated at the Manzanar WRA Center in California. Afterward her family moved to Chicago, where her long association with the YWCA began. 

Kimura attended the University of Illinois, where she earned a degree in social work and eventually moved to New York to work for the YWCA at the national level.

Kimura’s passing comes in quick succession to the loss of Helen Kawagoe, JACL’s only other female National President, and Irene Hirano Inouye, founding President/CEO for the Japanese American National Museum and the US-Japan Council. 

Carol Kawamoto, who served on the National Board with Kimura as the Pacific Southwest District Governor, praised Kimura along with Kawagoe and Hirano Inouye, “It has been very sad to lose three very strong women, Irene Hirano Inouye, Helen Kawagoe, and Lillian Kimura…JACL and community leaders and icons who passed away so close together.”

Poll: almost a third of Americans blame China or Chinese people for the coronavirus

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A new poll finds that while the majority of Americans say the Coronavirus pandemic is a natural disaster, about 3 in 10 Americans blame China or Chinese people for the pandemic.

The survey by Center for Public Integrity/Ipsos also found that Asian Americans are the race/ethnicity most likely to say the coronavirus pandemic is a natural disaster rather than caused by a specific people or organization; 79% compared to 55% of African American and White and 51% of Hispanic respondents.

A majority of US citizens (56%) believe the coronavirus pandemic is a natural disaster, according to the poll, but Republicans (60%), retirees (51%), and those without a college education (48%) are most likely to believe that specific people or organizations are responsible for the coronavirus pandemic.

Unfortunately, because of the rhetoric from the Trump administration and Republicans' presidential campaign blaming China for the virus, among the 44% who say a specific group or organization is responsible, most blame China or Chinese people; 66% mentioned China. More specifically, 45% mentioned China or Chinese people generally, 13% say it was caused by a lab in China, and 9% blame the Chinese government.

That's bad news for Asian Americans, who are suffering a sharp rise in attacks since the coronavirus hit the US, according to private nonprofits who are recording the anti-Asian incidents and hate crimes.  More than 1500 such reports were collected by Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON), Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) and the Asian American Studies Department at San Francisco State University who launched the STOP AAPI HATE website.

"We’re already seeing an increase in physical assaults, refusal of service and vandalism,” said Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, a San Francisco-based civil rights organization helping to run the tracking effort, “despite the fact that 95 percent of Americans are sheltering in place.”

In late March, the FBI warned that it anticipated a national surge in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.

Choi worries that the assaults against Asian Americans will get worse when shelter-in-place orders are lifted and more people interact on subways, in workplaces and elsewhere. “We are preparing for worst-case scenarios,” she told NBC.

“Virulent racism isn’t a mass phenomenon,” Chris Jackson, the head of public polling at Ipsos, said. “But among Republicans particularly, there is an environment where blaming China or blaming the Chinese people is acceptable, and that is an environment that fosters more extreme acts.”

Arson suspect arrested in connection to fire at a Missouri mosque.

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Police believe the fire at the Islamic Center was arson.

ASAM NEWS

Police have arrested a suspect in connection to last week's attempt to burn down the Islamic Center of Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

Officers say 42-year-old Nicholas Proffitt of Cape Girardeau was arrested Monday. The suspect is charged with felony burglary in the 1st degree, felony arson in the 1st degree, and charged with the hate crime of property damage in the 1st degree, which is enhanced because Proffitt was motivated to commite the crime by the religion of the people who worship at the Islamic Center.

"To people of faith in our nation, houses of worship are sacred places,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. “Attacks against houses of worship are attacks against people of faith and their right to exercise their religion freely and without fear. The Justice Department will defend the right of all people in our country to exercise their religion, no matter the creed.”

The timing is especially significant because the fire was started on the first day of Ramadan, a Muslim holy month. The fire began at the front door of the building, according to the Missouri chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an advocacy group.

Twelve to 15 people were evacuated and uninjured, according to state officials. Meanwhile, the building itself was “extensively damaged,” including the front entrance and the second floor, Fire Chief Travis Hollis said.

The fire at Islamic Center of Cape Girardeau is currently being investigated by the Federal Bureau Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, as well as the state’s fire marshal, as a potential case of arson, according to Al Jazeera.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson took to Twitter to condemn the fire.

“In Missouri, we won’t tolerate an attack on any house of worship,” he said. “This was a cowardly act.”

Views From the Edge contributed to this report.

Veteran nurse dies from the coronavirus a week before she was supposed to retire

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Jhulan Banago holds a picture of his late mother, Celia Yap-Banago, during a candlelight ceremony.

A week before she was supposed to retire, a 40-year veteran nurse died after caring for coronavirus patients.

Celia Yap Banago, 69, a longtime RN who died April 21 of COVID-19 after caring for an infected patient at the Research Medical Center in Kansas City.

She contracted the virus several weeks ago and had been recovering at home while under the care of her personal physician," a hospital statement said. She seemed to be recovering and wanted to return to work but she passed away "peacefully" on April 21, said one of her sons.

Family, friends and coworkers held a candlelight vigil April 23 in the hospital parking lot to honor Banago where behind facemasks, sang a muffled version of "Amazing Grace."

“She was a great mom, I can’t stress that enough. From all my friends reaching out to me, the one thing they all say — even though most of them have never met her — is that based on your character, seeing you, your brother, how you guys interact with other people, she had to be a very strong, independent woman, an amazing woman at that based on what she does and how she lives her life,” said her son Josh Banago, 26.

Donning scrubs for 40 years and caring for people amid a global pandemic, “now we know she is a hero,” Yap-Banago’s family earlier wrote in a statement to local media.

Yap-Banago was one of many RNs at the hospital who have expressed concern over inadequate COVID-19 preparation at RMC.

Those concerns include insufficient supplies of the optimal personal protective equipment for RNs and other health care workers, delays in notifying nurses of being exposed to a suspected infected patients and staff and expected to continue reporting to work when exposed.

RN Charlene Carter says that she and Yap-Banago in late March treated a patient who was later found to have COVID-19. She says they treated the patient without N95 masks or any of the specialized protective equipment typically used when treating COVID-19 patients in intensive care units and other facilities.

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Jhulan Banago, son of Celia Yap-Banago, spoke at a candlelight rally.

“Celia was an amazing nurse that dedicated her service for countless years at Research and a dear friend to all of us,” said RMC nurse Charlene Carter. “I feel that I can speak for many nurses when I say that the loss of one of our dear fallen soldiers on the front line of this pandemic is more than devastating, it is a wake-up call.”

Across the US dozens of RNs have died from COVID-19, thousands more have been infected. Yap-Banago was the sixth Filipino nurse to die from the deadly virus known to Views From the Edge.

As of this Tuesday morning, there are over 1-million cases of coronavirus resulting in almost 57,000 deaths. By 2014, 27 US healthcare workers have died.

Pascaline Muhindura, a nurse and union representative who has been treating COVID-19 patients at RMC, says despite Yap-Banago's death, there have been no significant improvements in the availability of safety supplies in recent weeks.

“We honor the life and career of Celia who gave so much of herself for her patients,” said NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, a Filipino American RN. “No nurse, no health care worker, should have to put their lives, their health, and their safety at risk for the failure of hospitals and our elected leaders to provide the protection they need to safely care for patients.”

111-Year-Old activist who lived through the Chinese Exclusion Act dies from COVID-19

ASAM NEWS

Foon Hay Lum is a renowned and well respected Chinese Canadian activist who at 111 years old passed away from COVID-19 on the evening of April 24 at the Mon Sheong Homes for the Aged. 

Lum is one of Canada’s oldest women and her life is a legacy of work advocating for the empowerment of Chinese Canadians.

Lum was instrumental in securing an apology and compensation from the Canadian Government in 2006 for all Chinese Canadians who paid the head tax, with the then Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper making an apology in the House of Commons. Lum herself was in the House of Commons on that momentous that day to personally witness the apology being made. She lived through the Canadian Chinese Exclusion Act 1923 which caused her to be separated from her husband for more than 30 years. Sadly, her death sees her final separation from her family due to the ban on visitors to long-term-care homes, and she wasn’t able to be with her family.

Lum spent most of her life talking about issues of racism and was not afraid to get real about it, as former National President for the Chinese Canadian National Council Amy Go stated (via The Star). This is an organization, which Lum was a founding member.

“Many people felt embarrassed and ashamed and didn’t want to talk about racism. But this was never a problem for her.

“You have to remember what generation she was a part of,” said Go. “That strength she had to name something that was wrong and to take action, that for me was amazing courage.”

Lum’s life reads like a story of love, loss, regret and then new beginnings. Her life of activism for the betterment of Chinese Canadians started when she was 60-years old. 

Born in 1908 in Xinhui, Guangdong, China, Lum married Chinese Canadian immigrant Nam Jack Lum when she was 18, when Nam Jack returned to China to find a bride. 

Due to the Chinese Exclusion Act 1923, Lum couldn’t follow her husband Nam Jack who had to return to Canada to keep his immigration status. This legislated racism against the Chinese ended in 1947. 

However, Nam Jack had to work hard in a Toronto laundry and it it took him another seven years before he saved up enough to return to China to reunite with Lum and they stayed together in Xinhui for three years where they had two children. He then had to return to Canada again and it was another 2-3 more years before Lum and her two kids could migrate to Canada to be fully reunited as a family. This took 33 years all up. 

Sadly, 12 years after the family was reunited in Toronto, Nam Jack passed away. Over their 45-year marriage, that 12 years was their longest period together.

AAPI celebrities join Andrew Yang's "We Are All American" video

ASAM NEWS

A who’s who of Hollywood celebrities participated in a new video sponsored by Andrew Yang’s new nonprofit, Humanity Forward.

Its simple message: We are all Americans.

The video, being spread on social media platforms, highlights the xenophobia and racism faced by Asian Americans, the higher rates of Blacks and Latinos dying from the coronavirus pandemic and the lower rate of COVID-19 testing these groups receive.

Humanity Forward also says Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders make up 16% of those contacting a crisis text line about coronavirus. That’s three times their proportion of their population in the United States.

Participating Asian American celebrities include Daniel Dae Kim, Hasan Minhaj, Lisa Ling, Olivia Munn, Prabal Gurung, Phillip Lim, Laura Kim, George Takei and Taylor Rapp.

Multicultural artists and athletes include Dave Chappelle, Noah Centineo, Marcellus Wiley, Megan Rapinoe, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Sara Silverman, Michael Strahan, Alyssa Milano, John Leguizamo, Joel McHale, Fat Joe, Sophia Bush, Jay Williams, Richard Marx, Teri Hatcher, Sue Bird, and Pamela Adlon.

Politicians and activists include Andrew Yang, Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Amy Klobuchar, former Congressman Beto O’Rourke and TV host & activist Van Jones.

Founders of the campaign are Jack Dorsey (Twitter, Square), Mark Cuban and Arianna Huffington.

Andrew Yang attracted the wrath of Asian Americans after he wrote an opinion piece for the Washington Post telling AAPI that the best way to combat the wave of anti-Asian hatred is to prove their "American-ness."

The video comes out as the more and more Asian Americans are being attacked and blamed for the coronavirus pandemic.

Views From the Edge contributed to this report.

GOP's anti-China message could spur more attacks on Asian Americans

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A GOP memo laid out the Republican strategy to blame China for the coronavirus outbreak which caused the US economic downturn, the rise of the unemployed, and the frstrations Americans feel for the stay-at-home mandates intended to slow the spread of the virus.

"Don’t defend Trump, other than the China Travel Ban — attack China," suggests the memo obtained by Politico.

On April 12 Views From the Edge posted a warning about the apparent anti-China theme of the GOP's campaign strategy. Unfortunately, the warning has become a flashing red llight for AAPI communities, already wary from being blamed for the coronavirus and the resulting splurge of anti-Asian assaults. 

In its advice to Republican candidates this November, the memo suggests that "No one is blaming Chinese Americans."

"This is the fault of the Chinese Communist Party for covering up the virus and lying about it’s danger. This caused the pandemic and they should be held accountable. ... No one has suffered more from the murderous Communist Chinese Party dictatorship than the people of China. We stand with them against their corrupt government that caused this pandemic," candidates are advised to say.

A Trump PAC's first campaign ad released earlier this month accuesed Joe Biden, Trump's probable Democratic challenger, of being soft on China.

Despite denials from the GOP, in stirring up the hate from some of the Trump supporters, the anti-China sentiment is being translated into a startling rise in attacks on Asian Americans, with one website recording 1500 hate incidents in just a month when the website began accepting reports of anti-Asian assaults.

Trump's critics fear that the anti-China messaging will spur some of his followers, who cannot distinguish between China and Chinese Americans, will increase the attacks against Americans of Chinese descent,. An FBI report has warned. that the attacks would increase as the coronavirus impacts the American way of life.

The Republican decision to move in this direction is on top of the strained relations caused by a trade war between the US and China and a US clampdown on Chinese researchers working in the US and allegations of massive industrial spying by Chinese agents.

A report from L1ght, a company that specializes in measuring hate online, suggests there has been a 900% growth in hate speech towards China and Chinese people on Twitter.

With growing US-China tensions and fears of Chinese espionage, we hear clearly from our members that Asian Americans, especially those who work in the STEM fields, are facing an increasingly hostile environment where our loyalty is being consistently and unfairly challenged," said H. Roger Wang, chair of the Committee of 100, made up of prominent Chinese Americans.

Samoan American QB drafted No. 5 by NFL's Dolphins

Tua Tagovailoa celebrates his Samoan heritage after an Alabama win.

Samoan American Tua Tagovailoa should have been the No. 1 pick in the National Football League's draft. Instead, the Miami Dolphins used their first round pick him as the No. 5 overall pick.

An injury riddled year -- two ankle surgeries and a dislocated hip -- cost the U. of Alabama quarterback the top spot.

The medical concerns are valid, and the reality is he will be walking onto a team with a questionable offensive line.

“I tell you what, it’s been a dream. It’s been a dream to have an opportunity like this,” Tagovailoa said on draft day.

RELATED: Samoan Americans chase the American Dream through football

Tagovailoa slipped into the spotlight in the national championship game two years ago. Trailing at the half, Alabama's coach put him and Tagovailoa was able to rally his team including a last-minute game-winning pass making him the first Samoan quarterback of a national champion team.

in 2018 he was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, college football's best player but lost out to Korean American quarterback Kyle Murray.

Tagovailoa went to Saint Louis School in Honolulu and went to one of the top football programs in the nation.

Tua Tagovailoa's parents and siblings moved to Alabama from Hawaii.

His family move with him.

It was a difficult decision, but Tua’s parents decided to move the family from Hawaii to be with Tua in Alabama. This also meant Tua’s younger brother would finish his high school football career in Alabama, and his sister would go to school there as well.

His brother wlll also play for Alabama as a quarterback.Entering the NFL, Tagovailoa  follows the footsteps of Marcus Mariota, another Hawaii quarterback, who succeeded at the Univeristy of Oregon who now plays for the Tennessee Titans.

“It’s not just big for me, it’s for my family as well," Tagovailoa said. "I just want to thank the fans for the love and support but I also want to thank you know owner Steven Ross, I want to thank Chris Greer and head coach, Coach Flores for giving me this opportunity to play for Miami.”

Sunday Read: Covid-19 takes the spotlight away from the US Census

If not for the coronavirus pandemic and the anti-Asian hate spawned by it, the US Census currently underway would be the big story in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

When Census Day arrived, the official launch of the Constitutionally mandated tally, it was buried under the daily news about the rapid spread of the virus, number of cases and how many have died.

Because of the social and economic impact of the virus changing the way we go about our lives, the Census count has taken a back seat in the efforts by community groups to spread the word about how important the count is.

No one planned on a once-in-lifetime global pandemic. Years of planning of going out door-to-door went, well, out the door. Instead the community groups the Census was depending on for that personal touch have moved to other strategies to reach out. 

Telephone banking and text-a-thons have replaced door knocking. The cities hard-hit by the coronavirus like New York City have moved their advertising campaign for the subways to TV and online ads.

The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus sent a letter Tuesday to the Census Bureau, urging it to pump up paid outreach advertising and address long wait times at census call centers, among other things

Typically, the door-to-door efforts have played a key role in remnding much of the public to fill out the questionnaire. But without extensive physical outreach, Democrats and voting rights advocates warn the result could be an undercount of populations that can’t be easily reached online — including low-income households, immigrant and minority communities and homeless individuals.

The AAPI communities made up largely of first-generation immigrants, have historically been difficult to count due an inherent distrust in government.

In Queens, NYC, which has a large AAPI population, just 1 in 4 people have so far completed the Census survey, so far, according to Chuck Park of the MinKwon Center for Community Action

“We are concerned the count will remain low due to illness in the family, loss of life, loss of income, loss of a job, and fear of losing one's home, which all make over-the-horizon thinking and civic participation ever the more daunting," said Annetta Seecharran, executive director of Chhaya Community Development Corporation,one of the community nonprofits reaching out to the New York City AAPI.

A study done by AAPI Data found that only 55 percent of Asian American said they were extremely, or very likely, to fill out the census form, compared to 69 percent of white respondents, 65 percent of Latino respondents and 64 percent of black respondents, respectively. 

That same study found that 41 percent of Asian Americans said they were concerned that the census would be used against them, compared to just 16 percent of white respondents.

Because the coronavirus has affected outreach, the Census Bureau has extended the response deadline from August 15 to Oct. 31. The Census plans to reactivate field offices June 1. 

Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, whose department oversees the Census Bureau, said they are seeking approval from Congress to delay the deadline for delivering state population counts used for apportionment — the process of carving up congressional districts — from the end of this year to the end of April 2021.

The Census results will affect our political representation, the disbursement of $1.5 trillion of federal funds for our physical infrastructure, education, social services and health. The collected data will have impacts on our job opportunities, career advancement, housing and how we are valued and seen in the marketplace.

As of Saturday (April 25), slightly less than 53% of the households have answered the 12-question Census form online or by phone. A paper questionnaire will be mailed to those who haven't answered.

AAPIVote, which produced the accompanying videos, is also providing language assistance is available for some languages. The online questionnaire and telephone assistance are available in Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Russian, Arabic, Tagalog, Polish, French, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and Japanese.

In addition, the nonprofit, one of several contracted with the Census to conduct outreach within the AAPI communities specifically, will launch a media advertising campaign working with over 175 local AAPI ethnic press across the country to promote census participation. This is to fill a gap that is left by the U.S. Census who is only advertising in certain markets in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese and Filipino ethnic press.

Analysis: Trump's "pause" on immigration, could be a step to further limits

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Stephen Miller uses the pandemic to implement part of Trump's anti-immigrant policies.

Donald Trump used the coronavirus pandemic as a cover for his racist goal of limiting immigration to the US when he signed an executive order shutting the door on all immigrants waiting for a visa to come to the US to pursue the opportunities the country has to offer.

The temporary 60-day "pause," is a step in Trump's overall goal of ensuring the top social, economic and political power and privilege is reserved for the white majority since the day  European refugees, treasure seekers and adventurers began taking land from the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

To be sure, no administration official stated those goals in such blunt language, but that was the essential message from Stephen Miller, the chief policy advisor of Trump's immigration agenda, when he spoke on a conference call with a group of like-minded allies Thursday (April 23), according to the New York Times.
Others didn't mince words.

Trump is "using a pandemic to stoke xenophobia and encourage more anger, all to change the conversation away from his failed coronavirus response," said California's Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

"Banning immigration does not produce more masks or protective equipment. It does not improve testing. And it does not help our supply lines, where immigrants are disproportionality essential. The President should stop playing politics and instead focus on the policies our country needs to weather this crisis,” continued Chu.

Trump’s decision to suspend immigration because of the coronavirus is the beginning of a broader strategy to reduce the flow of foreigners into the the country Stephen Miller, whose past emails reveal his belief in white supremacist values, told a group of conservative allies on Thursday.

“The first and most important thing is to turn off the faucet of new immigrant labor — mission accomplished — with signing that executive order,” Miller told, according to an audio recording of the conference call obtained by The New York Times.

For 60 days, US embassies would stop issuing green cards to would-be immigrants. That would have a severe impact on some Asian countries such as The Philippines and India, which have decades-long waiting lists for the coveted visa.

In order to make the order more palatable to the anti-immigrant but pro-business listerers on the other end of the call, the mandate would exclude those workers who are considered "essential" in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

That would mean doctors and nurses could still come to the US to care for Covid-19 patients; but it also means farm workers needed to harvest the produce, cut up the meat, raise the chickens would also be allowed into the US.

"Millions of immigrants are currently risking their lives in front line jobs during this crisis to keep our country safe. For instance, immigrants make up 27.9% of doctors and surgeons in the U.S. and 23.8% of the nurses and home aides," said Chu. 

The definition of "essential" is open to wide interpretation. Fox News' Ainsley Earhardt, co-host for the right-wing Fox & Friends, will apparently be allowed to keep her immigrant au pair, because her job is "essential" in disseminated the conservative ideology of Fox and Trump.

Trump disguised his anti-immigrant rule as a benefit to the record-number of unemployed due to the stay-at-home policies put in place by several governors to fight the spread of the virus.

"It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrants — labor flown in from abroad," Trump said. "We must first take care of the American worker — take care of the American worker."

But Miller made it clear that the temporary order could be expanded to include more job classifications and depending on how long the coronavirus continues to plague the US way of life, the order could be extended.

He pointed out that by implementing the "pause," the policy would stop what conservatives call "chain migration," wherein immigrants can apply for relatives to join them in the US. Family reunification has been a key element of the 1965 Immigration Reform Law that did away with the immigration policies that favored immigrants from European countries.

“When you suspend the entry of a new immigrant from abroad, you’re also reducing immigration further, because of the chains of follow-on migration that are disrupted,” Miller said on the recording as reported by the NY Times. “So the benefit to American workers compounds with time.”
"Congress designed our immigration system around the value that families deserve to be together, and family-based immigration is responsible for many of the strong, vibrant, and diverse Asian American communities today," said Asian American Advancing Justice in a statement.

"As 92% of Asian Americans are immigrants or the children of immigrants, Asian American communities will be greatly impacted by this ban. US citizens and lawful permanent residents will not be able to reunify with their parents, adult children, and siblings."

“Trump’s new immigration ban is an attempt to distract from his failed response to COVID-19 and manipulates the pandemic to justify his and Stephen Miller’s white nationalist agenda," the AAAJ statement continued. 

Anti-Asian hate attacks explode to 1500 in only a month

SCREENCAPTURE

San Francisco school nurse Kyle Navarro says a white man spit on him and called him a “gook” as he tried to
deliver prescriptions to a family shut in by the stay-at-home order.

In the month since civil rights organizations have been collecting the data, there have been almost 1500 incidents of attacks against Asians and Asian Americans related to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The volume of incident reports continues to be concerning. But, beyond the sheer numbers, we hear the impact of hate in the pain, humiliation, trepidation and fear in the voices of AAPIs today,” stated Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON). 

Most of the victims were Chinese Americans, but almost every Asian ethnicity was victimized by bigots according to a report issued last week by the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON), Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) and the Asian American Studies Department at San Francisco State University who launched the STOP AAPI HATE website.

Much of the anti-Chinese and anti-Asian assaults were spurred by Donald Trump and senior members of his administration who -- when they belatedly began to realize the seriousness of the pandemic -- repeatedly referred to the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus."

Although he later stopped the practice and called on the public to stop blaming Asian Americans, the damage was done as bigots continued their attacks.

This report reviews 1,497 reports of coronavirus discrimination submitted on the website from March 19 - April 15, 2020. The following patterns emerged over the course of one month:

• Incidents from California and New York constituted over 58% of all reports.
• Civil rights violations involving workplace discrimination and being barred from businesses and transportation or refused service made up almost ten percent of all incident reports.
• Forty-four percent of incidents took place at private businesses.
• AAPI women were harassed 2.3 times more than AAPI men.
• Nine percent of respondents were AAPI seniors (over the age of 60).
• Reports came from 45 states across the nation and Washington DC.
• Even as shelter-in-place policies were implemented across much of the country and AAPIs interacted less with others, the rate of acts of racism remains alarming.

“The data reveals three trends," said Russell Jeung, Ph.D., chair and professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. 

"First, the high number of hate incidents, especially assaults, reflects the impact of China-bashing by politicians. 

"Second, high proportions of vulnerable populations--children, youth, elderly and limited-English speaking communities -- are sadly impacted. 

"Finally, combining cases of workplace discrimination and being barred from businesses indicates that Asian Americans' civil rights are being violated,” Jeung concluded. 

The groups stressed that the data they’ve amassed is just “a snapshot of what AAPIs are experiencing on a daily basis,” Cynthia Choi, the co-executive director of CAA, said in a statement, adding that “we can expect the situation to worsen as the anti-China, anti-Chinese rhetoric becomes normalized.”

California hospital reinstates nurses asking for more protective equipment

NNU PHOTO

Nurses were reinstated after asking for more protective gear to care for coronavirus patients at Providence St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, CA.

Faced with mounting public scrutiny for its suspension of 10 registered nurses who refused to care for COVID-19 patients without proper personal protective equipment, Providence Saint John’s Health Center on April 21 reinstated all the suspended nurses

The Santa Monica, California hospital still filed written warnings in their employment records, California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) announced.

While the nurses welcome the opportunity to get back to work during this pandemic, they will continue to fight for proper personal protective equipment (PPE) and stand up against the disciplinary actions. The nurses want PPE that provides airborne, droplet, and contact precautions against the virus, as required by Cal-OSHA standards.

Last week, the nurses, including two Filipino American RNs, refused to enter COVID-19 patients’ rooms without N95 respirators after doctors agreed the surgical masks provided by the hospital did not provide adequate protection and a coworker contracted the virus. After the nurses took a collective stand, the hospital opted to provide them N95 respirator masks.

“So the hospital is saying that we are suspended for refusing our assignments, but we’re not refusing our assignments," said Filipino American RN Allison Mayol. "We’re just doing our best to not work in unsafe environments, we are trying to not contract this disease. We’re trying to keep us safe, and our patients safe, and our community safe.”

Their concerns were especially heightened after a nurse on their floor, which handles COVID cases, tested positive for the virus.

“The following day, five different doctors came to tell our nurses, hey I would not go in that room without an N95 mask — so our doctors were going into the rooms to speak with the patients, treat the patients, but we were still not. At that point, nurses said I don’t feel safe going in there without an N-95 or a respirator,” Mayol told Balitang America.

“We are being disciplined for doing what was the right thing to do: protect the safety of our patients, our community, and the nurses,” said Jack Cline, RN. “After our actions, the hospital changed its policy to provide N95 respirators to RNs taking care of COVID-19 patients, but somehow they are still trying to intimidate and retaliate against us for speaking out for the critical protective equipment that we need.”