AANHPI communities have benefited in Year One of the Biden Presidency

WHITE HOUSE

President Biden and Vice President Harris met with leaders from the AANHPI communities.

A year ago this week, President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, facing a divided country, a global pandemic and an economy under severe stress. 

In just one year, the AANHPI communities have received an unprecedented amount of attention from any White House and have greatly benefited from the programs, policy decisions and appointments created by President Biden's leadership and awareness of issues and concerns facing the AANHPIs, including the wave of hate directed at the diverse communities of AANHPIs. 

The Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities recognized early on that this administration would be different and more responsive to their needs and concerns than other administrations with the selection of Kamala Harris as Vice President, who is of Black and Indian American heritage.

Starting in the first week and during the ensuing months, Biden's administration moved quickly to deliver results for the AANHPI communities and has kept women and families at the center of it's agenda.  

Although the AANHPI communities expressed disappointment and concern that no Cabinet Secretary is of AANHPI heritage, community leaders have been appeased and pleased with the appointment of top decision-makers have been appointed to key positions in the Biden government.

Biden-Harris administration advances equity, opportunities for AAPI

This list of senior officials includes United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Rohit Chopra, Surgeon General of the United States Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy, Chair of the Federal Trade Commission Lina Khan, Director of the Office of Personnel Management Kiran Ahuja, and Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Rahul Gupta.

The President has also taken action to ensure diversity is emphasized throughout the administration: 15% of all agency appointees are AA and NHPI, far exceeding their 7% share of the total U.S. population.  In the White House itself, 17% of all staff and 26% of the President’s commissioned officer staff identify as AANHPI. 

Native Hawaiian leadership of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. In May, President Biden appointed Krystal Ka’ai to serve as the Executive Director of the Initiative. Ka’ai is the first Native Hawaiian to serve as head of the WHIAANHPI.

Nominating AANHPIs to Federal judicial positions might be the best example of Biden's determination to make sure that the federal judiciary reflects the country's increasingly diverse population. 

The Biden-Harris Administration has nominated 16 AA and NHPI federal judicial nominees so far, which represents 18 percent of all federal judicial nominees. This includes several historic appointments, nine of whom have been confirmed by Congress, including:

• Lucy Haeran Koh (9th Cir.), the first Korean American woman to serve on any federal appeals court.

• Jennifer Sung (9th Cir.), the first Asian American judge from Oregon on the Ninth Circuit.

• Angel Kelley (D. Mass), who, at the time of her confirmation, was the second African American judge and the second Asian American judge actively serving on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

• Zahid N. Quraishi (D.N.J.), the first ever Muslim American federal judge in the United States and the first Asian American judge in the District of New Jersey.

• Sarala Vidya Nagala (D. Conn.), who, at the time of her confirmation, was the only woman of South Asian descent on the District of Connecticut.

• Regina M. Rodriguez (D. Colo.), the first Asian American to serve as a district judge in the state.

• Florence Y. Pan (D.D.C.), the first Asian American woman on the district court for the District of Columbia.

• Tana Lin (W.D. Wash.), the first Asian American federal judge in the Western District of Washington, which is particularly notable since Asian Americans are the largest minority group in Seattle, comprising approximately 14% of the city’s population. Lin was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the United States at age 3.

• Shalina D. Kumar (E.D. Mich.), the first federal judge in Michigan of South Asian descent.

• John Chun (W.D. Wash.), who, if confirmed, would be the first Asian American man on the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, and just the second Asian American federal judge to serve in the district.

• Jinsook Ohta (S.D. Cal.), who is the first Asian American woman to ever sit on the Southern District of California bench.

• Dale E. Ho (S.D.N.Y.), who, if confirmed, would be just the third Asian American federal judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the only AA or NHPI man actively serving on that court.

• Cindy K. Chung (PA-W) was sworn in as the first Asian American person to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

• Robert Huie (S.D. Cal.), who, if confirmed, would be the third Asian American ever to serve on the Southern District of California.

• Judge Nina Wang (D. Colo.), who, immigrated from Taiwan as a child and, if confirmed, would be the second Asian American to serve on the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.

• Nusrat Choudhury (E.D.N.Y). who, if confirmed, would be the first Bangladeshi-American, the first Muslim American woman, and only the second Muslim-American person to serve as a federal judge.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.