House passes two anti-immigrant bills

WHILE ALL EYES are focused on the Russia probe and Trumpcare, the U.S. House of Representatives approved two anti-immigrant bills with serious consequences for immigrant communities in the U.S., and would both undermine public safety and tear families apart. 

“These bills are riddled with constitutional violations that completely disregard the civil and human rights of immigrants.," said Lorella Praeli, director of immigration policy and campaigns for the ACLU. "Despite claims to the contrary, Kate’s Law and the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act will make our communities less safe by undermining the trust that law enforcement builds with its communities — citizen and immigrant alike. The true intent of these bills is to empower Trump’s deportation force and anti-immigrant agenda."

The bills are:

• H.R. 3003 allows the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to withhold crucial law enforcement and terrorism funding from so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that limit how their police can work with federal immigration agencies.

• H.R. 3004 expands criminal sentences for undocumented immigrants who reenter, or attempt to reenter, the U.S. It also expands the population of people who would be subject to criminal prosecution for such crimes, including individuals who seek to apply for asylum and surrender themselves at the border, as well as individuals with no criminal history.  

"Their first bill, the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, effectively declares war on American cities, law enforcement, and immigrant communities by making deporting immigrants more of a priority than protecting communities," said Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., chair of the Congresional Asian Pacific American Caucus. 

"There is abundant evidence that sanctuary and community trust policies make communities safer," agreed Asian American Advancing Justice, a coalition of five civil rights organizations. "As Arizona and Texas have shown us, forcing local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws increases racial profiling and distrust of law enforcement by communities of color."

“The second bill, Kate’s Law, is even worse," continued the AAAJ statement. "This is politically-driven legislation intended to create a fear of immigrants, even though repeated studies have shown immigrants commit fewer crimes. It goes so far that it criminalizes immigrants trying to rejoin their families or refugees fleeing violence. This is shameful."

Approximately 40 percent of all immigrants come to the U.S. from Asia, and 1.6 million of those immigrants are undocumented. Anti-immigrant policies create a climate of fear for all immigrants, regardless of status.

"Criminalizing victims of human trafficking, asylum seekers, good Samaritans, and victims of violence under the guise of safety is unacceptable," said Rep. Pramila Jayapa, D-Wash. "I reject these fear-mongering bills, and I will continue to fight to welcome the ‘huddled masses, yearning to breathe free,’ even as my Republican colleagues attempt to slam the door in their faces.”

Anti-immigrant rhetoric has been a key part of Donald Trump and his campaign and administration. His push for the a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and his executive orders limiting travel from six Muslim-dominated countries is part of creating an environment of fear to motivate his followers to support a dictator-like president.

A Pew Charitable Trust survey shows that as many as 66 percent of registered voters who supported Trump consider immigration a “very big problem,” while only 17 percent of Hillary Clinton’s supporters said the same. Seventy-nine percent of Trump supporters embrace the proposal to build a wall “along the entire U.S. border with Mexico.” Moreover, 59 percent of Trump supporters actively associate “unauthorized immigrants with serious criminal behavior.”

In Trump, his supporters find a line of talk and thinking that supports their own xenophobia and fear of the "other."

Anti-immigrant rhetoric may motivate Asian/Americans to cast ballots

Reprinted from AsAm News

REPUBLICAN DELEGATES chanted "Build That Wall" whenever the topic of immigration came up at the Republican National Convention last week. Little did they realize that
Asian/Americans are the fastest growing racial group in the United States, primarily because of immigration and "The Wall" Donald Trump is trumpeting to be built along the U.S.-Mexican border, will do very little to stem the immigration from Asia.  

To date, neither political party has successfully won over the Asian American voting bloc. Known as the “sleeping giants” in this year’s presidential election, Asian Americans may just have the potential to turn several states from red to blue, including Virginia, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, and Georgia, areas where the educated workforce and immigrant populations are growing.

A coalition of Asian American / Pacific Islander organizations, including Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ), is cultivating civic engagement and facilitating voter outreach in target areas in 25 states, reports the Washington Post. Volunteers of these nonpartisan organizations aim to increase the number of registered Asian American voters.

While many of the coalition’s volunteers have a history of political engagement, Donald Trump has provided an additional incentive for these volunteers to get out the Asian American vote. Known for his anti-immigration sentiments, Trump has struck a nerve with the Asian American community.

John Choi, a 28-year old Korean/American who grew up in Gwinnett County, Georgia, feels that he has a personal stake in this election. “I come from a family of immigrants…When I hear language and speeches and talks about policies that are anti-immigrant, it really does make me want to vote more…it makes me want to tell all my friends and family to also vote, to counter all the anti-immigration rhetoric.”

Encouraging Asian/American political participation comes with unique challenges. Christine Chen, the executive director of APIAVote explains, “Culturally, they’re coming from countries where politics are crooked, or you just don’t want to have an opinion…We’re making inroads, but there’s still a lot more work to be done … We want to shift the culture, so that way it’s normal and it’s expected you participate.”

Volunteers who can speak the native languages of these voters are uniquely able to meaningfully lower the barriers to political participation, elucidating important details like registration deadlines and articulating the importance of the vote on issues like healthcare, education, and immigration.

Sometimes, it’s as simple as making the ask. Thanh Ngo, a middle-aged Vietnamese man who had been living in the states for the past 20 years, was asked to register to vote for the very first time – and successfully persuaded – by Vietnamese American volunteer Minh Gia Nguyen.

“It’s your benefit as a citizen,” she explains. “Do it for your family, for your children’s future.”

(Views From the Edge contributed to this article.)

SURVEY: Asian/Americans are well aware of xenophobic rhetoric

Reprinted from AsAm News

A NEW SURVEY released last week by Asian Americans Advancing Justice indicates Asian Americans are taking notice of the Islamophobic and xenophobic rhetoric dominating the presidential race.

Voters were asked “if a political candidate expressed strongly anti-immigration views, but you agreed with him or her on other issues, would you still vote for that candidate or would you vote for someone else?”

Forty percent of those surveyed said they would not vote for a candidate who spouted anti-immigrant rhetoric. 35 percent said they still would with the rest either undecided or declined to state.

“The survey shows that Asian Americans are paying close attention to political discourse, and will not vote for a candidate expressing exclusionary rhetoric that only serves to separate communities. Anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim language will not win over Asian American voters,” said Mee Moua, president and executive director of Asian Americans 
Advancing Justice | AAJC. 

“Candidates on both sides of the aisle need to pay attention to our community,” she added, “but our survey continues to show that the majority of Asian American voters have not been contacted by political parties in the past year.”

The rhetoric may help explain the sharp increase of Asian Americans identifying as Democrat. The survey found a 12 point increase from 2012 to 2016.

Hillary Clinton has a 62 percent favorability rating among Asian American voters compared to 48 percent for Bernie Sanders and 19 percent for Donald Trump.

Young Asian Americans are a key demographic to watch with income inequality ranking high among their concerns. They also had the strongest reaction against exclusionary anti-immigration rhethoric.

“The Republican National Committee’s Growth and Opportunity Project signaled an interest in outreach to Asian American communities and may have partly succeeded in 2014,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, professor at University of California Riverside and director of AAPI Data. “But, harsh rhetoric by several candidates in 2015 and 2016 seems to have eroded those again and, indeed, might have made the situation even worse.”

Overall for Asian Americans, the Democrats have the advantage on the issues of the environment, racial profiling, education, social security and immigration reform.

Republicans have the advantage on terrorism.

Asian American voter registration has increased 600,000 per presidential election cycle. The number of congressional candidates from the Asian American community increased from 10 in 2010 to 40 in 2016.

“Voter outreach and education by nonpartisan organizations remains critical and 2016 is poised to be the largest mobilization effort we have seen for the AAPI community,” said Christine Chen, executive director of APIAVote.

The poll of 1,212 registered voters was conducted in English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, and Vietnamese between April 11 and May 17 of this year by landline and cellphone.

 “The survey shows key problem spots where Asian American registered voters feel that the political system is not responsive to their needs. Greater investments are needed from the campaigns and parties.”

You can read the full report here.

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