Celebrities, activists added to MTV's 'See Us Unite For Change' celebration of AANHPI Heritage Month

Olivia Munn, left, and Henry Golding, center join host Ken Jeong in the MTV celebration.

With Ken Jeong set to host, MTV's AANHPI Heritage Month celebration announced more celebrities joining the star-studded  television event.

MTV's "See Us Unite for Change" event just announced a massive expansion to their roster. With additions of Olivia Munn, Henry Golding, the Black Eyed Peas, Steven Yeun, Mike Shinoda and Sesame Street's Elmo and Alan. Additional presenters also include Chloe Bennet, Cheryl Burke, Tim Chantarangsu, James Hong, Alan Kim, Michelle Kwan, Lisa Ling and Jeremy Lin. the celebration is set to kick off on May 21st at 8 p.m. ET/PT and will include performances from Jhene Aiko, Saweetie, and Sting.

"To truly shift perceptions on a larger scale, we must come together to take a stand against discrimination, slander and violence in all of its forms, utilizing every platform and tool that we have access to," said See Us Unite campaign Executive Producer Sheila Lirio Marcelo.

"But anti-Asian hate has had a long history in this country, and to truly shift perceptions on a larger scale, we must come together to take a stand against discrimination, slander and violence in all of its forms, utilizing every platform and tool that we have access to."

"Ultimately, our culture is our greatest asset in our effort to change hearts and minds," she added.

Featuring music, comedy performances, short films, and inspirational speakers, the event will spotlight notable Asian American Pacific Islander contributions to art and media and education.

Asian American public figures and those working to combat violence against the AAPI community will also speak. Other speakers include Amanda Ngoc Nguyen, Ai-Jen Poo, Prof. Karthick Ramakrishnan and John C. Yang.

The Asian American Foundation partnered with the Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, The Henry Luce Foundation and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation to fund the event.

The goal of the event, which is a partnership between MTV Entertainment Studios and the Ford and MacArthur foundations, is to help educate its viewers about the powerful impact the AAPI community has had on American culture and help garner support against the hate and discrimination that continues to afflict the AAPI community in the wake of the pandemic, and beyond.

News of the celebration emerged amidst these ongoing acts of violence against the AAPI community. "We are outraged and deeply saddened by the escalation of hate crimes against AAPI communities and stand with them in the fight against xenophobia and bigotry," said MTV President Chris McCarthy. "Hate against one of us is hate against all of us and by working together on a global scale, we can help end this senseless violence."

"Despite these difficult times for our community, the formation of TAAF and their bold work on the See Us Unite campaign represent the best of what can emerge when we share a collective resolve for change," said actor Daniel Dae Kim, who is also on the TAAF board of directors. "They're both great signs for our future."

See Us Unite for Change will air Friday, May 21 at 8 PM EDT on MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, BET, and Nickelodeon. Click here for more information.

#StopAsianHate: Kaiser Permanente gives $5.4 million to fight back anti-Asian hate & violence

Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest nonprofit health care organization, has committed $5.4 million to combat the surge in violence against people of Asian descent and to support the rights, health, and wellness of the Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. 

Racial prejudice toward these groups predates the COVID-19 pandemic but has recently increased as pejorative connections between COVID-19 and people of Asian heritage have fueled xenophobic, anti-Asian sentiment and hate crimes.

Kaiser Permanente’s financial commitment is intended to help prevent further racist acts, provide interventions when they occur, and promote healing in communities that have been discriminated against. Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders represent 34% of Kaiser Permanente employees, and 23% of its 12.4-million-person membership.

“Kaiser Permanente recognizes the pain that many of our employees, members, and communities are experiencing due to the unacceptable increase in assaults, harassment, and hate crimes directed at people of Asian descent — including the tragic March 16 attacks in Atlanta,” said Greg A. Adams, Kaiser Permanente chair and chief executive officer. 

“As a health care organization, we understand that it is fundamentally impossible to achieve emotional or physical well-being when subjected to violence, racism, and other forms of discrimination, and so stand firmly against all forms of social injustice.”

The grant recipients include two organizations that advocate nationally for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities: Asian Americans Advancing Justice — AAJC and Stop AAPI Hate. 

According to Stop AAPI Hate, the group received reports of 3,292 incidents in 2020 involving verbal harassment, avoidance/shunning, physical assault, vandalism, and other forms of discrimination. Nearly 45% of those incidents took place in California.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice — AAJC, a national nonprofit in Washington, D.C., that advocates for the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and underserved allied communities, will assist in redistributing grant funds to community-based organizations where Kaiser Permanente operates and will work with four other independent organizations in the Advancing Justice affiliation. 

“Advancing Justice — AAJC is honored to be in partnership with Kaiser Permanente,” said John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice — AAJC. “Too often Asian American communities are overlooked because of the harmful ‘model minority’ myth or targeted because of the perpetual foreigner stereotypes that exist. This significant funding provides a robust opportunity to address anti-Asian hate through collaboration between local community organizations and a national response.”

Grant funding will be used to:

• Advance the civil and human rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders through education, advocacy, and community building
• Address misinformation and xenophobia, and increase reporting of hate targeting the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities
• Strengthen infrastructure within regional community-based organizations for preventing racist attacks, intervening when they occur, and promoting healing

These grants, approved by its board on March 10, are part of Kaiser Permanente’s broad, established commitment to improve health equity and address racism in the communities it serves. Partnering with organizations that have a trusted presence within communities is a long-standing priority for the organization. 

Editorial Comment from Views From the Edge: Kudos to Kaiser, but so much more can be done by corporations and foundations to recognize the existence of AAPI communities and to address their needs. We're not anybody's "model minority."

Biden signs executive order against xenophobia and attacks against Asian Americans & NHPI

 

WHITE HOUSE

President Joe Biden signs the executive order against xenophobia and anti-Asian bias.

The universal praise coming from the Asian American & Pacific Islander communities was tempered by an equally strong call for next steps in order to turn President Joe Biden's welcomed condemnation of xenophobia and anti-Asian hate into tangible results.

On racial equity day, Tuesday, Jan. 26, Biden signed off on a presidential memorandum acknowledging the harm caused by harassment and discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and condemning anti-Asian bias and discrimination. 

"Today, I’m directing federal agencies to combat resurgence of xenophobia, particularly against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, that we’ve seen skyrocket during this pandemic. This is unacceptable and it’s un-American," Biden remarked prior to signing the memo. "I’ve asked the Department of Justice to strengthen its partnership with the Asian American and Pacific Islander community to prevent those hate crimes."

This executive order also directs the Department of Health and Human Services and the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force to issue guidance on cultural competency, language access, and sensitivity in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring that federal agencies avoid discriminatory language. 

“This move by President Biden to recognize the extraordinary pain being felt in our communities as a result of racist attacks during the pandemic is a welcome action," said John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC. "The last four years of divisive rhetoric and blatant use of derogatory terms have put a target on the Asian American community during COVID-19 and we plan to work with the administration to find solutions to these attacks and other inequities exposed by the global pandemic and previous administration.”

"Since the beginning of the pandemic, Asian Americans have been terrified by the alarming rise in anti-Asian bigotry and hate. In fact, long before stay at home orders were put in place, Asian-owned restaurants and businesses were among the very first to lose customers due to misinformation and xenophobia associating Asian Americans with the virus.," said Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

"As the pandemic surged across the nation, Asian Americans increasingly became the targets of violent hate crimes and incidents, with over 3,000 anti-Asian incidents reported last year alone.

Biden signed four executive actions Tuesday that he wants his administer to address in regards to xenophobia, racial inequity and justice.

Beside the memorandum affecting the AAPI communities, Biden signed three other presidential memos that would:

• direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development "to take steps necessary to redress racially discriminatory federal housing policies";
• direct the Department of Justice to end its use of private prisons;
• reaffirm the federal government's "commitment to tribal sovereignty and consultation"

Linda Ng, National President of OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates expressed hope because of Biden's memos. "However, AAPI small businesses and frontline workers have not received adequate COVID-19 resources and protections. We need to see tangible action targeting the physical, mental, and economic harm being done to our communities, and furthermore dismantle the fact that AAPIs are seen as one homogenous group,” she said.

Community leaders stressed the diversity of the AAPI communities. "AANHPIs are not a monolith – we are a multicultural group with diverse needs and backgrounds," said Brendan Flores, National Chair and President, National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA).

"The Filipino American community, in many areas across the country, has been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and this past year has amplified pre-existing health disparities in our community," said Flores, who emphasized the role Filipino nurses play in caring for COVID patients and the disproportionate death rate -- almost a third of U.S. nurses deaths -- among those caregivers.

In 2020, a similar measure was introduced by Rep. Grace Meng, D- NY, which was passed in the House but never came to a vote in the GOP-controlled Senate.

"In signing his memorandum, the President said loud and clear that this intolerance against Asian Americans has no place anywhere in our country, and it underscores his commitment to lifting up and empowering those of Asian descent and tackling issues that have disproportionally impacted the Asian American community, particularly in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak," said Meng.

Biden urged to end Trump's China Initiative

President-elect Joe Biden, right, and China President Xi Jinping are not strangers.

As Donald Trump leaves Washington, Asian American community groups hopes his departure might also mean the end of the Department of Justice's "China Initiative."

A group of community organizations, advocacy groups, science associations, and individuals sent a letter to President-elect Joe Biden urging the incoming administration to end the DOJ's China Initiative, which targets Chinese and Chinese American researchers and scientists.

The letter asks that Biden take further steps to combat the pervasive racial bias and racial profiling of Asian American and Asian immigrant scientists, researchers, and students by the federal government. 

“This latest wave of xenophobia against Asian Americans and Asian immigrants follows a long history of Asian Americans and immigrants being stereotyped as “perpetual foreigners,” scapegoated, and profiled as spies disloyal to the United States,” said John C. Yang, Advancing Justice – AAJC’s president and executive director. 

“Individual cases of wrongful arrests and prosecutions of Asian American scientists and researchers along with racial rhetoric from public officials reveal that racial bias exists and has translated into real harm for the Asian American community,”  he said.

Among the signatories are people who have been directly impacted by the government’s unjust prosecutions of Asian Americans.

The letter, spearheaded by the Asian Americans Advancing Justice affiliation, Brennan Center for Justice, and APA Justice Task Force, denounces the China Initiative for discriminatory investigations and prosecutions of Asian Americans and Asian immigrants, particularly those of Chinese descent, working in fields of science.

“It is appropriate for the Justice Department to take measures to address the harms caused by agents of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) who have engaged in economic espionage and trade secrets thefts,” says the letter. “However, naming only China in a DOJ initiative ignores threats of economic espionage by other nations. The label China Initiative itself is as unacceptable as ‘China Virus’” when referring tot he coronavirus.

Many of the investigations and prosecutions under this initiative target people with any “nexus to China” rather than on evidence of economic espionage as it purports to do, which has revealed a sharp rise in the profiling and targeting of Asian American and Asian immigrant scientists and researchers.

Even after not finding any evidence of espionage, federal prosecutors are charging many Asian Americans and Asian immigrants with federal crimes based on administrative errors or minor offenses such as failing to disclose information to universities or research institutions and other activities under the pretext of combating economic espionage. 

As a result, Asian American and Asian immigrant scientists, researchers, and scholars are ensnared by overzealous prosecutions riddled with racial bias that are ruining careers and leaving lives in shambles. 

"Racial profiling has proven to be an ineffective, divisive, and counterproductive law enforcement tactic, and yet the Justice Department inexplicably still promotes its use through programs like the ‘China Initiative'," said Brennan Center fellow Michael German, a former FBI agent. 

"Pressuring all U.S. Attorneys' Offices to initiate 'China Initiative' cases compels racial, ethnic, and national origin profiling, which undermines our security and the rule of law by targeting investigations based on a person's 'nexus to China' rather than evidence of serious wrongdoing."

The letter includes a set of recommendations, which first calls for an immediate end to the China Initiative and a complete review of all prosecutions and investigations closed prior to prosecution under the initiative. 

It also urges the incoming administration to review and take measures throughout the Federal Government’s law enforcement, intelligence, and scientific research funding agencies to combat other patterns of racial bias against Asian American and Asian immigrant scientists and federal employees. 

Even with a new administration coming in, China will likely continue to be tense over a number of issues including trade, military expansionism in the Philippines Sea and the theft of intellectual properties.

"Foreign-born scientists of Chinese origin have been an integral part of American innovation and global leadership,' said Professor Steven Pei, a leader for the APA Justice Task Force. 

"Our nation can protect our scientific and research security and successfully compete in the global marketplace for international scientific talent, but not by overzealous, xenophobic targeting of top talents that ruins lives and drives them to foreign countries that have been trying to recruit them unsuccessfully."

"Basing criminal investigations on national origin and Chinese ancestry is unconstitutional and a waste of resources," said Glenn Katon, Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus Director of Litigation. 

"When the government prosecutes scientists and researchers simply so public officials can look tough, no one is made safer," continued Katon. "The Biden Administration has the chance to protect Asian Americans and Asian immigrants across this country - they should take it." 

The letter and list of organizations and individuals that signed on can be found here.

Trump wants the Census to not count undocumented

Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday barring the counting of undocumented immigrants in the 2020 Census that is currently underway.

A White House statement says, "Giving congressional representation and political influence to illegal aliens — people who have blatantly disregarded our laws — would be a perversion of our democratic principles."

It goes on to state that "allowing illegal aliens to be counted for the purpose of apportionment could also create perverse incentives — such as potentially rewarding states that encourage violations of Federal immigration law — that would undermine our system of government."

Dale Ho, an attorney with the ACLU told CBS that Trump has lost on the census before and predicted he will lose again.

“The Constitution requires that everyone in the U.S. be counted in the census. President Trump can’t pick and choose. He tried to add a citizenship question to the census and lost in the Supreme Court,” Ho said. “His latest attempt to weaponize the census for an attack on immigrant communities will be found unconstitutional. We’ll see him in court, and win, again.”

Asian Americans Advancing Justice called Trump's latest attack against immigrants "unbelievable and unconstitutional."

"This is the latest in a series of attempts to politicize the census and use it as a weapon in his anti-immigrant agenda. It is a move straight out of the white supremacists’ playbook that has every discriminatory practice to restrict the rights of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian American people,” the statement continued.

Since the first US census in 1790, both US citizens and noncitizens — regardless of immigration status — have been included in the country's official population counts.

The fifth sentence of the Constitution specifies that "persons" residing in the states should be counted every 10 years to determine each state's share of seats in the House of Representatives. The 14th Amendment, which ended the counting of an enslaved person as "three fifths" of a free person, goes further to require the counting of the "whole number of persons in each state."

“There is no end to this President’s attempts to violate the U.S. Constitution. The constitutional mandate, as upheld by the US Supreme Court, is clear. The US Census must count all persons in this country," said John C. Yang, President and Executive Director of Advancing Justice. "We cannot allow the Trump administration to weaponize the census for political gain. Without the full census data, we all will be underrepresented and under-resourced for the next ten years.”

This is not the first time the Trump administration tried to influence the Census. Last year, under the White House wanted the Census delayed because it wanted to include a question regarding a person's immigration status. The Census Bureau's own study warned  that asking that question would result in people not filling out the questionnaire. States, fearing an undercount, sued the government and the Supreme Court ruled against the question.

“It’s just plain unconstitutional to exclude anyone from the Census. These renewed efforts by the administration to deter Census completion will be met with strong resistance. We know that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are already the least likely to complete their census questionnaires, and OCA will double down our efforts to get the word out for a fair and complete count of all community members across the country," said Rita Pin Ahrens, Executive Director of OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates.

George Floyd's death solidifying AAPI support for justice and #BlackLivesMatter

The presence of former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao, a Hmng American, during the arrest and death of George Floyd, a black man, has raised a social media storm of commentary on the social media website.

As his fellow officers were holding Floyd to the ground, with former officer Derek Chauvin's knee on Floyd's neck, Thao stood between the officers and the crowd of onlookers, some of whom were recording Floyd's dying breathes and pleading for the officers to let up from the ground.

The Minnesota event has forced AAPI organizations and individuals to admit to the little discussed anti-Black bias that exists within some elements of the AAPI community.

“George Floyd’s cries of ‘I can’t breathe’ parallel the words of Eric Garner, who was killed by police in 2014. As George Floyd lay struggling to breathe, Officer Tou Thao had the opportunity and the authority to stop the situation. It is unconscionable that he chose to do nothing,” said John C. Yang, Advancing Justice | AAJC’s President and Executive Director.

“We are in a time where doing anything while Black garners unwanted attention and unnecessary law enforcement interaction – and too often death," said Yang. "We are also in a time where being Asian Americans means being harassed, attacked, and blamed for COVID-19. As many Asian Americans are speaking out about this hate, we must also show up for the African American community.”

“Racism and discrimination are experienced by every African American, Latino, Native American, and Asian American in this country. We must act against this violence and assault on our communities. It has always been time for racial solidarity, but we need to come together now more than ever.”

Author Louis Leung wrote a commentary for published in Asian Articulations:

"Let’s get this out of the way: Tou Thao is a despicable human being. M.P.D. Badge #7162 has a history of excessive brutality and a settled out-of-court case for $25,000," wrote Leung. "He’s the Asian cop in the infamous George Floyd murder video and his immoral professional choices should absolutely be condemned. The defend-Asians-no-matter-what crowd is wrong here; put the tribalism aside and sit this one out.

In his essay, novelist Leung brought up the "Anti-blackness," that threads its way through the AAPI community. "Yes, the A word. The Asian community hates hearing it. The Asian community can’t make up it’s mind to define it — is bringing awareness of black violence to innocent Asians “anti-blackness”? Is not letting our daughters date black men “anti-blackness”? Is serving black customers in our restaurants and nail salons while whispering negative presumptions about them “anti-blackness”? The answer is, well, that’s really not up for us to decide. We decide anti-Asianness, not anti-blackness.

"Please believe me when I say the Tou Thao is not a representation of us; he is the worst, the bottom 5%. The blatant killing of so many innocent black men is abhorrent to our society; being black in America should not be a death sentence. It can’t be swept under a rug of whataboutisms. Blaming Asians is a waste of valuable energy. It’s too bad the wrong Asian was in the right place to stop a crime at the right time," Leung concludes.

RELATED: A manifesto for AAPI ...

The Japanese American Citizens League sent a letter to Minneapolis Police Dept. strongly condemning the actions of the four police officers involved in Floyd's death and aligned the civil rights organization with the call for equal justice for Black Americans:

The Asian Minnesotans Against Racism and Xenophobia Collaborative an open letter published in their website.

The number of organizations signing onto this letter continues to grow. Click here for the complete letter and the updated list.

In addition, the controversial topic went viral in the twitterverse. Floyd's death at the hands of the police incensed rapper and filmmaker Ruby Ibarra and moved her to post a series of tweets :

Here's a sampling of the tweets calling for justice for George Floyd and #BlaciLivesMatter:

Report dives deep into the impact of Asian immigrants to the US

When debating the benefits of immigrants, a new report says the economic impact of AAPI immigrants cannot be overlooked.

The report released Thursday (June 13) reveals there are more than 1.1 million Asian American immigrant-owned businesses in the U.S. -- nearly three times as many as the 389,000 businesses owned by native-born Asian Americans. Over a third of all immigrant-owned businesses in the country are owned by Asian Americans.

Advancing Justice-LA (Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles) and Advancing Justice | AAJC (Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC) released a new report, "Inside the Numbers: How Immigration Shapes Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities," which details the diversity of the immigrant population within the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, including contributions to the U.S. economy. Highlights of the report was revealed in a forum held in Washington, DC.

“We have been advocating for policies that help our community, not hurt them. This report shows that long visa backlogs, constant attacks on the immigrant community, and enforcement efforts are having a negative effect in our community, but still our community is a resilient one,” said John C. Yang, President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC.

 “Growing up as an undocumented immigrant, I know how the right policies can have a positive impact and allow for immigrants and refugees in our community to more effectively contribute and even go on to become naturalized citizens and make their mark in the world.”

The report provides background on the immigration pathways that people take to come to the U.S. and analyzes key issues, such as how AAPIs are affected by current ineffective immigration policies and are suffering because of new policy proposals. From the impact of the Muslim and refugee bans and the rescission of DACA and Temporary Protected Status to the visa backlogs and long processing times to become naturalized citizens, the Asian American community is undeniably feeling the impact.

TWITTER / AAAJ

John C Yang, President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC.introduced the report.

One of the disturbing chapters of the report focuses on the high number of T-Visas given to immigrants from Asian countries. T-Visas are given to some victims of human trafficking.

In 2017, the majority of T visa recipients (246 individuals, 52 percent) were from Asian countries, says the report. The Philippines alone accounted for 40 percent of the global total of T visas issued in 2017, and India 5 percent.

A large portion of the Filipino nationals who received T visas were victims of labor trafficking. According to a United Nations study, Filipino workers are usually trafficked through illegal recruitment in which they pay high fees for the promise of nonexistent jobs or jobs that pay less than those promised. According to a Polaris report, Filipino workers on temporary nonimmigrant visas have the second-highest rates of human trafficking after Mexicans.

There are nearly 3.7 million aspiring immigrants waiting for family preference visas, and more than 40% of the people stuck in the family backlogs are from Asia. In the final section in the report, Advancing Justice | AAJC and Advancing Justice-LA share several policy recommendations:

• Pass legislation to update the family immigration system and resolve the problem of family backlogs.
• Ask Congress to defund and repeal all iterations of the Muslim Ban and prevent any future president from enacting any new, similar bans.
• Recommend the administration honor the requests of asylum seekers, without being criminalized, turned away, detained indefinitely, or separated from their families and cuts made to the enforcement, detention, and deportation budgets of ICE and CBP within the Department of Homeland Security.

In the current debate on immigration that is swirling through the country today, immigrants from Asia and their contributions to the overall welfare of the US are often not included despite the fact  The report should be must reading by Congress when proposing immigration reforms or countering the false allegations coming from the White House.

"Over 12 million Asian immigrants and 220,000 Pacific Islander immigrants live in the U.S., yet they are often overlooked in domestic policies and immigration policy," said Jeffer Giang, Research Analyst at Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles. 

"In order for our communities to thrive, we need to reduce barriers to accessing critical services and opportunities," said Glang. "This report will help policy- and decision-makers need to better understand the contributions and needs of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in this country."

To read the complete report, click here.

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Steve Bannon blames Asians for taking jobs from African Americans and Latinos

SCREEN CAPTURE / CNN

CNN host Fareed Zakaria interviewed for Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon, right

RADICAL CONSERVATIVE Steve Bannon recently took swiped at immigrants who come to America on H-1B visas, the majority of whom come from Asia. 

In an interview with Fareed Zakaria, which aired on CNN a week ago, the former White House chief strategist known for his hardline stance on immigration said that if “you’re from Asia and you’re here, second-generation, you’re (an) American citizen, that’s absolutely no problem.”

But Bannon told the Indian American host that he felt differently about those who are in the U.S. via the visa, which allows employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations. 

“These (H-1B) visas where you come here… basically to take the jobs of American citizens is just not acceptable. And that’s not racist,” Bannon said. “The central beating heart of this is that Hispanics and blacks have to get into the high valuated tech jobs; we’re never going to do that as long as they have unfair competition.”

JOHN YANG

Zakaria mentioned remarks by Bannon last year in which he said that “two-thirds or three-quarters of the CEOs in Silicon Valley are from South Asia or from Asia,” and that the U.S. “is more than an economy. We’re a civic society.”

Pressed to explain his views, the former former CEO for the conservative Breitbart News, said he was espousing “economic nationalism,” which he claimed has nothing to do with race, ethnicity, religion or gender, but concerns American citizenship. 

The overwhelming majority of H-1B visas go to immigrants from Asia, specifically India and China. Those who qualify for them have a bachelor’s degree or higher and work in fields that require highly specialized knowledge, especially in the fields of medicine and tech.

Bannon’s comments, however, are based off various stereotypes and fears of Asian immigrants, said John C. Yang, the executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC). 

Bannon is particularly misguided by the “model minority” myth that Asians have higher incomes and higher levels of education than other minorities, said Yang.

RELATED: Bannon says Catholic Church needs immigrants for economic reasons

“I think what Mr. Bannon is clearly trying to do is race-bait. He is trying to drive a wedge between races,” Yang told HuffPost. “What he’s really doing is trying to limit opportunities for all minorities.” 

“He’s just trying to draw a wedge and he’s hoping that somehow that African Americans and Hispanic Americans will read his quote and find alliance with him rather than with all the minorities.

Bannon's theory against the H-1B visa holders has repeatedly been debunked by numerous studies.

A New American Economy study showed placing caps on the H-1B visas actually disproportionately hurt U.S.-born tech workers, especially those who have bachelor’s degrees. H-1B visa denials in 2007 and 2008 slowed down jobs and wage growth and caused over 200 metropolitan areas to miss out on creating 231,224 tech jobs for U.S.-born workers. It also cost college-educated tech workers as much as $3 billion in total annual earnings.

Bannon's assertion that Asians comprise the majority of tech C.E.O. positions is way off the mark. A recent study by Ascend, a nonprofit group for Pan-Asian business leaders, concluded that although Asians and Asian-Americans are well represented in lower positions at companies— 27 percent of professionals at Silicon Valley tech companies -- less than 19 percent of managers, and fewer than 14 percent of executives at Silicon Valley tech companies are Asian or Asian American. Instead of having an overabundance of Asians in leadership positions, the data strongly suggests that systemic bias prevents Asians and Asian Americans from moving up the career ladder in proportionate numbers.

Ascend also found that when it comes to career advancement in Silicon Valley, race trumps gender. It found that U.S.-born white men and women are 154 percent more likely to have top executive roles in large companies rather than their Asian counterparts.

“If he really believed that he wanted to get more opportunities for minorities…then he should be talking about increasing educational opportunities for minorities,"  said Yang, . "He should not be talking about how one race is supposedly taking from another race. That’s just not the reality here.”

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Census citizenship question will harm AAPI communities

INCLUDING A QUESTION on a person's citizenship status will result in an undercount of minority communities, affect Congressional representation and impact a host of other issues that depend on accurate data provided by the U.S. Census.

AAPI civil rights leaders and census say the citizenship question was the wrong decision by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and its inclusion in the 2020 Census form is likely to jeopardize a fair and accurate census.

“I’m incredibly concerned by the inclusion of an untested citizenship question whose sole impact will be to suppress participation in the 2020 census," said Rep. Judy Chu of California. "The census is essential for ensuring fair and accurate representation and distribution of government resources. But by including a question on citizenship, which is not required by the Constitution, the Trump Administration is exploiting the fear of immigrant communities who are already reticent to divulge personal information to the federal government." 

California, with the largest number of immigrants, documented and undocumented, could lose Congressional representatives. Presently, the state has the most members in the House of Representatives.

According to California's Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the U.S. Constitution requires an actual count of the population in the decennial census, regardless of citizenship status. Including a question about citizenship could intimidate or discourage people and result in an inaccurate census that might "translate into several million people not being counted," he said.

"This latest move by the Trump administration to threaten California is not just a bad idea, it's against the law," Becerra told reporters. "We're going to defend every one of our rights to make sure that every one of our people who has worked hard to make California the sixth-largest economy in the world is counted.

California's lawsuit is separate from the multi-state lawsuit filed by 11 others states so far. That legal challenge includes New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington 

The census is not about who should be in the country. It’s about understanding who is currently in the country and it should not be treated as just another weapon in Trump’s anti-immigrant arsenal. It’s too important for our schools, roads, hospitals, and communities that we have an accurate reporting. It’s also concerning that this question was apparently rushed into the census, without undergoing the usual testing that other questions do.

"Suppression of responses risks significant undercounting in the 2020 Census that will disproportionately impact communities of color," said Chu.

Critics say that the addition of the citizenship question is just another bargaining chip for Trump in his anti-immigrant agenda, which includes Muslim travel bans, a radical immigration policy overhaul limiting family reunification and a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

SCREEN CAPTURE / MSNBC

Chu points out that the other questions included in the Census took years of testing before they were added to the questionnaire. 

"Existing Census Bureau research already documents the growing reluctance of survey respondents to take part in any Census Bureau surveys – all due to the “climate of fear” created by the Trump Administration’s hostile policies and rhetoric,” said Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “The civil rights community is speaking with a clear, united voice: this decision is wrong for our communities, our democracy, and our country, and we will fight to overturn it.”

“The citizenship question and similar policies by this administration seek to leave minority communities undercounted, under-represented, and under-protected. The Commerce Department has shirked its responsibility of ensuring that all questions are properly tested and lead to accurate data,” said John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC.

The administration's actions thus far in regards to immigrants is not do much for inculcating trust in the federal government. The question is unecessarily intrusive and will raise concerns in all households whether they are native-born or foreign-born, citizen or non-citizen, documented or undocumented. The AAPI community should remember that in recent times when the Census included the question about citizenship, that information was used to round up Japanese/Americans and place them in internment camps.
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