Biden makes strongest statement condemning racism and xenophobia

SCREEN CAPTURE / ABC

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN

Just days after a mass shooting that claimed eight lives, including the lives of six Asian women in Georgia, President Biden spoke about racism and xenophobia in the strongest terms since he assumed the presidency.

"One of the core values and beliefs that should bring us together as Americans is standing against hate and racism, even as we acknowledge that systemic racism and white supremacy are ugly poisons that have long plagued the United States," Biden said Sunday.

Biden made his statement on United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, created in the 1970s to mark a 1960 massacre in South Africa.

"We must change the laws that enable discrimination in our country, and we must change our hearts," he added.

"We must recognize the ways that racism, gender discrimination, and other forms of marginalization intersect with and compound one another, Biden continued. "And, we must all strive to eliminate inequities in our policies, remove barriers to full participation in our societies, and push for open and inclusive processes that respect all people everywhere."

Biden's statement comes after a Friday visit to Atlanta where he met with AAPI leaders after a shooting spree by a lone white gunman killed eight people and a year-long upsurge of hate and violence targeting  Asian Americans.

After that meeting, Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the daughter of an Indian American mother and Jamaican father, said: “Racism is real in America and it has always been. Xenophobia is real in America and always has been. Sexism too.” 

#StopAAPIHate has collected over 3,800 reports of discrimination or assaults against AAPI since the coronavirus forced a partial shutdown of most of America as a means to slow the spread of the virus.

Many people blame the rise of hate towards AAPI on Donald Trump's use of terms that linked the disease to Asia and Asian Americans. The racist rhetoric coincided with the rise of white supremacists who were emboldened by Trump's presidency.

Although, the brazen shooting spree has not been labeled a "hate" crime despite the death of the six Asian women and the shooter targeted three Asian-owned establishments.

Biden continued his statement: "We will not shy away from engaging in the hard work to take on the damaging legacy of slavery and our treatment of Native Americans, or from doing the daily work of addressing systemic racism and violence against Black, Native, Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and other communities of color."

Biden’ statement, issued on Sunday night, marks the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, created in the 1970s to mark a 1960 massacre in South Africa.

One of the core values and beliefs that should bring us together as Americans is standing against hate and racism, even as we acknowledge that systemic racism and white supremacy are ugly poisons that have long plagued the United States. We must change the laws that enable discrimination in our country, and we must change our hearts.

Racism, xenophobia, nativism, and other forms of intolerance are not problems unique to the United States. They are global problems. They are human problems that we all need to recognize, name, and dismantle. Today, on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, all nations and people should recommit to the fundamental truth that every human being has inherent dignity and deserves to be treated with fairness. We must recognize the ways that racism, gender discrimination, and other forms of marginalization intersect with and compound one another. And, we must all strive to eliminate inequities in our policies, remove barriers to full participation in our societies, and push for open and inclusive processes that respect all people everywhere.

Under my Administration, the United States will lead the conversation on these painful issues—at home, in international institutions, and around the world. That is why, on my first day in office, I signed an Order establishing a whole of government approach to equity and racial justice. We will not shy away from engaging in the hard work to take on the damaging legacy of slavery and our treatment of Native Americans, or from doing the daily work of addressing systemic racism and violence against Black, Native, Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and other communities of color. Neither will we fail to speak out against the horrific mistreatment of the Rohingya in Burma, the Uyghurs in China, or any racial discrimination we see in the world.

Hate can have no safe harbor in America. It should have no safe harbor anywhere in the world. We must join together to make it stop.

“Racism is real in America and it has always been,” said Harris, the country’s first Asian-American, first Black and first female vice president. “Xenophobia is real in America and always has been. Sexism too.” she said.

Biden’ statement, issued on Sunday night, marks the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, created in the 1970s to mark a 1960 massacre in South Africa.

100-year old Chinatown restaurant closure imminent; rescue plan on the way

PINTEREST

Only one row of private booths remain at the Far East Cafe, that used to have all booths for diners.

OPINION

Updated Dec. 24, 10:30 a.m. to include Aaron Peskin's proposal.

One of San Francisco Chinatown's oldest restaurants, the fabled Far East Cafe, will be closing Dec. 31 -- victimized by the necessary safety restrictions imposed in order to fight the coronavirus.

But on Wednesday, San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin pleaded with the restaurant owner Bill Lee, not to shutter his restaurant. The supervisor says he's introducing a $1.9 million relief proposal aimed at helping Chinatown's struggling restaurants. 

I loved taking out-of-town visitors to the Far East. It wasn't the food so much, as the atmosphere the 100-year old restaurant evoked. It was like stepping into a movie with dark wood paneling and ornate Chinese lanterns. 

In an impromptu news conference in front of the restaurant on Grant Avenue, Peskn blamed anti-Chinese racism fueld by Trump blaming China for the pandemic. He pleaded for Lee and his investors to hold off on plans to closed down Dec. 31.

I always asked for a table in one of the booths. Along the way, as we passed the other wood-paneled booths I'd take a peek behind the curtain, hoping to uncover a  politicians making a deal, business people closing a transaction or perhaps a spy in a clandestine meeting.

Hearing Peskin's plea, Lee just shrugged. "We keep losing money each day. All our shareholders have a few meetings. We decide to close down the end of this month," Lee told a KTVU reporter.

Without the tourists, the Far East was having problems when outdoor dining was allowed, but under the stricter guidelines allowing only takeout, owner Lee told the Wnd Newspaper that takeout isn't enough to pay the rent and pay the staff. 

The Far East opened in 1920 in the midst of the Chinese Exclusion Act in a segregated San Francisco. It has survived the changing palates of the Bay Area's foodies to continue serving  familiar Cantonese and American Chinese fare.

Far East is one of the last Chinatown restaurants that had the banquet space to host  the large weddings, birthdays, family reunions and celebrations like Chinese New Year's (which has been cancelled in 2021). It is noisy and when it's busy, the waiters can be brusque, but it was an experience that is disappearing under the coronavirus pandemic.

The fate of the Far East is just the latest  sign of the economic distress being felt by all the businesses in tourist-oriented Chinatown.

The family-owned restaurants and souvenir shops in Chinatown are getting hit hard by the coronavirus and might not be able to survive the pandemic restrictions. 

Businesses say they have been appealing to the city for financial assistance, and claiming they were denied federal loans, most of which are going to big corporations instead the multitude of small businesses. Sam Chen of Magical Ice Cream tells ABC News that he attempted to get a small business loan but was denied, and the same goes for New Age Camera.

Eva Lee of the Chinatown Merchants Association says that San Francisco is at risk of seeing the ethnic enclave in a wholesale death spiral if Peskin's relief plan doesn't materialize.

RELATED: America's Chinatowns fighting gentrification

In addition to the coronavirus, Chinatowns are feeling pressure from rising rents. Because most Chinatowns are located in high-valued downtown areas, rents have been increasing and the threat of gentrification is driving many of the low-income residents and small businesses out of the area.

The U.S. Census reported that there are over 2 million Asian American-owned businesses across the nation. With 42% of them in "Accommodation and Food Services" and "Retail" industries, versus just 21% of all businesses, Asian American businesses have been hard hit.

As a result, unemployment among Asian Americans, once low, has spiked to unprecedented levels since so many Asian Americans work in those hard-hit service industries.

During the pandemic, however, Asians experienced unemployment rates higher than Whites, peaking at 15% in May 2020. Even as the economy started to improve and the unemployment rate began to drop in recent months, the recovery for Asians was slow, and unemployment remained uncharacteristically high.

Chinatowns across the country were already seeing a decline in business due to the  Trump administration's trade war with China, and racial profiling of Chinese visitors, students and researchers and amplified with Trump's xenophobic rhetoric and with the coming of the coronavirus at the beginning of the year, fear replaced anxiety. With the advent of social distancing, self-quarantines and the mandated dining restrictions, business only got worse.

If the Far East Cafe closes its doors at the end of the year, not only will San Francisco's Chinatown  be left with only one restaurant able to handle the large banquets popular in the Asian American community, the city will lose a part of its heritage.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is news laced with opinion. We encourage you to review several news sources to form your own opinion.

Incidents of hate against AAPI approaching 3,000 since the start of the pandemic

(Courtesy of Sungmin Kwon)

THE FACE OF HATE: A video posted to Facebook shows a man ranted anti-Asian remarks at a store in Bayside, Queens, NYC then attacked a South Korean man who confronted him 

There have been about 2,600 incidents of bias towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders since Stop AAPI Hate has been collecting reports.

The data was collected between March 18 to August 5 to determine the extent of the rise of anti-Asian sentiment since the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. The self-reported incidents totaled 2,583 by Aug. 5.

“The thousands of incidents and trends in this report are difficult to face, and yet they are only the tip of the iceberg," said Russell Jeung, Ph.D., professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. "Many more incidents go unheard and unreported. 

"We may never be able to paint the full picture on the true gravity of how catastrophic this issue is, but the portrait of what we’re seeing in this data today should give rise to every American to take action against the racism running rampant through our country,” said Jeung.

The significant number of self-reported incidents demonstrates the widespread racism that AAPIs continue to experience amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The following trends and patterns emerged: 

• Verbal attacks are rampant. Seven out of ten incidents involved verbal harassment, which included racial slurs, name calling, and profanities. Physical assaults made up 9% of the incidents. 
• Civil rights are being violated. Potential civil rights violations, including workplace discrimination and being barred from establishments and transportation, comprised 8% of the incidents. 
• Incidents at businesses are prevalent. Over 38% of the hate incidents took place at places of business, followed by public streets (20%) and public parks (11%). Online incidents comprised 11% of the incidents. 
• There are gender disparities in incidents. Women reported discrimination 2.4 times more than men. 
• Discrimination affects people of all ages. One in seven of those reporting were young people under 20 years old (14%); elderly made up 7.5% of the respondents. 
• A majority of reports in California. California accounts for over 46% of the incidents, followed by NY (14%); WA (4%); IL (3%) and TX (3%).

“Taking action to address anti-Asian American racism is not a partisan issue. As the 2020 election looms over us, we must hold all candidates across the aisle accountable to take an overt stance on mitigating the harm against AAPIs in the U.S.,” said Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action. 

“We’re already dealing with the fallout of damaging rhetoric and policies against our communities from the Trump administration, from plans to limit Chinese students in U.S. schools to his repeated use of racially-charged terms like ‘Chinese virus’ and ‘Kung Flu.’ Every leader vying to represent our communities must answer to this critical issue of our time.” 

Some first-hand accounts from Stop AAPI Hate’s latest report include: 

• “I’m a healthcare worker. I saw a maskless man sit across from me on the subway. I moved to the other side of the train car and he followed. He spat and coughed on the subway while yelling racial slurs. No one stood up for me.” (New York, NY) 
• “A white woman in an SUV mounted the curb to try and run over one of my family members taking a walk for exercise. This woman saw that they were Asian, pulled over, started yelling and spitting at us, drove off, then turned around and tried to run them over with her car and even mounted the sidewalk to chase them.” (Thousand Oaks, CA) 
• “I was in line at the pharmacy when a woman approached me and sprayed Lysol all over me. She was yelling out, ‘You’re the infection. Go home. We don’t want you here!’ I was in shock and cried as I left the building. No one came to my help.” (Marietta, GA) Facing this upsurge in hate incidents. 

One of reasons of for the rise in anti-Asian sentiment is Donald Trump's continuing use of "China virus" or "Wuhan virus" in referring to COVID-19. That rhetoric plus the increasingly tense relations with China contribute to the feeling by some to express their anti-Asian beliefs.

“Taking action to address anti-Asian American racism is not a partisan issue. As the 2020 election looms over us, we must hold all candidates across the aisle accountable to take an overt stance on mitigating the harm against AAPIs in the U.S.,” said Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action. 

“The time for leaders to step up and address anti-Asian American racism and hate is long overdue. Unless we all take collective action to address the widespread racism against AAPIs amid the pandemic, it will have generational and devastating impacts on the lives of millions in our country that will take decades to reverse,” said Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council. 

Biden chastises Trump for lack of leadership in condemning the rising attacks on Asian Americans

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democrat Party's apparent challenger to Donald Trump, criticized the present White House occupant for fanning hatred and attacks against Asian Americans.

"Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we’ve heard increasing reports of Asian Americans in communities across our country being targeted with messages of hate," said Biden in a statement released Friday. 

"There are stories of Asian Americans being spit on while walking down the street, enduring verbal and physical assaults, finding their cars vandalized with racist messages — even a suspected acid attack and stabbings," said Biden. 

He continued, "These disgusting and racist acts must stop. They are grounded in an impulse that is as ugly, as it is dangerously ignorant."

Biden related how the attacks against Asian Americans have risen dramatically since the coronavirus began spreading across the US. 

He placed the blame squarely on Trump and senior members of his administration for using the term "Chinese virus" when referring to COVID-19, the coronavirus stoking feelings of "hatred and anger toward AAPIs."

"COVID-19 is a danger to everyone, and we will stop it by coming together, not by targeting people of AAPI heritage," said Biden. "AAPI members of our community are a vital and valued part of the American story. I’ve said from the moment I launched my campaign that we are in a battle for the soul of this nation, and we need our leaders to set the example we all must follow as a nation."

"The casual racism and regular xenophobia that we have seen from Trump and this Administration is a national scourge. Donald Trump only knows how to speak to people’s fears, not their better angels." 

In conclusion, Biden said: "In this moment of national and global crisis, it’s clear that we need a president who demonstrates the leadership to address every aspect of this pandemic — including the spate of racist incidents targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders — with urgency and seriousness. Donald Trump is not that president."

Over the weekend, the Trump reelection campaign began airing an ad linking Biden to China that was anti-China in tone, making it look like former US Ambassador to China Gary Locke, a Chinese American, was a Chinese official.

Locke, the former governor of the state of Washington, said Friday that Trump's China-bashing ad is “fanning hatred” at a time when hate crimes and discrimination against Asian Americans are on the rise. He said in a statement that “the Trump team is making it worse” and that “Asian Americans are Americans. Period.”

Members of both the Senate and House have introduced resolutions condemning the attacks against Asians and Senators Mazie Hirono, Tammy Duckworth and Elizabeth Warren have sent a letter to the US Commission on Civil Rights to issue guidance for federal agencies and administration officials onthe racist attacks.

“There has not been a concerted effort from federal agencies to prevent and address anti-Asian sentiment related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the senators wrote. “In order to reduce the dangerous and hateful spread of anti-Asian sentiment that is on the rise during this pandemic, we respectfully request that USCCR issue such guidance without delay, and that it take into account language accessibility for Asian Americans with limited English proficiency.”

Trump, GOP leaders condemned for use of "China virus" for the pandemic

SCREEN CAPTURE / CBS

Donald Trump continues to link COVID-19 to China and Chinese people.

Several Republicans, including Donald Trump, are being criticized for labeling the coronavirus the “China virus” raising the level of anti-Asian fears.

Trump reiterated the need to build a US-Mexico border wall to protect Americans from the “China virus” in a tweet: “Going up fast. We need the Wall more than ever!”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and several Republican congress members have also referred to the virus in ethnic terms.

Democratic politicians, including Rep. Judy Chu, Rep. Ted Lieu, and presidential candidate Joe Biden, were quick to denounce the xenophobic names.

“A wall won’t stop a virus. Racism won’t stop a virus. Do your job,” Biden tweeted in response.

The World Health Organization this morning (March 11) has officially the spread of COVID-19 a "pandemic." A pandemic is a disease that is spreading in multiple countries around the world at the same time.

Despite a letter from the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, made up of AAPI members of Congress, some GOP lawmakers continue to link the virus to China where it originated. But rather than deter, it seems to have emboldened some Republicans to attach ethnicity to the virus. 

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., for one, sent a news release Sunday that he was requesting information about “Chinese Coronavirus Deaths in Florida.”

Linking the virus appears to have escalated in the last few days with the leader of the House GOP and Trump using or endorsing similar language.

“Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we have seen a surge of discriminatory rhetoric and violent attacks against Asian Americans across the country,” iterated Chu in a letter from the Asian Pacific American Caucus. “Even just looking Asian has been enough to incite attackers to hurl insults and accuse individuals of being disease carriers.” 

The Centers for Disease Control has issued a notice that cautions against linking the pathogen to a specific group of people.

"At this time most people in the United States have little immediate risk of exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19. However, some people are worried about the disease," reads the CDC notice. "Fear and anxiety can lead to social stigma towards Chinese or other Asian Americans. Stigma and discrimination can occur when people associate an infectious disease, such as COVID-19, with a population or nationality, even though not everyone in that population or from that region is specifically at risk for the disease (for example, Chinese Americans and other Asian Americans living in the United States).

"Stigma hurts everyone by creating more fear or anger towards ordinary people instead of the disease that is causing the problem. We can fight stigma and help not hurt others by providing social support. We can communicate the facts that being Chinese or Asian American does not increase the chance of getting or spreading COVID-19."

The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), sent a letter to House and Senate leadership to call for unity and publicly denounce the racist and xenophobic attacks on Asian Americans. A link to the letter can be found here:

The NCAPA issued the following statement:

“While we recognize and are grateful for the leadership of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and others in Congress to relieve the fear and anxiety the coronavirus has created for all Americans, it has become clear that Congressional leadership should follow their example and do more. Our country needs unified, visible and strong leadership to address the growing hostile rhetoric against the Asian American community.

"This letter is a call to action from the civil rights community to hold Congress accountable and help bring our country together, while not letting fear and misinformation divide us. We urge House and Senate leadership to lead by example, and resist stoking fear and xenophobia, while taking tangible steps to demonstrate that our country’s leaders are committed to standing against racism.”

“While the rise of COVID-19 confirmed cases in the United States is a legitimate and pressing public health concern, we urge health care providers and all individuals sharing information about the disease to combat misinformation and discrimination that put patients and broader communities at risk," said Jeffrey Caballero, executive director of the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations.

"We urge common sense, such as following practical safeguards as recommended by the CDC and your local and state public health departments," continued Caballero. "This is a global emergency that should be met with both urgency and also cultural awareness that COVID-19 is not isolated to a single ethnic population. Xenophobic attacks and discrimination towards Asian American communities are unacceptable and will not make our families safer or healthier.”

The Chinese government has also condemned U.S. politicians for using unscientific terms to “stigmatize” the country, reports The Guardian.

“Despite the fact that the WHO [World Health Organization] has officially named this novel type of coronavirus, certain American politician[s], disrespecting science and the WHO decision, jumped at the first chance to stigmatize China and Wuhan with it. We condemn this despicable practice,” said Chinese spokesman Geng Shuang.

AsAm News contributed to this report.

Analysis: Campaign in Ohio whips up anti-Chinese hysteria

By Louis Chan

ASAM NEWS

A new ad running in Ohio just might be funny if it's anti-Chinese message weren't so frightening for Asian Americans.

The ad features ominous looking Chinese officials and a narrator warning of Chinese who “took over our manufacturing jobs, shuttered our factories, now they’re coming for our energy jobs.”

The ad is a preemptive strike against a petition circulating in the state calling for the overturn of a $1 billion bailout of two nuclear power plants in Ohio.

This may sound too incredulous to be true. You can see the add below.

Ohioans can expect to see the ad until it makes them nauseous. The campaign to defend the bailout is expected to spend a million dollars on TV and radio spots soon, according to CleveScene.com.

This is happening in Ohio. Its a state Donald Trump needs to win to be elected to a second term. Remember, no Republican has ever been elected president without winning Ohio. If this type of campaign can win in Ohio, it’s an indication Ohioans just might hand Trump another four years.

An analysis by the Cincinnati Enquirer calls the ad’s claims weak.

The assumption here is that Ohio’s natural gas fired plants are trying to bury competition from nuclear power plants.

“They want to kill their Ohio-based competition so their companies gain market share and gain a majority of Ohio’s electrical grid,” Carlo LoParo, a spokesman for the group behind the ad, told The Enquirer.

Ohioans for Energy Security says three out of four of the natural gas fired plants in Ohio are backed by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. What the ad leaves out is that those same plants are also financed by a total of ten banks including global banks from Switzerland, France, Australia and other countries. The ad also doesn’t mention that the Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp of Ohio which runs several nuclear power plants in the state also has been back by the Chinese bank.

The experts say that claims Chinese foreign interests can gain control of America’s energy grid are suspect.

“We have pretty strong regulation of utilities that would prevent foreign governments from controlling them,” David Dollar, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told the Enquirer.

Those are the facts, but unfortunately as this country has learned, facts don’t always matter to uneducated voters who kept swept up by misguided emotions lead by unscrupulous demagogues.

At least one Asian American group in Ohio is discussing how to respond to the ad. As word makes its way across the country about this ad, hopefully groups in Ohio will also gain support from national Asian American groups.

This type of anti-Chinese hysteria is nothing new. National Asian American leaders have long warned of racial profiling against the Chinese community as tensions rise between the US and China. Innocent Chinese American lives have been ruined by false charges of spying-charges which were later dropped without apology or explanation.

This ad is just the latest chapter in the rising phobia against the Asian American community. National leaders in the community would be wise to join in speaking out against the latest racist attack.

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Amy Tan has a message for racists

WARNING! Harsh language ahead!

TWO AMERICAN women were waiting in line at a gas station to buy eggs and milk when a Border Patrol agent asked them for their ID's and questioned them for 40 minutes.

What were they doing to warrant this interrogation? They were speaking Spanish.

Ana Suda and her friend are furious at the encounter that occurred in Montana.  What's infuriating is that it's lentirely legal.

Although the practice is more common near the border with Mexico, ICE gents have the power to stop anyone they suspect is in this country without documentation if they are within 100 miles of any border. In this case, the border in question is the one shared with Canada, which was 35 miles away.

Legal or not, Joy Luck Club author Amy Tan thought the agent's actions and the fear that foreign languages stirs up with monolingual Americans was out of line and not in the tradition of our country's values.

She used social media to convey her video message in Spanish (except for the two last words.) She also provided a translation:

After a few responses from people who were offended by her use of street language, Tan followed up with this message:

The women spoke Spanish, but it could just as well have been Tagalog, Cantonese, Vietnamese or any one of the scores of languages used in Asia. The incident occurred in Montana but it could just as well have happened in Buffalo, NY, or San Diego. Technically, the East and West coasts are borders so ICE could argue that rule might applies to New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Boston and and a host of other coastal cities.

Note tin the CNN interview above that Suda says an agent told her that Canadians speaking French are not stopped and questioned by ICE. Clearly, a case of racial profiling.

How in the world did ICE get this Gestapo-like authority?  Apparently, the Supreme Court, dominated by Republican-nominated justices, approved the law. See what happens when we're not paying attention?

Instead of being offended by two words - no matter how harsh - Americans should be offended by the actions of ICE.
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Really?! U.S. Congresswoman asked if she's an American citizen

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL, D-WASH.

By Len Patel
ASAM NEWS

Here’s proof there are a lot of ignorant people out there.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal is the first Indian/American women to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Congressional District 7 in Washington (Seattle).

C-Span is a government funded cable channel dedicated to coverage of Congress and politics. You would think viewers would have a basic understanding of our Constitution and of American politics.

Maybe not.

A viewer calling in on the Republican line (Yes, there are different call in numbers for Republicans and Democrats) asked Jayapal, a Democrat, if she was an American citizen.

The first term representative calmly turned it into a teaching moment. She informed the caller that citizenship is a requirement to run for Congress.

Jayapal was born in Chennai, India in 1965 and immigrated to the United States in 1982. Beyond the basic civics lesson, the Congresswoman also talked about the “broken visa system.”

“We’re talking about a DACA fix, but we need a whole fix for comprehensive immigration reform. It keeps getting tossed back and forth and complicated. There are many pieces of the immigration system that include the employment visa system, it includes family reunification which is a cornerstone of U.S. immigration policy. Then, of course, it includes the legalization of undocumented immigrants in this country. Most of whom are picking the food that we eat, cleaning the hotel rooms, doing a lot of work in poultry plants. We haven’t had any kind of system that matches our economic needs for labor to our immigration needs.”

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What immigrants need to know: 'You Have Rights'

A scene from the 'We Have Rgights' campaign where ICE agents interview an immigrant.

USING GESTAPO-LIKE TACTICS, the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are doing their best to make immigrants feel not welcomed in the United States.

Comedian and actor Kumail Nanjiani, who came to the U.S. from Pakistan when he was 18, knows what it's like to be an immigrant. But his experience as a newcomer to this country is nothing like the persecution that today's immigrants must go through: The lies coming out of the White House painting immigrants as criminals, the uncertainty of when ICE  comes knocking on your door or raids your place of employment, strangers attacking you physically and verbally and telling you to "go back to your country."

KUMAIL NANJIANI

Under the Donald Trump Administration, which has called for a major increase in deportations, ICE’s “noncriminal” arrests doubled over the 2017 fiscal year, according to the Washington Post.

That's why the Silicon Valley star is pitching in to help members of immigrant communities get informed bout what to do if ICE comes knocking.

Nanjiani posted a tweet this week about his work with the ACLU and Brooklyn Defender Services on their We Have Rights campaign,

The “We Have Rights” campaign includes animated, instructional videos based on four real-life scenarios: what to do when ICE comes to your door; when ICE is in your home; when ICE stops people in the street; and when ICE arrests someone.

“ICE has a disturbing history of crossing the line and we want immigrants to know that they are protected under the Constitution,” Natalie Montelongo, ACLU’s campaign strategist, said in a statement.

The videos warn that ICE may lie, claim to be the police investigating a crime, or show official-looking but invalid documents. The videos say, ICE has no authority to enter or search a home without a warrant signed by a judge.

The videos are available in seven different languages, each voiced by a prominent activist or actor. Nanjiani voiced the version in Urdu, the language of Pakistan. Other versions feature Diane Guerrero (Spanish), Linda Sarsour (Arabic), Edwidge Danticat (Creole), Xiren Wang (Mandarin), Katya Lee (Russian) and Jesse Williams (English).

If ICE agents come knocking on your door, the videos advise, “do not open the door… no matter what they say.” You have rights!
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