U.S. Census to ask about citizenship; Trump's war against immigrants opens new front

IN ITS ONGOING war against immigrants, the Donald Trump administration has opened another front to strip immigrants of any political voice. He wants to ask people for their citizenship status in the Census coming up in 2020.

The result of the question could have a challenge effect in the count of minorities and noncitizens, whether they are legal or undocumented.

"It will dramatically reduce participation by immigrant communities, stunting their growing political influence and depriving them of economic benefits," says Atty. Ceridwen Cherry, of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project.

"This is not an unintended side effect," says Cherry. "It’s the reason the Trump administration sought to add the question, rejecting the advice of Census Bureau’s professional staff, its scientific advisory committee, and five previous census directors from both Republican and Democratic administrations."

“The census is essential for ensuring fair and accurate representation and distribution of government resources,” wrote Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. “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.”

The ACLU filed a lawsuit earlier this month, which calls the question “a naked act of intentional discrimination directed at immigrant communities of color.” is the latest in a series of legal challenges from states, cities and civil rights organizations since Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced in March that the question would be added.

The ACLU suit joins five other lawsuits filed earlier by states, cities and immigrant rights advocates challenging the Commerce Department, the DOJ and the U.S. Census over this not-so-simple question.

Below is how the question would appeaer in the Census questionnaire:

The citizenship question will raise red flags in households with immigrants who are already suspicious of the government because of on-going anti-immigrant actions by the Trump administration.

"The administration is trying to sabotage the 2020 Census with the addition of a citizenship question that it knows will chill participation by communities that the administration seeks to marginalize," said the Asian Americans Advancing Justice in a statement. 

"Without an accurate count, valuable dollars that support immigrant and other communities of color may be lost. Minority communities will not be represented and served in the manner in which they are entitled in Congress," claims the civil rights umbrella organization.

The question on citizenship hasn't been asked by the U.S. Census in the last 70 years. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has provided no explanation, let alone a detailed analysis, as to why gathering citizenship data through the census is suddenly necessary.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced on March 26 that the 2020 Census will inquire about citizenship, based on a request from the U.S. Justice Department. The Trump administration claims that the DOJ needs citizenship information in order to enforce the Voting Rights Act. Translated: That actually means that the DOJ wants to make sure that only U.S. citizens are voting. Since the 2016 election, Trump has asserted that thousands of votes were cast for Hillary Clinton by noncitizens, a claim that has never been substantiated and challenged by state attorneys general.

The U.S. Constitution requires that a count be taken every ten years of every person in the United States, citizen or not. Part of the reason is so that every person - citizen, permanent resident, work or student visa holder or undocumented - is counted and has representation in government. 

The Census is used by government and private agencies to determine the amount of services and government assistance be given to the various states, counties and cities.

The Trump administration knows that asking the question will dampen the response from immigrants and noncitizens, according to the ACLU.

"Lower response rates will be catastrophic for communities and states with large immigrant populations," said the ACLU's  Cherry.

California, with the largest immigrant population in the country, could lose Congressional seats and crucial federal funding. Not coincidentally, California voted overwhelmingly against Trump and continues to challenge his policies.

"California simply has too much to lose for us to allow (Trump's) Administration to botch this obligation!" said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who has filed one of the lawsuits against the use of the citizenship question.

"That result plays directly into a longstanding Trump administration plan to exclude non-citizens when apportioning legislative districts as a way to further strip the political power of immigrant communities," says Cherry.

"I represent one of the largest immigrant populations in Texas," said Gene Wu, State Representative for Texas House, District 137 (Houston, Texas).  Many of these immigrants are refugees and asylum seekers from Asian countries where they experienced oppression and brutality by their own government. 

"It is already a tremendous challenge to provide representation and services to these populations.

"They fear our government just as they feared their former government. The inclusion of a citizenship question will further drive these vulnerable communities into the darkness. Undercounting these communities will mean tangible harm and suffering for people who have already suffered so much," said Wu.

By including the question, the U.S. Census goes against the recommendations of its own expert advisory body. 

D. Sunshine Hillygus, a member of the the Census Scientific Advisory Committee and a political science professor at Duke University, offered a scathing critique of the decision, blasting the administration for what she says puts census data at risk.

Usually, before adding a question to the census, it is usually tested over several years but the citizenship question was included at the last minute without any vetting.

“I want to say in no uncertain terms that I think this is an absolutely awful decision,” said Hillygus, who is on the panel of about 15 outside experts that advise the Census Bureau on data collection, methodology and analysis. “I am dumbfounded that this decision is coming in at such a late date. My view is that this is going to have severe negative implications for data quality and costs.”

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'To All The Boys I've Ever Loved' to premiere this August; slights Asian boys

Lara Condor plays Lara Jean, the main character in the upcoming 'To All The Boys I've Ever Loved'

CRAZY RICH ASIANS is getting all the hype for must-see movies for this summer, but the sleeper film could be another movie with an Asian American lead, To All The Boys I've Ever Loved.

AAPI looking for representation in the movies will experience representation overload this summer. To All the Boys I Ever Loved is based on the best-selling coming-of-age trilogy by Korean American author Jenny Han. The highly anticipated movie will be coming to Netflix Aug. 17, two days after Crazy Rich Asians premiers.

All the Boys follows the misadventures of American teenager Lara Jean Song Covey, played by Vietnamese American actor Lana Condor, after someone releases a box of letters she's written to her crushes — without her knowing.

It has been described as this year's The Edge of Seventeen, which came out last year starring Filipina American actress Hailee Steinfeld. Unlike Seinfeld's portrayal of a white teenager in Seventeen, All the Boys' Lara Jean will undeniably be a Korean American character.

It will be interesting to see how all the teens and preteens react to having to relate to an Asian American. My bet is that the emotional ups and downs experienced by Lara Jean will be instantly recognized by that demographic.

Lara Jean has two sisters, Margot and Kitty played by Janel Parrish (Pretty LIttle Liars) and Anna Cathcart (Descendants 2), respectively, so the movie is a bonanza for Asian American ingenues. 


"Being Asian" is not part of the plot, said Han in a GMA interview. She asserted that race is part of a character's identity, but it is not the whole identity.

"I don't know if people realize how long it's been since we last saw a movie starring an Asian American girl," the author tells Teen Vogue. "It's been 25 years since The Joy Luck Club! That is a really long time to wait to see yourself reflected back at you on screen. My priority is for Asian-American kids to see themselves in stories, to see a face like theirs. They need to know that their stories are universal too, that they too can fall in love in a teen movie."

Hoo-ray for representation!

Unless you're an Asian American teenage boy.

Not one of Lara Jean's exposed crushes is Asian American and that hurts a demographic that has been at the bottom in the date-ability scale based on the Asian male stereotypes. We know the racist hurdles placed in front of Asian males for hundreds of years so that now its become -- in some circles -- a deeply entrenched part of American culture.

Asian males get swiped right, again. Han's novel, and now the movie, seems to go along with this trope. Ouch! That hurts!  

Perhaps we should be so use to this stereotype by now that we should be able to tough it out for this movie. However, even as we celebrate the representation in the Asian American family featured in this move, the oversight or marginalization or whatever you want to call it, doesn't lessen the emotional and psychological harm caused by the absence of Asian guys. At this point, in this movie, I would have settled for even a token Asian guy if he could have merited Lara Jean's interest. 

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Minnesota GOP chair called racist slur by Republican leaders

Jennifer Carnahan, chair of Minnesota GOP

ASAM NEWS

THE CHAIR of the State Republican Party in Minnesota is speaking out about the racism and sexism she’s encountered from fellow party leaders.

Jennifer Carnahan writes “party leaders/executive committee members have made racist comments about me and to me calling me ‘dragon lady, a ch*nk, a stupid Asian not even born in America’ and other racial slurs.”

The complaints were made in a Facebook post (below) intended to be seen by a select group of people, but which were made public in a tweet by Crystal City Councilman Jeff Kolb.

Kolb called on Carnahan to name those responsible for the slurs. His tweet was reported on by City Pages  and the Star Tribune and then picked up nationally by Newsweek Saturday (June 23). According to City Pages, Carnahan has declined to name the people making the racist comments.

Newsweek reports that Carnahan was born in South Korea and raised by her adoptive parents in Minnesota.

Carnahan told the Star-Tribune she was only venting and emphasized the lessons she learned from her father.

“I’m trying to bring a positive voice to the party and show the importance of working together and being positive,” she said.

“My dad told me to be polite and respectful to others no matter what they say to me. That is why I love my dad so much.” she wrote on Facebook.

Republican Nick Zerwas responded to the news by tweeting “Any member of our leadership team that made those comments about our Chair should resign their position immediately.”

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Sunday Read: Gina Ortiz, Texas candidate for Congress, slams Trump immigration policies

Democratic Congressional candidate Gina Ortiz Jones' mother is an immigrant from the Philippines.

By Gina Ortiz Jones

A DECADE AGO, I was stationed in Iraq as an Air Force intelligence officer, proudly serving the country I love and defending its sacred values.
Thirty years before that, Victorina Ortiz had immigrated to the U.S. to pursue opportunities that were out of reach in her birthplace. She raised my sister and me by herself, working two jobs and instilling in us, through her own remarkable example, what the American Dream was all about.

My mother is still my rock, and my role model. I emulate the characteristics that define her -- her love for family and country, her unwavering work ethic and unshakeable faith, and her commitment to expanding opportunity for others.

The immigration policies that this administration are enforcing today run counter to everything my mother taught me. Separating children from their parents or indefinitely detaining them is a brutal, inhumane practice, and I'm committed to fighting it.

The America my mother taught me, the nation I fought for, is made exceptional by its empathy.

That's why it brings me such pain to watch this administration enact a policy that rips kids out of the arms of their mothers and fathers and places them in tents and cages. To indefinitely detain families would hardly be better. I weep for these children. I ache for their parents.

It hits especially hard for me here in Texas's 23rd District, which includes an 800-mile stretch of border.

Our district is also home to thousands of DREAMers who have been living in limbo as Republicans in Congress have failed to protect them. These are bright young Americans who are already teaching in our schools and serving in our military.

I refuse to accept this vision of our nation. My own family's American story refutes such cynicism.

Gina Ortiz Jones is the Democratic challenger for the 23rd Congressional District.

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The "terror" of Japanese American internment will be focus of TV anthology

NATIONAL ARCHIVES

A Japanese American familiy interned during World War II

AMC's TV SHOW The Terror will tell a story of a different type of terror in its second season.

The AMC anthology will be set during World War II and focus in on one of the darkest chapters of American history. The storyline will center on an uncanny specter that menaces a Japanese American community from its home in Southern California to the internment camps to the war in the Pacific, according to an AMC press release.

Donald Trump's zero-tolerance treatment of undocumented immigrants by putting parents and children in separate detention centers have drawn comparisons to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

“We hope to convey the abject terror of the historical experience in a way that feels modern and relevant to the present moment,” showrunner Alexander Woo said in a statement. “And the prospect of doing so with a majority Asian and Asian American cast is both thrilling and humbling.”

I can't help but think the new storyline was inspired by current events. The national hysteria that engulfed the nation during WWII that led to the imprisonment of 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent is similar to the racist motivations spurred by the current administration. The biggest difference is that during WWII, Japanese American families were allowed to remain intact in their incarceration.

The first season of The Terror was based on a true story of survival of a British Royal Navy crew's perilous voyage into uncharted terriroty searching for the Northwest Passage. The second season's 10-episodes will feature an all-new cast featuring a host of Asian and Asian American characters.

 "The Japanese American internment is a blemish on the nation’s conscience," said Max Borenstein, an executive producer and writer. "I’m thrilled that AMC is giving us the chance to use that darkness as the inspiration for what I hope will be a trenchant, terrifying season of TV."
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Kamala Harris visits mothers at detention facility.

CHRIS STONE

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris described her visit to a detention facility in San Diego.

CALIFORNIA Senator Kamala Harris, whose mother was an immigrant from India, visited immigrant mothers at the Otay Mesa Immigration and Detention Facility near San Diego today (June 23).

The women she spoke were from Honduras and El Salvador, migrant mothers who have been separated from their children.

After her visit, she spoke at a rally kicking off a weekend of protests against the Donald Trump zero-tolerance policy that has been ripping children away from their parents and detraining them in facilities across the country.

“I’m heartbroken,” she said. “The government should be in the business of keeping families together — not tearing them apart,” she told hundreds in an 8-minute talk.

The women were in "complete and utter despairt," said Harris. They told her about difficult access to phone calls and their meager working wages of $1 per day in some instances. Harris explained that phone calls for the detained mothers cost 85 cents per minute.

"This is a prison," said Harris.

Harris told the San Diego Union-Tribune that Trump's executive order signed Thursday to stop separating families does not end the policy, costs taxpayers millions and results in indefinite detentions.

While the Trump administration reported that at least 500 families have been reunified, Harris argues that there is still no clear path outlined for reuniting the rest of the separated families.

“Why do they think these parents should be any different that any one of us?” Harris said. “Nothing can comfort our children more at the end of their day than knowing they can speak with their parents.”

She ended her remarks to the several hundred demonstrators outside the detention facility  by saying: “Guys, here’s the bottom line as far as I’m concerned: This fight for us is about love of country. … This is about patriotism. … fighting for the ideals of our country.

“Years from now, our children, our grandchildren are going to ask us: Where were you at this moment?”
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Vietnamese man found shot dead in his home

SCREEN CAPTURE / KTVU

Police interview neighbors of the victim.

A VIETNAMESE IMMIGRANT was found shot to death in his home in a quiet cul-de-sac in San Jose, Calif.

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Khanh kieu, left, was shot in his home.

Family members from Sacramento confirmed with NBC Bay Area later Thursday (June 21) the victim was Khanh Kieu, a Vietnamese man in his mid-50s and a father of three. They say he was a doctor who emigrated from Vietnam five years ago but was not working in the U.S.

Neighbors reported the sound of multiple gunshots around 1:30 p.m. Minutes later police arrived and found the victim fatally shot inside his home. Paramedics pronounced Kieu died at the scene.

Police have not released a motive and no suspects have been named in San Jose’s 13th homicide of the year.

Anyone with information is asked to contact San Jose Police Department's Homicide Unit at (408)277-5283. People who wish to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867.

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3 Illinois men indicted on civil rights & hate crime charges for bombing Islamic Center

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Suspects set off a bomb at the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota.

A FIVE-COUNT federal indictment, including federal civil rights and hate crime violations, were filed against three men in connection with an explosion at the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center (DAF) in Bloomington, Minnesota, on Aug. 5, 2017.

The three defendants, Michael Hari, 47, Michael McWhorter, 29, and Joe Morris, 22, are currently being held in custody in Urbana, Illinois,  were previously named in a criminal complaint filed on March 13, 2018, in the District of Minnesota, charging them with arson in attacking the Women's Health Practice.

Court documents say McWhorter said that the defendants did not intend to kill anyone, but they wanted to “scare (Muslims) out of the country” and to “show them hey, you’re not welcome here…” 

The indictments filed Thursday (June 21) allege the three were part of a militia group called the White Rabbits.

“All people – regardless of where they worship – have the right under federal law to live free from the threat of violence and discrimination,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore.  “This Justice Department will hold accountable under the law anyone who attempts to commit violent acts of hate by threat or action.”

“These three defendants allegedly plotted and executed a plan designed specifically to spread fear and threaten a fundamental right afforded to all, the freedom of religion,” said U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald. “In spite of the destructive and violent act alleged in the indictment, our communities have found strength in taking a unified stand against the attack.”

“Last year's bombing was more than just an attack against a single structure, it was an attack on the very religious freedoms we enjoy as Americans,” said Jill Sanborn, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Minneapolis Division. “The ability to worship how and where we want is a cornerstone of our country's foundation."

The indictment returned by a federal grand jury alleges that Hari constructed a pipe bomb and rented a pickup truck in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Hari, McWhorter, and Morris drove from Illinois to Bloomington, Minnesota, in the pickup truck, stopping along the way to purchase diesel fuel and gasoline. The defendants mixed these ingredients together in a plastic container.

The indictment alleges that, in the early morning of Aug. 5, 2017, Morris broke a window at DAF and threw the plastic container containing the diesel fuel and gasoline mixture into the building. It is alleged that McWhorter then lit the fuse and threw the pipe bomb in the broken window at DAF. According to the court documents, the window that was broken was part of the Imam’s office. When the pipe bomb exploded, it ignited the mixture in the plastic container, causing extensive damage in the Imam’s office. McWhorter and Morris returned to the pickup truck, where Hari was waiting, and sped off, driving back to Illinois.

As described in the complaint previously filed with the Court, a tip from a confidential source helped to lead investigators to the defendants.

At a press conference after the trio were arrested in March, he said, Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Muslim advocacy and civil liberties group Council on American-Islamic Relations. "We recognize the early motivations are exactly what the anti-Muslim organizing has pushed — to push Muslims out, to drive fear in our communities. But today we want to reaffirm that our community is going to be resilient."

TGIF Feature: Do you care? Step up! Speak out! Fight back!

TIME Photo-Illustration. Photographs by Getty Images

ARE YOU UPSET over Donald Trump's zero-tolerance policy that separated 2,300 kids from their parents who took their families across the southern border?

Even though he signed an executive order that supposedly stop the forced separations, the poliy is still in place. As federal agencies interpret it, it means that families will stay together in detention.

The Department of Justice attorneys are trying to overturn the Flores v. DOJ decision that limited children in detention for only 20 days. That court class action case allowed the parents to be released along withi the children.

Trump wants to keep the entire family together indefinitely until their case is adjudicated by an immigration court.

Melania Trump made a visit to one of the detention
 centers housing some of teh children taken from
their parents. Unfortunately, she wore this
coast, erasing any good will her visit may have
generated for the White House.

The question remains: After 20 days, will the children be taken away from the parents again?

Frustrated? Angry? Feeling helpless? Want to lash out?

There is hope. You are not alone. There are actions you can take.

Advocate: Call your member of Congress to support families staying together. 

• White House public comment line: 202-456-1111 
• Department of Justice public comment line: 202-353-1555 
• U.S. Senate Switchboard: 202-224-3121 

Giving: Financial support.

We recommend giving to the organizations below. These are nonprofits that our foundation has researched and vetted, including many that we have supported with our own grantmaking dollars.

Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) is a nonprofit organization that provides free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families and refugees in Central and South Texas. They have been raising funds to get parents out of detention so that they can be reunited with their children.

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) is a national organization that engages in policy advocacy. With offices in ten cities, including San Francisco and Washington D.C., KIND trains pro bono lawyers to represent unaccompanied immigrant children in removal proceedings.

ACLU Foundation is a national organization that has defended the civil rights of individuals for nearly a century. Its Immigrant Rights Project is a unit within the ACLU that defends the rights of immigrants and is currently litigating family separation issues.

Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (CGRS)* is a national organization that protects the fundamental human rights of refugee women, children, LGBT individuals, and others who flee persecution in their home countries. CGRS is taking the lead in responding to the administration’s attempts to dismantle asylum protections for victims of domestic violence.

Engage: Show your support on social media (#FamiliesBelongTogether #KeepFamiliesTogether).

Join: Since the 2016 election, we've learned that it's that marches, protests and rallies can be effective. Find a local Families Belong Together event here.

MoveOn, Women's March, Pantsuit Nation, National Domestic Workers Alliance and a number of other groups are also hosting a Families Belong Together protest on June 30 between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at Lafayette Square in Washington D.C. The organizers are encouraging a day of nationwide protests to send the message to Donald Trump that "cruelly separating children from their families" won't be allowed to continue.

The official Facebook event can be found here; to find a local June 30 protest location, click here. 

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Las Vegas man found guilty of stabbing death of ex-girlfriend

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

MIKAYLA RHINER

THE KILLER of a Filipina American was found guilty of first-degree murder last week and faces life imprisonment.

BRANDON HANSEN

Family and friends of MaKayla Rhiner wept and hugged as Brandon Hansen, 34, of Las Vegas was convicted of first-degree murder Friday in her fatal stabbing in August of 2017.

“We’ve all held our breaths for the last 11 months,” Rhiner's mother, Lynn Pingol, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “And this was our big exhale.”

Hanson faces life in prison without the possibility of parole at a sentencing set for Aug. 7, a almost a year after Rhiner’s slaying.

Reiner and Hanson had dated a few times. During the trial, Hanson's lawyer said his client was despondent after a breakup and the slaying was not premeditated.

“I cannot comment on him, I do not know him. I only saw him in court. Justice should prevail for whatever he did,” said Makayla’s grandmother, Dr. Ludmilla Pingol, after the verdict. “And I thank the Filipino community for giving us all the support, and all our friends and family to help us cope.”

Hanson's sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 7. He faces is  life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. 

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Asian asylum seekers imprisoned in Oregon federal facility

SCREEN CAPTURE / CNN

Rep. Earl Blumenauer tears up telling about his visit to a facility housing asylum seekers.

ASAM NEWS

AN ORGANIZATION dedicated to serving Asian Pacific Americans in Oregon says East Indians and Chinese are among the 123 immigrants seeking asylum have been detained in Sheridan federal prison in the state’s Yamhill County.

The civil rights group APANO says the majority of these asylum seekers are South Asian who speak Hindi and Punjabi. A few more are Chinese. The Oregonian reports Rep. Earl Blumenauer was one of four from Oregon’s congressional delegation who has visited the detainees.

“This is a shameful hour in U.S. history,” said Blumenauer. “I don’t care what your stance on immigration is, no one should favor ripping children out of their parents’ arms ….”

Concerned citizens have put out a call for bilingual volunteers for language assistance.

Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants has been extended to asylum seekers. Many in this group identify as Sikh and Christian who are escaping religious prosecution from the Hindu majority, according to the Oregonian.

Aerial view of Sheridan Federal Correctional faciliy in Oregon.

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Trump policy of separating children and parents to stop but border arrests continue

DONALD TRUMP did what he said he couldn't do when he signed Wednesday afternoon (June 20) an executive order stopping the separation of children and parents after they cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump is trying to clean up the mess he made after months of separating children from their families and locking them up in detention camps, said the Asian Americans Advancing Justice in a press release. 

The legal advocacy civil rights organization says Trump may have caved in under political pressure  with this executive order, but Trump and his administration are still responsible for putting children in cages. 

“Trump’s new Executive Order does nothing to solve the inhumane treatment of families on the border. He still is putting children in jails," stated the Value Our  Families Coalition. "Trump is only covering up the mess he made because he came under political pressure. Families belong in communities, not cages. Trump must end the cruel mistreatment and disgrace in our country.”

READ: You can read the full executive order here.

Since the Trump administration launched their zero-tolerance policy which allowed the tearing children - infants to teens - from their parents, administration officials said they were only following the law (there is no law requiring the separation of children and parents) and only Congress could change the non-existent law.

Trump told the press that he didn't have the power to stop the policy.

Now, Trump’s executive order, titled “Affording Congress an Opportunity to Address Family Separation,”  doesn't end the administration's zero-tolerance policy. It simply says the family can remain together under detention as their immigration case is resolved. 

"The executive order offers no plan to reunite the thousands of children who remain separated from their parents," stated the ACLU. "The administration has signaled that it will now detain all families with children, regardless of whether they are asylum seekers, or pose a flight risk or a danger to the community. These children don’t belong in jail at all, under any set of circumstances."

The fate of the 2,300 children already under detention remains uncertain. Authorities don't have the means of reuniting the children - spread across the country - with their parents in detention centers.

U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, whose mother was an immigrant from India, tweeted: "Trump's executive order does not fix this crisis. It gives no solution for the thousands of children who have been torn away from their families and remain separated."

UPDATED: May 21, 12:45 p.m. to include ACLU statement.

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Judge stays deportation of Chinese American permanent resident

Photo by Corky Lee

Yu Mei Chen, the wife of Xiu Quin Yu, spoke at a rally last weekend in New York City.

THE DEPORTATION of a Xiu Quin Yu, 39, was temporarily halted when a judge ordered authorities to release him.

Judge Analisa Torres stayed Yu's deportation to China and ordered his release from a New Jersey facility late Wednesday. He will be given the chance to have his case in front of a judge.

Yu reunited with in Flushing, New York City, with his wife, Yu Mei Chen, who is an American citizen, and his U.S.-born 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son.

Yu arrived in the U.S. in 2000. When his application for asylum was rejected, he was slapped with a final deportation order.

In 2015, he applied for permanent residency because he is married to an American citizen. When he and his wife showed up for an interview on May 23. Instead, after the interview, he was arrested by ICE agents.

“Today’s ruling is a sharp rebuke of ICE’s cruel and fanatical crusade to circumvent due process with the goal of tearing families apart,” Copeland said. “Mr. Yu has lived without incident in this country for years, establishing a family and building a successful small business. Taking that away from him is the antithesis of what America should aspire to stand for.”
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June 20 is World Refugee Day ... does the U.S. care?

WKYT graphic

BREAKING NEWS: June 20, 5:30 p.m. EDT -- Donald Trump signed an executive order this afternoon ending the policy of separating children from their parents. Come back to read a new post for updates and anallysis of what this 180-degree turn-around means.

TODAY (June 20) is World Refugee Day but does the current U.S. administration even care? People who came to this country and accepted as refugees in years past are now being deported, including those from Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed in a statement that “We will continue to help the world's most vulnerable refugees, reflecting the deeply held values of the American people.”

Pompeo also said, “commitment to the world’s most vulnerable individuals remains a critical component of America’s national security policy.” 

The statement does not mention Central American refugees, focusing on Syria—though Trump banned Syrians from entering the United States—as well as the Rohingya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Asylum seekers from Central America and Mexico are being detained in jail-like environments, their attempts to enter the U.S. legally to ask for asylum is being blocked and thwarted physically and their children are being ripped away from them and kept in cages where workers are not allowed to comfort them.

Yesterday, the U.S. also formally quit the United Nations Human Rights Council. The explanation was supposedly because of the council's continued criticism of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians but it also occurred the day after the human rights body criticized Donald Trump's zero-tolerance policy towards asylum seekers at the U.S. southern border crossings that includes the separation of children from their parents.

The number of refugees entering the United States each month has declined sharply so far in fiscal 2017, falling from 9,945 in October 2016 to 3,316 in April 2017, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. State Department data.

By executive order of Donald Trump, the number of refugees being accepted annually by the U.S. has been cut in more than half, from 110,000 to 50,000.

Despite Trump's zero-tolerance policy, asylum-seekers are still forming unusually long lines at the Mexican border, with parents and children sleeping on cardboard in the sweltering heat and waiting for days or even weeks to present themselves to U.S. inspectors, according to the Associated Press.

“You must come every day to see if it’s your turn. If you don’t come, you’ll lose your place in line,” said Teresa Ramirez from El Salvador. After waiting 20 days, Ramirez got her turn at the border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico.

Lawyers said asylum-seekers at the Nogales, Arizona, crossing are camping out for up for five days to make a claim.

At the Hidalgo, Texas, border crossing, parents and children sleep on cardboard on a bridge separating the two countries, waiting for U.S. authorities to signal their time has come, according to volunteers bringing them food and water.

So, is Pompeo's proclamation about America's "commitment to the world's most vulnerable," a cruel joke?

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