Dear Friends,

Asian American organizations and higher education institutions are concerned about the announcement by the U.S. State Department on May 28, 2025 that it will work to “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.” There will also be increased scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong. 

In response to this announcement, over 700 scholars and experts on China signed a petition to formally pause the implementation in the form of an open letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Among the 731 signatures are many nonprofit organizations with a focus on Asian Americans or U.S.-China relations, including the 1990 Institute. We have also released a statement urging our leaders to exercise fair and equal treatment to all when addressing national security issues, which will prevent Asian Americans and those from China and other Asian countries from being unjustly viewed as a threat and will safeguard the long-term technological and scientific leadership of the U.S. Read the full statement on our website.

We invite you to register for our first Youth Symposium, a full-day, in-person event. What makes “Roots and Wings: Celebrating Asian American Youth with the Power of Community” truly special is its inclusive approach – bringing together students, parents/guardians, and educators in one space to support the next generation.

📅 Date: Saturday, September 6, 2025
📍 Location: College of San Mateo Theatre, 1700 W. Hillsdale Blvd., San Mateo, CA
⏰ Time: 9:00 am – 4:30 pm PT

Scroll down to Spotlight to learn more. 

If you are able to make a charitable contribution of any amount, we would be grateful to continue our work. Please share our newsletters with your friends and family and encourage them to subscribe. Thank you.

Join us for our NEW Youth Symposium to celebrate and empower Asian American youth. It's designed to be a step forward towards lasting change, connectivity, and community empowerment. Visit our website for more information. Register now.

How can we stand up for international students and immigrants?

By Frances Kai-Hwa Wang

My daughter came home from grad school last weekend. Since she was coming from Wisconsin, she brought us the state’s specialty – cheese. She also brought several satay spice mixes because there are a lot more Southeast Asian Americans there than at home here in Michigan. As she drove through Chicago, she stopped to buy us milk tea from a trendy Taiwanese milk tea chain, as well as steamed and baked buns from an old Chinatown bakery. The next morning, we picked up another one of my daughters at the airport and went to Dearborn for a Lebanese brunch.

When thinking about what immigrants bring to this country, people often think first of food. But of course, immigrants bring so much more than food.

My father came to the U.S. as an international student, and he built hard disk drives his entire career, from when hard disk drives were two feet across and only used for industry to when they were about one inch wide and could fit into first generation iPods. After he retired, he told me that he was grateful for all the opportunities this country gave him, but he also was clear that he had done his part to give back.

I think about him now as the federal government cracks down on international students, immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, and as people in Los Angeles and around the country exercise their First Amendment rights of free speech and assembly to stand up for their neighbors and communities.

“Armed agents have raided schools, workplaces, and homes – terrorizing our neighbors and ripping families apart,” said U.S. Rep. Grace Meng of New York, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. “This is not about public safety, this is about exerting control and striking fear in immigrant communities.

"As ICE terrorizes immigrants in Los Angeles, thousands are rising to defend their friends, families and neighbors,” said Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and a Los Angeles resident. “As a civil rights attorney, immigrant, and American, I'm appalled to see Trump weaponize the government against protesters to sow fear and stoke unrest – not to keep us safe, but to legitimize repression.”

Some say that sending the National Guard and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles to confront Americans crosses a line, will inflame protests which had been largely peaceful, and distracts from unpopular policy issues.

“Fundamentally, this is actually not about immigration,” said Becky Belcore, co-director of NAKASEC, a Korean American nonprofit. “This is a test to see if the American people will allow the federal government to take away our constitutional rights to free speech and due process.”

Asian Americans helped build this country, from the Transcontinental Railroad to the computers that helped send America to the moon. We cleared farmland, started businesses, cared for the sick, and made medical and scientific discoveries. We fought for this country in the military and in the courts. We know that immigrants belong here. When Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II, they were isolated and there was not a lot of public protest. But today we have history on our side as we stand up to urge our leaders to treat all immigrants with dignity, respect, and due process afforded by our Constitution.

Lue Gim Gong, known as the "Citrus Wizard of Florida," revolutionized American agriculture in the late 1800s. Watch our one-minute video on the lasting impact of Lue Gim Gong’s innovations – part of our New Asian American Voices program.

Curated News

Harvard Chinese grad speech draws praise and ire | BBC  Yurong “Luanna” Jiang’s commencement speech at Harvard calling for unity in a divided world has sparked mixed reactions in the U.S. and her home country. “Harvard wants its students to go and change the world and you can’t change the world without understanding the world,” she said. Watch her speech.

Historic Tony Awards for Asian Americans | Asian American Theatre Review  Francis Jue (“Yellow Face”) won Best Featured Actor in a Play, Darren Criss (“Maybe Happy Ending”) and Nicole Scherzinger (“Sunset Boulevard”) won as Lead Actors in a Musical, and “Maybe Happy Ending,” a hit in South Korea before moving to Broadway, won Best Musical. Criss was the first Asian American to win in his category and Jue and Scherzinger were the second in theirs. And Marco Paguia (“Buena Vista Social Club”) won for Best Orchestrations and received a Special Tony as part of the show’s band. Hear Francis Jue’s comments and see a scene from “Maybe Happy Ending.”

‘Total discrimination’: Chinese students facing U.S. visa ban say their lives are in limbo | The Guardian  Across the U.S., hundreds of thousands of Chinese students are now uncertain about their academic future and some are considering moving away. 

Hong Kong curbs Tiananmen anniversary, as U.S. and Taiwan say world must remember | Reuters  Security was tight in Hong Kong on the 36th anniversary of China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, which the U.S. and Taiwan said must never be forgotten.  

China: World’s first salmon farming ship to raise 8,800 tons of fish yearly | Interesting Engineering  The new vessel marks a major advancement in China’s marine fisheries and is projected to produce 8,000 tons of salmon annually after achieving stable operations in the disputed Yellow Sea later this year. China’s appetite for salmon could reshape global seafood markets.

How rare earth minerals could give China the upper hand in U.S. trade talks | NBC News  China dominates the global supply chain for rare earth minerals, mining about 70% of the materials used to produce everything from wind turbines and defense equipment to electric vehicles.

ICE releases health worker arrested at airport despite living in the U.S. legally for 50 years | NBC News  Green card holder Lewelyn Dixon had been arrested at the Seattle airport after a trip to her native Philippines. She was released from ICE custody after three months.

A Pierce County man expected to be deported to Vietnam. Instead, ICE routed him to South Sudan | KUOW  Tuan Phan had legal permanent residential status in the U.S., his wife said, and was living in Washington State. But a criminal conviction in his teens led to him losing his legal status, landing him on the flight to South Sudan.

Faizan Zaki, 13, crowned U.S. National Spelling Bee champion | Reuters  Faizan Zaki, a 13-year-old boy from the Dallas area, won the 97th Scripps National Spelling Bee, with the French-derived word "eclaircissement," synonymous with enlightenment, in the 21st round of the contest finals. 

'The Hapa Project' asked 'What are you?' Participants have new answers 25 years later | NPR  To honor the 25th anniversary of "The Hapa Project," Kip Fulbeck revisited around 150 original participants to see how their thoughts about being multiracial have changed over time.

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