Issue 76 • MARCH 27, 2024
👋 Welcome back to The Yappie’s AAPI politics briefing—your guide to the policy news and activism affecting Asian Americans + Pacific Islanders.
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— Edited by Shawna Chen
THE BIG STORY
Widespread damage from the Lahaina wildfires as seen on Aug. 21, 2023 in Maui. Photo: Adam Schultz/White House Photography
Lahaina survivors’ struggles continue as FEMA-funded housing runs out
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Thousands of Maui wildfire survivors living in FEMA’s non-congregate sheltering program are struggling to find and access independent long-term housing options. With FEMA’s non-congregate sheltering program set to expire on April 10, the pathway to recovery for Lahaina survivors is unclear.
📃 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continues to face backlash seven months after the Maui wildfires displaced thousands of people and destroyed roughly $5.5 billion of capital, including homes, buildings, and agriculture.
Recovery has been slow, and many displaced residents say the upcoming deadline for eviction from FEMA-sponsored hotels does not allow enough time for survivors to find their footing—especially those who lost their homes, livelihoods, and more in the fires.
Roughly 3,558 people were still living in FEMA-sponsored hotels run by the American Red Cross as of early March, Honolulu Civil Beat’s Cammy Clark reports.
How it happened: In the aftermath of the August fires, the agency provided financial assistance to displaced residents for basic needs such as food and water, and placed impacted individuals and families in hotels and other alternative housing.
But local residents said the short-term help came too slowly and didn’t provide a stable path to long-term recovery. Many who were displaced were already struggling with Hawai‘i’s unaffordable housing crisis.
More than 5,000 people are still living “in limbo,” NPR’s Debbie Elliott writes.
The agency cites a variety of factors that have impeded efforts to move residents out of FEMA-funded housing, including a lack of available or handicap-accessible property in West Maui, long waits for FEMA inspections of available housing units, and unlivable apartment conditions.
“There’s two studios and two one-bedrooms [in Lahaina] and that’s it,” FEMA program analyst Tracy McCauley told the Civil Beat. “I don’t have what you guys want. And it hurts us. It really does because we’re hearing [residents] on the phone saying, ‘I don’t want to go (outside West Maui).’”
FEMA has joined the state, county, and nonprofit organizations in urging owners of short-term rental properties to help house survivors instead of tourists. It also said in January that it was working with Maui property managers and the mayor’s office to identify units that can serve as rentals for 18 months, the Associated Press’ Audrey McAvoy writes.
Gov. Josh Green (D) and Maui Mayor Richard Bissen unveiled earlier this year a $500 million agreement to establish over 3,000 “stable housing units” for displaced survivors. FEMA committed to providing half of the funds needed for the project, titled the Maui Interim Housing Plan.
What to watch: The Army Corps of Engineers recently awarded a $159 million contract to Native Hawaiian organization Hui Huliau Technology Services to clear debris and ash from commercial buildings and demolish unsafe facilities.
Yes, but: Less than a third of the commercial properties are registered for the program, in part because signatures are needed from every tenant in each building, Cammy Clark notes in a separate article for the Honolulu Civil Beat.
The Maui wildfires have also renewed calls for sovereignty from Native Hawaiians who point to the wildfires as the latest example of the state and local governments’ mismanagement of their homelands.
— By
Katrina Pham
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Shawna Chen
AAPI NATION
Protesters rally in front of the Supreme Court on June 24, 2022 after the fall of Roe vs. Wade. Photo: Ted Eytan via Flickr
👉 Here’s what else is happening across America…
📊 79% of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders think abortion should be legal in most or all cases, according to a survey by AAPI Data/AP-NORC. Meanwhile, Republican AAPIs (57%) are more likely than Republicans overall (38%) to support a nationwide law guaranteeing access to legal abortion.
Also on our radar: The poll found that 56% of AAPI adults support counseling for transgender adults, while 47% support it for minors. 46% back gender-affirming hormone therapy for adults, and 30% support it for minors.
🏛️ A Georgia bill that would ban any “agent” of China from buying farmland or land near military installations in the state is on track to become law despite opposition from Democrats who said would discriminate against Asian Americans, Associated Press’ Sudhin Thanawala writes. Republicans denied the accusations and claim that the bill would protect national security.
In their words: “This bill, whether explicitly or not, paints a picture that residents from certain parts of this world cannot be trusted,” said Democratic state Rep. Michelle Au, who noted that she has been accused of being a spy for the Chinese Communist Party since joining the General Assembly. “They are essentially suspect and potentially traitorous simply by dint of their nationality.”
📖 The University of Utah’s Board of Trustees has approved the creation of a new interdisciplinary research center for Pacific Islands studies. The center will support “ethical and critical scholarship by and for Pasifika Indigenous peoples, with particular attention [on] Pacific Islanders living away from their homelands,” per a press release.
Almost 50,000 Pacific Islanders live in Utah, and Salt Lake City is home to one of the oldest and largest Pacific Islander populations per capita in the continental U.S.
🔎 San Francisco officials are addressing Asian Americans’ demands for transparency in the investigation of a deadly attack on an elderly Chinese immigrant, NBC Bay Area staff report. The police will release video footage from the incident once the investigation is complete per the mayor’s request. 🎓 The White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders will convene higher education leaders from across the U.S. on April 2 for a historic leadership development summit at the University of California, Berkeley.
🇬🇺 A new U.S. Indo-Pacific Military Command will be established on Guam to centralize defense operations in the region despite longstanding concerns about military build-up, Pacific Island Times’ Mar-Vic Cagurangan writes.
🗣️ AAPI groups in Anchorage, Alaska hosted the city’s first mayoral forum last week, KNBA’s Rhonda McBride writes for Alaska Public Media. Seven of 10 candidates attended and were asked about language access policies, anti-Asian hate, translation services, and more.
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— By
Rachel Lee
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Shawna Chen