Issue 69 • DECEMBER 19, 2023
👋 Good morning, and welcome back to The Yappie’s AAPI politics briefing—your guide to the policy news and activism affecting Asian Americans + Pacific Islanders and our last for 2023.
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— Edited by Shawna Chen
THE BIG STORY
The sun sets over the U.S. Capitol. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division
The AAPI issues that dominated 2023
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We don’t yet know what 2024 will bring. But we do know some of the biggest stories that shaped AAPI Nation in 2023—and how they’ll carry over into a pivotal election year.
📃 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
THE ASIAN AMERICAN VOTE: Asian American voting blocs continue to have wide-ranging party affiliations with lines of age, ethnicity, and nationality separating their affinities with Democrats, Republicans, or neither.
Why this matters: Each 2024 candidate’s ability to appeal to the issues important to Asian Americans may have profound impacts on the outcomes of upcoming elections.
“The Asian American vote will likely be decisive in battleground states like Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, which are decided by such a small margin,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) told NBC News’ Sahil Kapur.
Inflation was one of the top issues affecting Asian Americans, according to a Pew Research Center study published this year.
Across the ethnic groups surveyed—including Indian, Vietnamese, Filipino, and Chinese Americans—inflation’s impact on local communities ranked much higher than all other issues polled, such as climate change, violent crime, and terrorism.
Meanwhile: The youngest voting bloc of Asian Americans tends to lean more Democratic, according to a separate Pew study published earlier this year.
Almost 4 in 10 foreign-born Asian Americans identified as or leaned Republican, whereas almost three-quarters of the U.S.-born Asian population lean Democratic.
RENEWING COFA: After months of stalled negotiations, the Compacts of Free Association are now awaiting their final approval in Congress. The renewed agreement will last another 20 years.
The COFA agreement between the United States and the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau allows Micronesians to freely migrate to and work in the U.S. In return, the U.S. government maintains military rights over the South Pacific nations’ lands while providing financial assistance.
Lawmakers and activists have been fighting for modifications to the COFA agreements that would expand federal public benefits, address the nuclear impact of the U.S.’s military legacy, and bolster protections against climate change.
“[The impacts of U.S. nuclear testing and waste disposal] is an issue that the U.S. inadequately addressed in negotiating the original Compact of Free Association and wrongfully and mistakenly refused to discuss in amending it in 2003,” Phillip Muller, chief negotiator for the Marshall Islands, said to Honolulu Civil Beat’s Chad Blair.
On our radar: Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai‘i) and Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawai‘i) have introduced a bill that would make amendments to the “qualified alien” definition and open the door for COFA migrants to access federal public benefits such as food stamps.
To sum it up: In 2024, we’re looking to see when the COFA agreements will be ratified, and whether the U.S. will address benefits for COFA migrants.
ANTI-CASTE ACTIVISM GOES NATIONAL: A wave of universities pushed to protect students against caste discrimination in 2022, and the momentum continued this year as Seattle became the first city in the nation to explicitly ban caste discrimination in March.
California could’ve followed in Seattle’s footsteps to become the first state in the country to ban caste discrimination. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), however, vetoed California’s version of the bill after it cleared the state legislature, saying only that California law already protects people from caste-based discrimination.
Activists have said their fight against caste discrimination will continue.
Organizers in New Jersey, for example, have been doubling down on their push for caste protections—especially since the nation’s largest Hindu temple, located in Robbinsville, was built using exploited, lower-caste labor.
MAUI FIRES AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN SOVEREIGNTY: At least 100 people died in the wildfires that raged through the town of Lāhainā in August. In the aftermath of the blaze—a consequence of climate change, mismanagement, and the region’s history of colonialism—many Native Hawaiians renewed demands for sovereignty.
The sequence of events: The fires razed the former capital of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i and destroyed countless cultural landmarks and homes. The displacement of Native Hawaiians further raised concern over the historical eviction of Native Hawaiians, and fears that the wildfires could exacerbate the issue.
Native Hawaiians are the only Indigenous group in the nation without self-governance rights, The Guardian’s Claire Wang reports.
“When we talk about returning to the old ways, we mean reinstating a sustainable value system, where our nation’s wealth is measured by the health of our land and air and water,” activist Kaniela Ing said to NBC News’ Kimmy Yam.
“The systems of capitalism and colonialism caused a disaster, and the values of sovereign Hawai‘i, once exemplified, is the solution to carry us forward,” Ing added.
SYSTEMIC GUN VIOLENCE IN ASIAN AMERICA: The shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay over Lunar New Year sent shockwaves through the Asian American community, as five men and two women were killed in Half Moon Bay and 11 people were shot and killed in Monterey Park.
Of note: Monterey Park was considered by some as America’s first suburban Chinatown, while Half Moon Bay remains a work site for many Asian American and Latino farmworkers who were forced to return to work shortly after the shooting.
The aftermath of the shootings highlighted the shortcomings in institutional support systems for Asian Americans—including a lack of mental health services, trusted avenues for Asian Americans to report crime, and ways for community members to receive in-language information about news in their communities.
— By
Katrina Pham
AAPI NATION
A homeless encampment in downtown Los Angeles as seen on April 14, 2021. Photo: Levi Clancy via Wikimedia Commons
👉 Here’s what else is happening across America…
📈 Asian Americans have experienced an extreme increase in homelessness from last year, CNN’s Anna Bahney writes. Soaring rent has caused Asian American homelessness to rise 40% from 2022, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
🛣️ Lāhainā reopened to the public for the first time to residents and business owners, the Associated Press’ Lindsey Wasson and Audrey McAvoy report. Reopened areas include the Banyan Tree Park, a local elementary school, and several popular restaurants.⚡ Guam Power Authority will receive $1.7 million in federal funding to shore up the island’s electric grid and bolster its resilience against the impact of extreme weather events, T&D World notes. 🗳️ Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are dissatisfied with U.S. politics, according to a new poll from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About 7 in 10 AAPIs believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, the poll shows. Only 1 in 10 believes democracy is working well in America.🔎 Colombian authorities are investigating the alleged kidnapping and murder of Hmong American comedian and activist Tou Ger Xiong, Astrid Suarez and Steve Karnowski report in an AP wire for Honolulu Star-Advertiser.🥇 John Park, a longtime Brookhaven councilmember, has made history by becoming the first-ever Asian American mayor in Georgia, NextShark’s Bryan Ke writes. As councilmember, Brookhaven’s new mayor-elect had focused on keeping low taxes and improving the city’s parks and green spaces.
❤️🩹 The nonprofit Famalao’an Rights—led by CHamoru, Pohnpeian, and Filipino women—is working with the ACLU to ensure telemedicine access for medication abortion remains available as it fights for broader abortion access and reproductive justice on Guam.
🎙️ Tom Nguyen has become the first Asian American city commissioner in Kansas, Kansas Reflector’s AJ Dome reports. The 20-year-old was prompted to run for office after his Vietnamese immigrant parents gained U.S. citizenship earlier this year. He plans to turn the city into a regional hub and vows to lower the standard cost of living.⚾ The San Francisco Giants have signed Jung Hoo Lee for a six-year $113 million contract. The South Korean outfielder is known for his athleticism and strong batting abilities.🥰 Enjoying The Yappie? Make a donation, forward this briefing to a friend or subscribe here. You can also follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
— By
Preston Lieu