executive order Archives - Page 2 of 2

January 31, 2017

AABANY Statement Opposing President Trump’s Executive Order on Immigration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2017

Contact: Yang Chen, Executive Director
(212) 332-2478

AABANY publicly states its strong opposition to President Trump’s January 27, 2017 Executive Order suspending entry of all individuals, including students, visitors and even U.S. lawful permanent residents, from seven Muslim-majority countries and of refugees from all countries. The President’s actions lead the country down a path that is reminiscent of dark periods in American history that Asian Americans know well.

Asian Americans remember the Chinese Exclusion Act, which was enacted in 1882 and lasted over six decades until its repeal in 1943. When the Supreme Court ruled on the legality of the Chinese Exclusion Act, it decided that the law was justified on grounds of national security. The Act targeted a single race, barring all Chinese laborers from entering the U.S. and prohibiting all Chinese, even those who had lived in the U.S. for most of their lives, from becoming naturalized citizens. Upon traveling outside the U.S., even Chinese who had permanently settled into the U.S. were subject to strict interrogation and in many cases barred from re-entry.

Asian Americans remember President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 in 1942, which forcibly relocated and incarcerated people of Japanese descent, including U.S. citizens, in internment camps. Many Japanese Americans lost their homes and possessions, even though a U.S. intelligence report existing at that time determined that Japanese Americans as a whole did not pose a national security threat. January 30 marks the birthday of Fred T. Korematsu, one of the Japanese Americans who challenged the order in court. We can only speculate today whether that undisclosed intelligence report would have yielded a different result in his Supreme Court case. We should strive to learn the lessons of history and not allow fear and bigotry to lead to similar injustices in present day America.

President Trump’ s Executive Order appears to be grounded in racism and xenophobia, discriminating against a population in the name of national security. Targeting this population violates the most fundamental and core values of America, a country founded by immigrants and religious freedom.

What AABANY is doing includes:

● AABANY and Filipino American Lawyers Association of New York (FALA-New York) are co-hosting a webinar on Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 12:00 p.m. ET on “Understanding Trump’s Executive Orders on Immigration” to provide greater understanding of these orders and their impact on the immigrant community.

● AABANY is collaborating with other bar organizations to hold a CLE workshop on habeas corpus that will allow volunteers to provide emergency legal services to detained persons from affected countries in U.S. airports.

● AABANY has joined Governor Cuomo’s Empire State Immigrant Defense Fund and will coordinate with the Office of New Americans on programs and initiatives to provide representation and assistance to immigrants.

● AABANY will continue to collaborate with organizations such as the New York Immigration Coalition on identifying ways to address the needs of affected populations in light of President Trump’s Executive Order.

We invite and encourage attorneys to contact us if they wish to volunteer for any of the above. We invite members of the public to contact us if they need assistance. AABANY can be contacted by email atmain@aabany.org or by phone at (212) 332-2478.

For more information, please contact Yang Chen, AABANY Executive Director, at (212) 332-2478, or direct any inquiries to main@aabany.org.

The Asian American Bar Association of New York is a professional membership organization of attorneys concerned with issues affecting the Asian Pacific American community. Incorporated in 1989, AABANY seeks not only to encourage the professional growth of its members but also to advocate for the Asian Pacific American community as a whole. AABANY is the New York regional affiliate of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA).

Additional information about AABANY is available at www.aabany.org

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January 19, 2017

Asian Americans say Obama had impact on them – USA – Chinadaily.com.cn

Asian Americans say Obama had impact on them
– USA – Chinadaily.com.cn

Read Paul Welitzkin’s article in the China Daily US, in which he touches upon the different ways that the Obama administration affected Asian Americans. Welitzkin draws from various perspectives, including that of Executive Director Yang Chen:

“President Obama also issued an executive order on diversity and inclusion within the federal government as related to the federal workforce and it had a big impact on Asian Americans who work for the federal government,” said Yang Chen, executive director of the Asian American Bar Association in New York.

However, Chen said there were also some negative developments during the Obama years “such as the failed prosecutions of two Chinese-American scientists, one a professor and the other a federal employee, which illustrated how the fear of China affected Chinese Americans.”

To read the full article, click on the link in the title.

November 5, 2012

Voters in affected counties can vote affidavit in any county / polling place

Thanks to James Hong at MinKwon for forwarding this timely update.

Governor Cuomo is signing an Executive Order which provides for a voter who is a resident in the federally-declared disaster counties of Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, Westchester and of New York City (which includes Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens and Richmond) who have been displaced by Hurricane Sandy:

1.   To vote an affidavit ballot at any poll site in New York State, other than their regular poll site;

2.   Every Board of Elections in the State shall transmit the completed affidavit ballot of any voter who resides in one of the above counties to the Board of Elections where such voter is registered to vote to be canvassed;

3.   The affidavit ballot can only be canvassed for such contests for which the person was entitled to vote at such election.

County Boards of Elections are directed to use all available means to:

Provide notice to election inspectors and post the provisions of the Executive Order conspicuously at poll sites in New York State giving instruction on how to implement such Order;

Instruct poll workers to provide affidavit ballots and guidance to voters; and

Provide notice and guidance to voters in accordance with this Executive Order that indicates that voters who reside in the counties of Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, or Westchester, or in New York City may receive and complete an affidavit ballot at any polling place in New York State, and that the board of elections of the voter’s residence will count such voter’s vote for any office on such affidavit ballot for which the voter is entitled to vote.

The following information may help you implement the Governor’s Executive Order:

The ballot will be sorted out when suitcases are returned to boards after the close of polls, and those belonging in any of the declared disaster counties shall be transmit to those county boards. It may be helpful to photocopy/scan for the board’s election files, the affidavit envelopes of voters casting ballots pursuant to this executive order prior to sending the ballots themselves on to the voter’s home county board.

Before counting such ballots, the county receiving same shall check to ensure the voter did not vote in person or via absentee ballot. The county board shall then cast such ballot with other affidavit and emergency ballots, counting only those votes for contests and questions for which the voter was eligible to vote in their own county

For example, a voter staying with family in Orange County who was displaced from Westchester, would be entitled to vote for statewide contests and Supreme Court (because those 2 counties share a judicial district) and possibly a congressional or state senate contest. A voter who sought refuge further upstate might only be eligible to vote in the statewide contests, as they would share no other offices/contests.

–
Maurice Mitchell
New York Civic Engagement Table, Coordinator
40 Worth St.
Suite 802
Manhattan, NY 10013
Office: 212-523-0180 ext. 28
Mobile: 516-425-1272
NewYorkCET@gmail.com