April 22, 2019

Chinese Affirmative Action joined Bayan USA, Arab Resource and Organizing Center and other immigrant community organizations in a rally at SFO on Friday, April 19th on the one-year anniversary of the detention and deportation of Jerome Aba.

Aba, a prominent Bay Area Filipino youth activist, was detained at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in April 2018 in a case that underscored the racial profiling and unjust treatment experienced by immigrants and communities of color at all U.S. border entry points. More context can be found here.

CAA joined the rally to highlight that Chinese communities have also been unfairly detained and questioned at SFO without language access or due process or checks against racial bias. Under the Trump administration, the Custom and Border Patrol’s (CBP) has dramatically expanded its use of discretionary power to interrogate, detain, and bar entry into the United States.

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“We have been refused our freedom of mobility and our right to be with our families, our dignity and respect because of the color of our skin, the language we speak, the way our name sounds, or where we have  traveled.” – Hong Mei Pang, CAA Director of Advocacy pic.twitter.com/TriKmgo4XB — CAA (@CAAsanfrancisco) April 20, 2019

Cont: “CAA is the Chinese dispatcher on SF’s rapid response hotline and we know that our communities … those who are marginalized and excluded from trumps definition of who belongs, have endured extended detention, prolonged interrogation, and been harassed.” — CAA (@CAAsanfrancisco) April 20, 2019 Cont: “We will continue to unite and protect each other. We will continue to make noise and fight back against racial profiling and the scapegoating of people of color under the name of national security!” — CAA (@CAAsanfrancisco) April 20, 2019

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Throughout the action, community partners highlighted how the lack of oversight on Customs Border Patrol and other Immigration Enforcement Agencies have exacerbated the harmful treatment of activists and immigrants at border check points.

For example, in CAA’s role fielding a multilingual 24/7 hotline for immigrants impacted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforcement activities, CAA has noted an increase in the number of Chinese-speaking, limited-English proficient callers due to prolonged CBP interrogation at SFO. CAA links this treatment to other racist and xenophobic tactics employed by the Trump administration in the name of national security.

Global political tensions have resulted in increased scrutiny and distrust of the Chinese American community. National security scapegoating remains a looming issue for the Chinese American community. In recent history, Chinese American and Chinese scientists and academics have been subjected to racial profiling to the point of accusations of espionage. The most prominent example being the false accusations levied at Professor Xiaoxing Xi.

CAA has joined with End National Security Scapegoating to fight racial profiling and provide a resource for those affected. You can find out more here.

CAA’s participation in the rally was also covered in Chinese language newspaper World Journal. You can find the article linked here.