Anti-immigrant Hate Targets Asians Too
Helen Li, a Fairfax County resident, community activist and writing fellow for the Center for Community Change Action, writes in the Huffington Post about the importance of the election of the next Governor of Virginia. As has been reported on ImmigrationProf, immigration has divided the two candidates:
“Undocumented Asian Americans are part of our local community. In fact, one in six Asian immigrants in Virginia is undocumented. The largest undocumented groups in the US are Indian, Chinese, Filipino, and Korean. If you are in any Asian community, you definitely know someone who is undocumented. You may not know it because they are hiding it. The stigma surrounding immigration status in Asian American circles is forcing the most vulnerable people in our communities to hide their pain and terror for the sake of everyone else’s comfort.
As a consequence, we are often pitted against other people of color as the “model minority” — and our perceived success is used to deflect criticisms of racist policies that hurt other groups, particularly black, native and Latinx communities. However, the “model minority” myth comes at a high cost – and as much as we want to pretend otherwise, the anti-immigrant policies of Ed Gillespie, the Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, also target the Asian American community.
Make no mistake: Ed Gillespie’s extremist platform would be absolutely devastating for immigrant communities, including Asian Americans. His proposed policies partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to prey on immigrants and people of color. Immigration officers camp outside churches and court hearings to detain homeless people and victims of domestic violence in the midst of their most vulnerable moments. They inflict brutal injustices on pregnant women, sick children and others across the country.”
KJ