Asian American groups fight targeted legislation

A Florida judge has recommended issuing a preliminary injunction against a state bill that "basically bans international students from China", according to Clay Zhu, founder and leader at the Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance (CALDA).

"This is the first milestone victory we got in Florida and shows (that) CALDA's lawsuits are making a difference and generating impact," Zhu said in an online discussion Sunday to a group of Chinese American activists who are fighting what they call racist bills:

Florida law SB 846, enacted in July 2023, prohibits the state's public colleges and universities from partnering with entities as well as offering academic employment to international students domiciled in seven "countries of concern" — China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria and Venezuela. The law has mostly affected students from China.

The lawsuit was filed in March 2024 by CALDA, the ACLU Foundation of Florida, and the law firm Perkins Coie LLP.

"We expect the federal court will adopt the recommendations and (will be) formally issuing an injunction in the next two to three months," Zhu said. "The injunction basically means the law is no longer valid and cannot be enforced anymore. And this means international students from China can still apply and be admitted in Florida's public universities and also work as graduate assistants."

Zhu said CALDA has previously filed a lawsuit against Florida's alien land law, also known as SB 264, which bars Chinese nationals from owning real property in Florida. "The case is before the court of appeals right now. We expect a decision will come out in the next two to three months."

As an organization focusing on impact litigation on behalf of Chinese Americans, CALDA brings lawsuits against governments and other organizations to achieve broad policy and social changes to benefit the entire Chinese American community, said Zhu.

CALDA successfully challenged US President Donald Trump in 2020 and stopped the ban on WeChat, the Chinese messaging app.

"We are also suing FBI, DOJ and NIH for racially biased prosecution of Chinese American professors under the so-called also infamous China Initiative. Last month, we organized and filed a lawsuit on behalf of Professor Franklin Tao against his former employer, University of Kansas, who was wrongfully terminated under the China Initiative," Zhu said.

Other individuals and organizations also are taking action to combat such bills across the US.

Asian Americans for Texas, working with other civic groups such as the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) and Asian Texans for Justice (ATJ), is organizing an AAPI Day of Action on Feb 24.

The organizers are mobilizing Asian Americans from Houston, Dallas and around the state to go to the state capital Austin to meet with lawmakers to voice their concerns about the bills targeting Chinese and Asians.

According to Lily Trieu, the executive director of Asian Texans for Justice, even though Asian Americans successfully stopped alien land law SB147 from passing in Texas in 2023, more than 10 similar bills have been filed in the current session of the Texas Legislature.

"Politically, there is much higher risk this time than there was back in 2023" because "stopping foreign adversaries from land grabs" is among the list of top 40 priority bills recently announced by Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Trieu said in a recent online discussion.

A group of volunteers has recently set up a website, texasracistbills.org, to "identify bills that target vulnerable immigrant communities from specific countries" with the help of AI and suggest how to fight those. The site has listed a total of 12 such bills so far.

After examining those bills, the analysis concluded that "these bills collectively create a hostile environment for Chinese investment and property ownership in Texas, potentially affecting even legal residents and naturalized citizens of Chinese descent through increased scrutiny and discrimination".

Xiaoyu Wu, one of the volunteers, said in the online discussion that the group is also collecting and presenting data and facts related to those bills because he said he had watched an SB147 sponsor either reach a false conclusion or try to mislead the public in 2023.

"I hope we can do our homework before we go to the public hearings," Wu said.

A scientist from a public medical research institute in Houston, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that he would like to see other policies included in those fights.

He mentioned Texas Governor Greg Abbott's executive order in November requiring state employees in public institutions to notify and report on their trips to China and a few other countries for personal reasons while prohibiting them to travel there for professional purposes.

"It's really problematic that I would have to notify my superior if I want to see my parents in China and submit a list of what I would have done after the trip. That's a gross infringement on personal freedom and privacy, and we need to fight that back, too," he said.

Abbott has required the public institutions to "have effectuated the requirement of the order" by Aug 1.