Immigrants who come to this country sometimes go through harrowing experiences as in the case with Hiu Lui Ng, an engineer, who died after a year in custody this past August at Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island. He left behind a wife and two young sons. He was repaid with his pursuit of a green card with abuse and suffering from extreme anguish while pleading for help that never came. The confusion and pain he went through was unimaginable. His wife is teaming up with the American Civil Liberties Union in a civil lawsuit. As a result of Mr. Hiu Lui Ng’s death, the Wyatt Detention Facility will no longer be used to hold immigrants. I hope that Ms. Ng gets the justice that is due to her although it cannot bring her dear husband back.

Please read the article about this injustice here: Hui Lui Ng

Tags: detention, Hong Kong, Hui Lui Ng, immigrants, injustice

President-Elect Barack Obama is staying true to his word and is creating a much diversified cabinet. On December 6 of this year, Obama named General Eric K. Shinseki as his Veterans Affairs Secretary. He is the first Asian-American to hold this post. Obama feels that Gen. Shinseki’s calculations were right during the time he served the Bush administration in regards to the troop size in Iraq at that time. The Bush administration ignored Gen. Shinseki’s concerns and forced him from his post.

Obama has chosen and is choosing cabinet members that are more than competent for the job and with qualifications that are greatly remarkable such as General Eric K. Shinseki that will benefit our country now and in the long run.

Please view the ABC News article on this wonderful news here: Shinseki to Be Named VA Secretary

Tags: Gen Eric K Shinseki, Japanese American, obama, Obama cabinet, Veterans Affairs

We now have the new President Elect Barack Obama. I believe that with his victory, our victory, we will see a change to come in this country that has been unforeseen. He is already making waves around the world in regards to equal treatment among the races. For example in France crowds of people were yelling at the top of their lungs “OUI NOUS POUVONS!” Which translates as, “YES WE CAN!” France is now looking very closely at their own poor race relations in their country and they want to do something about it more than ever before.

I am looking forward to such changes in our own country, the United States of America. There are still thousands of cases of blatant discrimination that so many minorities experience at their homes, at stores, or in their places of work. Institutionalized racism is very dangerous in that many times it is very hard to prove and that there is also nothing worse than someone keeping you down on the totem pole due to your race, ethnicity, or nationality making you starve economically. I really have great hopes that President Elect Obama and his administration will not only bring about tidal waves of change for race relations, but also economic, education, and many other types of change that we are thirsting for in the America of the 21^st century.
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Tags: APAs, Asians, Dale Minami, democracy, Obama administration, politicians

This election year was one of the most exciting election years that we have had for more than a decade, some said in history. Many people were busy watching or directly participating in the election by phone banking and canvassing. I had the pleasure of speaking to James Yee about what happened on the night of the election in his neck of the woods. Here follows what he shared with me:
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Tags: APIA, asian american, Barack Obama, Ehren Watada, internment camp, james yee, japanese, Olympia, Ron Oshima, Sam Song, Seattle, Washington state, World War II

James Yee, the former US Army Guantanamo Chaplain and 2008 National Delegate for Barack Obama was out doing some grassroots campaigning in Ohio from October 23-26 for the Democratic Presidential Nominee. He made stops in Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati.

During the four days, Capt Yee made several Get Out The Vote presentations at major Islamic centers in Columbus and Cincinnati, also focusing on Muslim Participation in the Political Process The American Muslim vote will make a serious impact this year in several key battleground, swing states which have significant Muslim constituencies - Ohio being one of them.
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Tags: american, APIA, asian, asian american, Chinese, Christine Chen, cincinnati, college democrats, columbus, dayton, delegate, democrat, election, filipino, Gov Gary Locke, jacl, james yee, muslim, national, obama, ohio, Politics, vote

http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/governorlocke/bios/bio.htm

http://www.mltsf.com/lawyer-attorney-1067081.html

On Friday October 3, 2008, James Yee and other notables attended an Obama Victory Fund event at the home of Laurie and Scott Oki in Bellevue, WA. The Asian American Finance Committee also headed the event.

Representative Mike Honda was scheduled to attend this event, but he was unable to attend, because he was voting on the Emergency Bill to bail out Wall Street. The first person that spoke at this event was Washington State Senator, Maria Cantwell. She talked about why Obama is good for Washington State and for America. There were several people who were there from the Microsoft community. It was not surprising, because Microsoft is headquartered in Seattle.
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Tags: Asian American Finance Committee, Bellevue, Chinese, civil liberties, Dale Minami, Didi Saluja, election, Emergency bill, Fred Korematsu, Gary Locke, Indian American, james yee, japanese, Laurie Oki, Maria Cantwell, Microsoft, Mike Honda, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Obama Victory Fund, Scott Oki, Seattle, wall street, Washington

Mahvish Rukhsana Khan is an American lawyer, born to immigrant Pashtun parents in Michigan. While persuing a law degree at the University of Miami, she became enraged by the illegal detainment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Having grown up listening to her mother tell her “Now is not the time to be complacent,” Khan felt compelled to help any way she could. With her fluency in Pashto and a familiarity with Afghan cultures and customs that no other “habeas” lawyer with security clearance had, she was quickly taken on as an interpreter for Afghan detainees. Six months later, in January 2006, Khan was on her way to Guantanamo Bay. Her role with the detainees quickly developed. She began providing supervised legal counsel and traveled to Afghanistan to find exonerating evidence for prisoners.
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Tags: afghani, freedom, guantanomo, law, lawyer, pashto, prisoners, san diego, victim, war

Earlier this week I contacted James Yee about him being chosen as a national delegate and what will it will entail at this years Democratic Convention from August 25-28.

James Yee is the “former US Army Chaplain and graduate of West Point who served as the Muslim Chaplain for the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba that would become controversial for its treatment of detainees designated as “enemy combatants” by the U.S. government. While ministering to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Captain Yee advised the commanders of the camp on detainee religious practices and objected to the cruel and degrading abuses to which the prisoners were subjected.

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Tags: abuse, army chaplain, Councilman John Liu, cruel, cuba, delegate, democratic convention, detainee, Emil Amok, guantanamo bay, interview, james yee, Jesse Jackson, Mayor Mufi Hanneman, Mayor Ray Nagin, muslim, Norman Mineta, prisoner, religion, Roland Martin, Tamlyn Tomita, U.S. Congressman Eni Falemoavega, united states, Wendell Pierce