The Trump nominee becomes the first Filipino American to serve on a federal appeals court and second openly gay federal circuit court judge The United States Senate on Tuesday, December 10 voted to confirm a President Donald Trump-nominated Filipino American prosecutor to the largest appeals court in the country. As the first Filipino American and…
The city of Seattle, Wash. and five legal organizations have filed a lawsuit in California on Wednesday, October 30 against the Trump administration for changing the requirements for naturalization, which would make it difficult for immigrants to qualify for the fee waiver when applying for citizenship. This comes after another effort to tighten the United…
Federal judges in three states have blocked the Trump administration’s controversial “public charge” rule, days before it was scheduled to take effect on Tuesday, October 15. The rule expands the definition of who may become primarily dependent on the government through public cash assistance or long-term institutionalized care funded by the government, or essentially who…
New Trump rule set to take effect Nov. 3 IN a new controversy that combines two of the hottest-button issues — immigration and healthcare — President Donald Trump on Friday, October 4 announced that incoming immigrants will be turned away if they can’t prove they’re covered by health insurance or have the means to afford…
PRESIDENT Donald Trump embarked on a visit to California this week where he had some things to say about the state’s homeless epidemic. On Tuesday, September 17, the president was in Los Angeles for fundraising and speaking events for his re-election campaign. The week before this visit, the administration dispatched White House officials to LA…
President Donald Trump has once again announced his intent to nominate a Filipino American federal prosecutor to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, September 20. Patrick J. Bumatay, who is an assistant attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California in San Diego, was previously tapped for the…
The controversial rule change that could affect to take effect Oct. 15 NEXT month, the Trump administration’s changes to the public charge rule will take effect but not before immigrant rights’ groups have a chance to challenge it. In August, the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) finalized the changes made to the federal public charge…
President Donald Trump said he is “very seriously” considering putting an end to U.S. birthright citizenship, which grants legal citizenship to those born in the country regardless of where their parents were born. “Where you have a baby on our land — you walk over the border, have a baby. Congratulations, the baby is now…
States and organizations around the country are reacting to the public charge rule released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security earlier this week, which would affect immigrants who have received certain public benefits. California, Oregon, Maine and the District of Columbia are among the states that have filed a lawsuit on Friday against the…
NO matter where you came from and the color of your skin, all parents want what is best for their children. Except those, it seems, in the Trump administration. Because they have once again told immigrant families: we don’t want you, don’t try and live the American dream. They have released a new, inhumane rule…
THE Trump administration has focused a lot on actions to curb illegal immigration in the last two years, but new regulation changes released on Monday, August 12 may have a dramatic effect on immigrants seeking legal permanent residency or U.S. citizenship. Set to go into effect in mid-October, the new rule essentially expands who may…
Filipino American veteran organizations are decrying the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announcement to terminate the pathway that reunited Filipino World War II veterans with their families. USCIS on Friday, August 2 said that it plans to cease the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole program in line with President Donald Trump’s 2017 executive…
The Trump administration is terminating a program that expedited the process for family members of Filipino World War II veterans to come to the United States. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Friday, August 2 that it will cease the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole program following President Donald Trump’s signing of a…
The Filipino American man who pled guilty for mailing explosives to high-profile Democrats and President Donald Trump’s critics suffered from mental illness and had a years-long obsession with Trump, his lawyers claim. In a 39-page sentencing memo to U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York, attorneys for 57-year-old Cesar Sayoc…
PRESIDENT Donald Trump on Sunday, July 14 tweeted that four congresswomen of color should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came” before criticizing the way the country is currently being run. He followed up his tweet thread by accusing members of Congress who are unhappy with…
By Jason Tengco In 2016, only 50 percent of eligible Filipino American voters participated in the presidential election. Let me repeat: only half of us voted in 2016. As a community, we can — and must — do better this time around. From the economy to health care, climate change to the Supreme Court, there’s…
The White House on Thursday, July 11, announced that United States President Donald Trump is planning to nominate U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim as the new ambassador to Indonesia. “Today, President Donald J. Trump announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key positions in his Administration: Sung Y. Kim of California,…
PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s efforts to include a contentious citizenship question in the upcoming 2020 Census continues as the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed on Monday, July 8 that a new legal team would now be overseeing the census-related cases. DOJ Spokesperson Kerri Kupec announced the transition on Sunday, July 7, but did not give a…
President Rodrigo Duterte has reportedly accepted U.S. President Donald Trump’s invitation to visit Washington, Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. Jose Romualdez said on Wednesday, July 3. In 2017, Duterte swore he would never step foot in America after a U.S. congressman said he should not be welcomed to the White House due to his lack…
Judge orders discovery on issue of racial bias to move forward AN order was made on Friday, July 5 to continue a court case looking into whether the pursuit by government officials to add a citizenship question on the upcoming 2020 Census was motivated by racial bias. U.S. District Court Judge George Hazel issued the…
The Philippines would be the ‘biggest loser’ in Asia if United States President Donald Trump follows through with his threat to punish American firms that outsource jobs, an independent economic research company has claimed. In Capital Economics’ recent research brief entitled “Winner and losers from the trade war,” it was revealed that the trade war…
The Supreme Court on Thursday, June 27 rejected the Trump administration’s citizenship question from being included in the 2020 Census questionnaire. In his majority opinion released after the 5-4 ruling, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. wrote that the administration’s justification and intentions for the citizenship questions “seem to have been contrived.” The decennial count…
The U.S. Supreme Court announced on Friday, June 28 that it would be reviewing an appeal in the next term on whether the Trump administration’s ongoing plan to end protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is lawful. With legal arguments set to take place near the end of 2019, the highest…
OVER the weekend, President Donald Trump cancelled the massive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids of undocumented immigrants that were scheduled for Sunday, June 23. Trump’s reversal came hours before the planned raids, which were scheduled in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York City and San Francisco. The raids…
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will reportedly begin immigration raids in 10 cities over the weekend, days after President Donald Trump pledged that there would be an operation to remove “millions” of people who have entered the United States illegally. On Friday, June 21, various reports showed that federal immigration officials would start conducting these…
ALMOST exactly four years after his infamous speech announcing his bid for the White House, President Donald Trump on Tuesday, June 18 officially launched his 2020 presidential reelection campaign in a rally with his supporters in Orlando, Florida. When he walked on stage and officially kicked off his campaign, Trump — who unofficially sloganed his…
The 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful responds to Trump’s “merit-based” immigration proposals DEMOCRATIC presidential hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris of California met with Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community leaders on Thursday, May 16 to discuss campaign issues and the significance of her prospective candidacy. “I fully intend to win this election,” Harris asserted, addressing the…
California Sen. Kamala Harris denounces the perceived “hierarchies”of immigrants the plan would impose AS reported by the Asian Journal last week, the Trump administration unveiled its new immigration plan that focuses on curbing the influx of new immigrants by way of a more restrictive “merit-based” system. In an uncharacteristically softer tone, Trump addressed the growing…
About 314,000 Filipinos on green card waiting list could be affected PRESIDENT Donald Trump this week unveiled a sweeping plan that will dramatically reform and tighten the country’s immigration system for those seeking to relocate to the United States. In a speech delivered at the White House Rose Garden on Tuesday, May 14, Trump unveiled…
PRESIDENT Donald Trump on Monday, May 13 signed an executive order to advance the “economic empowerment” of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). The order, which comes during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, is intended “to empower Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to improve the quality of their lives, raise the standard of living of…
