SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

Hello, everyone!

Sophea Phea, a Cambodian refugee, was deported 11 years ago for a non-violent crime. Today, she is reunited with her family in the U.S. and readjusting to her life.

Phea was born in Thailand and came to the U.S. initially after her family escaped the Khmer Rouge. However, after being convicted for credit card fraud, she served a year in prison and was handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Eventually she was set free after Cambodia refused to grant her travel papers. But, without any warning, she was deported four years later after the travel documents suddenly came in.

While in Cambodia, she became a teacher and an advocate for the rights of deported Cambodians. Now, reunited with her family and her son whose relationship had been strained due to her sudden disappearance, she continues to work on legislation to give deportees a chance to return to the U.S. 

Phea wants people to know the reality of deportation: “I want people to know that ICE deportations impact families harshly, separating them and causing much more trauma. For Southeast Asian community members, it feels like history repeating itself, being ripped from our homes and families to try to resettle in a foreign country – the same country where most of us are still trying to forget and overcome horrific war trauma."

Spotlight 💡

Food and Wine released their Best New Chefs list for 2020, detailing creative and innovative Asian chefs from around the country.

Filipino chef Melissa Miranda took first place with her restaurant Musang in Seattle, Washington. Calvin Eng in Brooklyn, New York took second place with his Cantonese American cuisine at his restaurant, Bonnie’s. Many chefs were also included in this list including Tim Flores and Genie Kwon and their debut restaurant, Kasama, in Chicago’s Ukrainian village. Justin Pichetrungsi continues his father’s restaurant legacy with Anajak Thai in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles.

Race in America 🌎

Asian American candidates in Illinois are breaking state records. Today, at least 22 Asian American candidates are running for office.

The Pew Research Center found that within the rising populations of AAPI communities and voter bases across the country, 380,000 eligible Asian American voters were in Illinois in 2020 – representing 4% of the state’s total eligible voters. In U.S. Census figures, Asian Amerians make up 6.1% of the state’s population while native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities make up 0.1%.

Candidates running this season include Alderperson Nicole Lee (11th), who we have previously covered in the newsletter; Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Josina Morita; Appellate Court candidate Sonni Choi Williams; Illinois House candidate Hoan Huynh; Illinois House candidate Kevin Olickal; and House candidate Nabeela Syed.
 

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A new documentary, “Rising Against Asian Hate: One Day in March,” which focuses on the six Asian women murdered in Atlanta in March of 2021 will release on October 17 on PBS.

The documentary will be narrated by Sandra Oh and accompanied with original music by Grammy and Academy Award-winning musician Jon Batiste and Grammy-nominated musician Cory Wong. The film examines the legacy and continued violence against Asian Americans, specifically Asian American women, and it features interviews with local government officials, the families of the victims and other Asian American politicians.

Director Titi Yu explained the Atlanta shooting, among other tragedies, “compelled a deep reflection within the community about our place in the American polity.”

In Other Asian News 🗞

South Korean adoptees in Europe and the U.S. are petitioning the South Korean government to investigate their adoptions, many of whom suspect that their files were falsified documents that erased their real statuses and identities.

During the adoption boom of the 1980s following wars in the region, many Korean children were taken from their families. Adoptees who sought out their pasts discovered many instances in which their origins were rewritten to hide their identities and conditions; some found that adoption agencies had swapped their identities around, replacing children who died, were sick, or retaken by their Korean families before they were sent to Western parents. This has led many to feel a heavier sense of loss and sometimes found themselves reuniting with relatives that were never biologically related to them to begin with.

Now, 283 applications have been filed through Danish-based groups, describing their lost and distorted origins to Seoul’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, along with a letter to current President Yoon Suk-yeol, to determine the truth of the matter. 
 

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In Japan, the Legal Affairs Bureau concluded that 60% of 300 online posts included in a Korean resident’s report of hate speech were found to be illegal human rights violations.

Those online posts against third generation Korean resident Choi Kang-ija were initially met with slow action from the local government in the Kanagawa Prefecture city of Kawasaki. Choi and her lawyer, Yasuko Morooka, took their case to the Yokohama District Legal Affairs Bureau and filed a damages report that got her compensation and acknowledgement. The Bureau also explained that while the comments were not illegal acts under the Civil Code, the post could be determined as “unjust acts of speech discrimination” under Japan’s anti-hate speech law.

TV 📺

Disney is planning to convert the longest poem ever written into an epic series.

The streaming giant will retell the tale of “Mahabharata,” a 2000-year-old Sanskrit poem about an internal family battle for the throne to the kingdom, with some godly interferences for good measure. The “Game of Thrones”-esque story will stream in India on Disney+ Hotstar. 
 

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Lee Jung-jae made history as he took home the Best Actor in a drama series Emmy on Monday night for his role in “Squid Game.”

He is now the first person from a foreign language show to win that category. Hwang Dong-hyuk also won the director Emmy. The show was nominated for a total of 14 awards and won four others for guest acting, stunts, production design and visual effects.

What else is on our minds? 🧠
 

• The crime reporting app Citizen will provide 20,000 people in the Bay Area Asian community with one year of free access to its premium features, which include 24/7 text and video call with a team of agents available whenever someone feels unsafe.  

• A non-profit Asian community resource center is now open in Northern Nevada.  

• South Korean fashion designers are making their mark at New York Fashion Week. 

• The first known U.S. death from Monkeypox was recorded in Los Angeles on Monday. 

• An inside look at dining at the highest restaurant in South Korea.