Biden denounces “skyrocketing” violence against Asian-Americans

Last Friday, I attended a hastily-arranged conference call spearheaded by the US Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Participants of the call included officials from the White House, Department of Justice, FBI, DHS, and other offices from the Biden administration as well as organizations and groups whose constituency is of Asian or Asian-American in origin. The subject matter was about the rising tide of hate crimes against Asians and Asian-Americans in this country. As I have written here a few weeks ago and as what can be seen in the recent news, there have been violent attacks against fellow Asians in California, New York, and other states and most recently, a murder rampage at a massage parlor in Atlanta, Georgia, where eight people died including six Asian women. I previously highlighted a case in New York City where an elderly Filipino riding on a subway train was slashed in the face with a box cutter. He required 100 stitches.

If you have families and friends here in the US, please advise them to be very vigilant. As is our wont, we Asians are non-confrontational, preferring usually to suffer in silence. We feel that it is too much of an inconvenience to report to the police.

During these times, I vehemently advise that when we see some form of violence against Asians, even if the victim is not Filipino, we should immediately call local law enforcement.

From what I gathered in the forum, there are available resources for funding and community support to counter these atrocities. The various offices I mentioned have their respective outreach programs to different Asian communities implemented all around the country.

Also, even if one is undocumented and has been victimized by any qualifying crime, as in this case, felonious assault, manslaughter or murder, either in the consummated, attempted, solicitation or conspiracy stage, the undocumented victim will be eligible for a US visa. So being undocumented should not prevent one from reporting to the police.

Also, please inform the nearest Philippine consulate and the local officials in your area if you are or you someone know is victimized through these heinous acts. They have the ability to take care of your issues and refer you to the appropriate resources available.

Coincidentally on the same day, President Biden and Vice President Harris traveled to Atlanta to meet with leaders of the city’s Asian-American community. Together they denounced, in Mr. Biden’s words, the “skyrocketing” of these hate crimes. He encouraged everyone not to be silent about this issue. “Our silence is complicity. We cannot be complicit. We have to speak out. We have to act."

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On Thursday, the US House of Representatives passed two bills of significant importance for two groups of undocumented immigrants. One is allowing 2.3 million “Dreamers” to gain permanent legal status and ultimately US citizenship. The other bill is the grant of legal status to farmworkers who are living and working in the US without authorization.

This is very good news for these groups of immigrants. Let us see how this bill will fare in the Senate as it is where a discernible force of resistance is felt along party lines, with Republicans vowing not to cave in on this issue.