Anti-Profiling, Civil Rights & National Security

National Security

Since the 19th and 20th centuries, Asian Americans have been unfairly targeted and racially profiled. From the incarceration of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II, to the murder of Vincent Chin in 1982, as well as the scape-goating of Muslim Americans in a post-9/11 environment, Asian Americans are too often considered to be “perpetual foreigners.”

We work to  protect the rights of Asian Americans and immigrants through policy advocacy, legal referrals, coalition building, and education for policymakers, the media and the general public

Talking POinTS

Combating Criminalization and Profiling of Asian Americans Under National Security Pretexts

Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC is deeply concerned with the profiling and unjust prosecutions of Asian Americans and immigrants, particularly scientists, researchers, and scholars in recent years. From the incarceration of Japanese Americans to the profiling of Chinese American scientists, researchers, and scholars, Asian Americans face cyclical targeting and are treated as ‘perpetual foreigners’ in the United States. Advancing Justice | AAJC spearheaded coalition efforts that led to the Department of Justice’s announcement to end the “China Initiative,” and continue to work towards advancing long-term efforts to end racial bias and discrimination against Asian Americans and immigrants.

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Civil Rights and Border Security

Advancing Justice | AAJC fights laws and policies that target immigrants at the border and ports of entry based on their race, ethnicity, religion, or ancestry. From the Trump administration’s unconstitutional Muslim Ban, which separated families through bans on certain visa categories to the treatment of immigrant communities at the border and ports of entry, we continue to face ongoing affronts against our civil rights. Advancing Justice | AAJC works to build solidarity across communities and increase community capacity in combating profiling of immigrant communities. 

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Know Your Rights

Please read our Know Your Rights documents available in English  | Chinese (Simplified) (中文 (简)) | Chinese (Traditional) (中文(繁)) | Arabic (عربي) | Turkish ( Türkçe)

Know Your Rights information on enforcement at the airport available here.

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Resources

Learn more about the history and cycle of profiling and discrimination against Asian Americans: 

• From Japanese American Incarceration to the China Initiative, Discrimination Against AAPI Communities Must End
• From “War on Terror” to the “China Initiative:” The Chilling Parallels of Racial Profiling Between Chinese American and AMEMSA Communities  
• Researching while Chinese American: Ethnic Profiling, Chinese American Scientists and a New American Brain Drain
• Scientists in the crosshairs: How to avoid getting snared in the U.S. crackdown on ‘China Ties’
• The Expanded Muslim Ban: An Attack on Muslim, Black, and Brown Bodies
• The Korematsu Legacy: “Stand up for what is right!”

Check out more of our policy and advocacy work:

• Advancing Justice | AAJC submitted testimony on the discrimination and civil rights of the Muslim, Arab, and South Asian American communities to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties on March 1, 2022.
• Advancing Justice | AAJC and Advancing Justice - ALC submitted an amicus brief in support of Professor Xiaoxing Xi on February 14, 2022. 
• Advancing Justice | AAJC submitted a comment to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy raising concerns of profiling and criminalization of Asian Americans and Asian Immigrants on November 8, 2021.
• Advancing Justice | AAJC and ACLU submitted FOIA appeal for records on Government's efforts to investigate and prosecute U.S.-based scientists and researchers believed to have connections to China on July 14, 2021.
• Civil Rights and Academic Groups delivered petition to New York University President to stop racial profiling professors of Asian Descent on July 7, 2021.
• Advancing Justice | AAJC submitted letter to Acting U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Tennessee to Drop Charges Against Dr. Anming Hu on July 6, 2021.
• Advancing Justice | AAJC submitted testimony for the Democratic Member Roundtable “Researching while Chinese American: Ethnic Profiling, Chinese American Scientists and a New American Brain Drain” on June 29, 2021.
• Advancing Justice | AAJC submitted comment to the National Institutes of Health seeking concrete action from the agency to address the racial profiling of Asian American and Asian immigrant scientists, researchers, and scholars on April 23, 2021.
• Advancing Justice | AAJC delivered petition of nearly 30,000 signatures to President Biden urging him to combat the racial profiling of Asian Americans and Asian Immigrants and put an end to the Justice Department's "China Initiative" on April 9, 2021.
• Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Brennan Center for Justice, and APA Justice Task Force spearheaded a letter to President-elect Biden to end the Justice Department’s “China Initiative” on January 5, 2021
• Advancing Justice | AAJC and Advancing Justice | ALC filed an amicus brief in United States v. Tao on August 20, 2020
• Advancing Justice | AAJC and Advancing Justice | Asian Law Caucus sought a FOIA request from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on August 10, 2020
• Advancing Justice | AAJC submitted a FOIA for records pertaining to Countering Violence Extremism (CVE) programs implemented in Prince George’s County Public Schools on July 23, 2020. 
• Advancing Justice | AAJC submitted a FOIA for records related to the profiling and targeting of scientists and researchers on March 17, 2020
• Advancing Justice |  AAJC’s submitted testimony to the House Judiciary Committee hearing on oversight of the FBI on February 5, 2020
• Advancing Justice | AAJC provided a comment to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy  on January 2, 2020
• Advancing Justice | AAJC submitted testimony to the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing entitled, “Securing the U.S. Research Enterprise from China’s Talent Recruitment Plans” on December 5, 2019