Amidst President Trump’s Two-Day Assault of Executive Orders, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC Reiterates Community Support
- Contact
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Immediately upon taking office on January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders (“E.O.”) and proclamations, several of which threaten the immigration status, civil rights and human rights of Asian Americans and other communities. Additionally, the President rescinded a number of prior executive efforts to advance and protect equity, access to truth and ability to participate in civic engagement. Of the numerous rescissions and in a direct denial of our communities, President Trump rescinded E.O. 14031, “Advancing Equity, Justice, and Opportunity for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.” Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian American Justice Center (Advancing Justice – AAJC) condemns these attempts to sow chaos, disparage and attack the communities we serve.
Immigration: Advancing Justice – AAJC is concerned about each E.O. related to immigration and humanitarian migration. The Executive Order “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” which purports to end birthright citizenship, is of particular concern. The right of birthright citizenship is enshrined in the United States Constitution through the Fourteenth Amendment; it has been the law of the land for over 150 years. That provision allowed the children of Asian immigrants to become citizens in the late 19th century despite widespread racial animus. The President has no authority to decide who is “American” enough to be worthy of citizenship. The order would create an entire generation of second-class citizens. Advancing Justice – AAJC also denounces the shameful dismantling of the Task Force on the Reunification of Families, which restored over 800 families who were separated under President Trump’s first administration.
Census: We are alarmed by the rescission of E.O. 13986, “Ensuring a Lawful and Accurate Enumeration and Apportionment Pursuant to the Decennial Census.” E.O. 13986 affirmed the Constitutionally-required inclusion of all people, regardless of immigration status, in the Census to determine apportionment and the need to ensure a fair and accurate count of the total population. The rollback of this action would lead to dangerous targeting, inaccurate population count resulting in a failure of full representation, and skewed data distribution resources to communities around the country.to communities around the country.
Voting Rights: We are dismayed by President Trump’s rescission of E.O. 14019, “Protecting Access to Voting.” The action directly undermines civic engagement and the government’s responsibility to protect the democracy on which the United States was built. Voting is a fundamental right, not a privilege, for all who are eligible. Our Democracy is strongest when all eligible people can vote, which President Biden’s Executive Order Promoting Access to Voting helped achieve that by providing access to voter registration to eligible citizens. The rescission weakens the federal non-partisan responsibility to ensure that all who can vote are registered to do so consistent with existing federal and state laws.
National Security: The Executive Order, “Designating Cartels And Other Organizations As Foreign Terrorist Organizations And Specially Designated Global Terrorists” is of great concern. The order requires certain federal agencies to begin preparing for a potential invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime authority that has historically allowed the President to detain and deport individuals from “enemy nations” without due process. Throughout the campaign trail, the President has referenced the Alien Enemies Act to fuel baseless claims around the loyalty of immigrants and asylum-seekers, especially those of Asian descent.
The Proclamation “Guaranteeing The States Protection Against Invasion,” is similarly concerning. It declares that the situation at the southern border qualifies as an “invasion” under Article IV of the Constitution and therefore suspends the physical entry of all individuals deemed to be “aliens involved in the invasion” until President Trump determines that the invasion has concluded. Since the United States is not actively at war with the countries highlighted in the E.O.s, both orders are an attempt to abuse power, target and scapegoat communities of color under the guise of protecting national security.
Protection Against Misinformation and Disinformation: Advancing Justice – AAJC is deeply concerned about the Executive Order, “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship” and the dismissal of the real-world harms of "misinformation," “disinformation,” and “malinformation.” Though framed as protecting free speech, in reality it seeks to disrupt the work of federal agencies combatting mis- and disinformation. This conflates censorship with fact-checking – guidelines for accuracy serve to foster, not hinder, speech and debate. Under the President’s vague order, mis- and disinformation will be allowed to thrive, confusing our communities and enabling bad actors to target and dehumanize them, which opens them up to violence.
President Trump’s executive orders have brought confusion and fear intentionally to many communities of color starting on day one of his presidency. However, Advancing Justice – AAJC is committed to protecting vulnerable communities and challenging these E.O.’s to the fullest extent of the law.
###