Deported refugee issued stay order 2 days later + AAPI women in business series: Your AAPI newsletter

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It is Wednesday, Jan. 22, and this is The Sacramento Bee’s AAPI weekly newsletter, brought to you by yours truly.

Here’s a recap on the stories I recently covered and issues I’m following:

At least one among 30 Cambodian Americans recently deported had been issued an emergency stay a few days later by a judge to prevent the action. The stay order came two days too late.

As a result, he was forced to leave Sunday even though he, at least temporarily, could remain, and he traveled to a country foreign to him, only with the clothes he was wearing, according to his attorney. The man came to the U.S. legally as a refugee and lived in California.

Deportations of Cambodian Americans have increased 279 percent since 2017 as a result of visa sanctions imposed on some Cambodian officials and families. Deportations of Cambodians began in 2002 after the Bush administration signed a repatriation agreement with the government of Cambodia.President Donald Trump’s sanctions led to a new agreement between the countries and Cambodia has since accepted deportees in larger numbers. Many are non-citizens who have committed crimes. Some have convictions that are decades old and have already served their sentences.

As of last July, about 1,900 Cambodians present in the U.S. are subject to deportation, of whom 1,400 are convicted with crime, according to ICE.

For this week’s Sacramento-area Asian and Pacific Islander businesswoman profile, The Sacramento Bee spoke to Anh Tran, founder of Roseville-based Notifii, a web-based package management and notification software designed for universities, on-campus housing, apartment complexes, corporate mail rooms and mailbox stores.

Tran explains how her business got started, some challenges she’s faced with it, offers advice to entrepreneurs and more.

In other news

  • In Orange County, Lunar New Year celebrations are a mix of old and new traditions that have become pan-Asian American, celebrating diversity at public celebrations. [Orange County Register]

  • South Asian Americans are planning demonstrations across the country in late January to protest India’s citizenship bill. [NBC News]

  • A former Japanese hospital built in Los Angeles’ Boyle Heights neighborhood to serve immigrants who were routinely denied entry into public health institutions is honored. [Los Angeles Times]

  • California Supreme Court Justice Ming Chin, the first Chinese American appointed to court, will retire this year. [The Associated Press]

  • Signature Theatre in New York will have a production of Cambodian Rock Band, by resident playwright Lauren Yee and directed by Chay Yew. The play features music by the band Dengue Fever, and centers on the story of a Khmer Rouge survivor, who returns to Cambodia for the first time in 30 years, while his daughter prepares to prosecute one of Cambodia’s most sought-after war criminals. [PlayBill]

  • Author Minh Lê’s own immigration inspired his creation of DC Comic’s Vietnamese American Green Lantern hero, a boy who fights racism. [NBC News]

For things to do in town and beyond, look for the “Gold Mountain” grand opening coming Sunday at the California Museum. There will be self-guided tours of stories about Chinese Californians, lion dance performance by Leung’s White Crane Dragon And Lion Association, and calligraphy demonstrations by Stephen Tse! Don’t miss the all-new exhibit with more than 175 years of history from the Gold Rush to present.

Sacramento History Museum is presenting a special Lunar New Year event at the Sacramento History Museum this Saturday, with interactive events on Lunar New Year customs and legends and symbols, significance of lanterns, the art of paper cutting, and many more.

An exhibition that explores the experiences and events at Tule Lake, the only Japanese American Segregation Center of World War II will be held from Jan. 31 to March 1 at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center.

Finally: What do you want to read about on Sacramento or California’s AAPI population? Send your thoughts to me at tyu@sacbee.com.

That’s it for this week’s newsletter. Thank you for reading!

Theodora Yu, July 16, 2019.
Theodora Yu, July 16, 2019.

Theodora Yu covers Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in California for The Sacramento Bee. She is a member of Report for America’s 2019 corps of journalists.

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