The Valle brothers. (Photo courtesy of endourpain.com)

In his State of the Union speech, President Obama gave a nod to undocumented young people, and indicated his administration is making pinpointed immigration fixes because Congress doesn’t have an appetite for comprehensive reform.

Speaking a few days later to a Latino audience on Univision, the Spanish-language TV network, he again touted his administration’s changes to deportation policy.

“Some of the changes that we’re making on immigration, we’re trying to make sure that we’re prioritizing criminals [for deportation],” Obama said.  Under the Obama administration, there have been a record number of deportations.

The president was referring to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy that recently affected Peruvian immigrants Michell and Yasser Valle. The brothers narrowly escaped the chilling prospect of deportation, enabling them to spend Thanksgiving with their family in New Jersey.

ICE revived the use of prosecutorial discretion this fall, citing that with limited resources, the federal government should apply “smart” immigration enforcement and focus on offenders who are serious criminals as opposed to undocumented students with no criminal history. Immigration judges had at times used prosecutorial discretion before, but under this new push 300,000 deportation cases went up for review.

Advocates argued the Valles were clearly eligible for a waiver under the policy: They have no criminal history, they have ties to the community (they entered the U.S. at the age of five and six), and have immediate family members who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. The brothers are also pursuing a college education and meet other conditions that are spelled out in the Morton Memo, the June 17, 2011 letter issued by ICE Director John Morton to ICE field officers, agents and attorneys, laying out the new policy.

Even though the Valles met ICE requirements, Gaby Pacheco, coordinator of the End Our Pain campaign of the United We Dream organization, said it took several months of “advocacy, putting pressure and using media” to nudge ICE officials in New Jersey to reopen the case. Ultimately their petition was granted and the Valles were given a one-year stay from deportation. During this time they were able to return to school, get employment authorization documents and apply for driver’s licenses. They have the option to file for an extension of their deportation hold, but what’s important, Pacheco told Fi2W, is, “They are doing things the legal route.”

Two cities became pilot areas for a test of the new policy from November 2011 to January 2012. ICE officers, agents and lawyers in Denver and Baltimore underwent training on the use of the policy following the roadmap provided in the Morton Memo.

“In Denver, the courts were closed down so they had time to review how to handle the cases,” said Denver lawyer Laura Lichter, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

“They looked at every case, putting them in files — positive, negative, serious criminal history or bad immigration in one pile, positive factors like [immigrants] coming to school here, with ties to community, with family ties to people who are green card holders or members of the armed forces, or have young children in a different pile,” she said. “They were looking at 8,000 cases.”

Reports on Denver’s pilot program show that about 16 percent of the cases were recommended for closure. The results are preliminary, Lichter stressed. In some cases, prosecutorial discretion simply took cases out of court dockets for review but did not resolve or close them.

“They can be put back in the dockets,” according to a lawyer who spoke at an immigration briefing on the policy, voicing his concerns about accountability and transparency. “There is very little public information on what the DHS is doing with these cases.”

The new policy has not escaped backlash, even within ICE. Despite the Morton Memo, not all ICE officers have received training, because an ICE union leader opposes the policy.

It comes down to limited government resources for deportation, advocates say. “Let’s make sure we go after the truly dangerous ones,” Lichter said. “If you have 400,000 seats on the bus, who would you rather get a seat: a bank robber, a drug dealer, a gang member or would you be going after a college student who was brought here when he was 3 years old who doesn’t have a criminal record and whom we want to be part of our community?”

For the Valle brothers, it’s a relief to be out of detention. But they are still stuck in an immigration no-man’s land. Despite being granted a reprieve from immediate deportation, they do not have permanent legal status.

Feet in Two Worlds is supported by the New York Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with additional support from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation and the Sirus Fund.

Columbia University's first Hindu chaplain, Gadadhara Pandit Dasa. (Photo: Ramaa Reddy Raghavan)

Ramaa Reddy Raghavan brings us an audio slideshow portrait of Indian American Gadadhara Pandit Dasa, who tends to the spiritual life of students at Columbia University.

Gadadhara Pandit Dasa begins his day when most people are enjoying their best REM sleep.  A practicing Hindu monk at the East village ISKON temple (International Society of Krishna Consciousness), Gadadhara, 39, also known as Pandit, awakens daily at 4 a.m.  to begin his prayers and to meditate. He says this early hour free of distractions helps one contemplate on the Divine.

At 9 a.m., the 13 monks that live at ISKON, who come from a variety of countries and backgrounds, eat a simple breakfast of milk, fruit, granola and peanut butter. Gadadhara, who is vegan, enjoys his granola with almond milk. After breakfast the monks study scriptures, attend to chores or prepare for their weekly presentations. At 2 p.m., the monks share a communal lunch of Indian cuisine cooked at the temple.  “Usually there will be rice, soup or dal (lentils), shabji (vegetables) and salad. Sometimes there is bread,” said Gadadhara. The monks gather together and preface eating with a religious song. Then they sit on the floor to partake in a delicious vegetarian meal.

“The primary focus of their life is to achieve a spiritual practice that’s beyond material acquisitions. [The monks] don’t want to be part of the rat race, working 14 hour days, making little money and creating more anxiety,” Gadadhara said.

But Gadadhara has not always been a monk with that mindset. Raised in India, he immigrated to this country with his parents when he was eight years old and says he “grew up in an environment charged with materialism.” He worked in a mortgage company for a number of years, but when his parents’ jewelry business took a turn for the worse it prompted him to become introspective and read the Bhagavad Gita, the famous Indian religious and philosophical text. In 1999, Gadadhara’s curiosity let him to India and a spiritual practice. He says he did not plan to become a monk but one month led to two and now he’s been a practicing monk for 12 years.

About a decade ago the Bhakti Club at Columbia University, formed to introduce students to the culture and spirituality of India through food and discussion, invited Gadadhara to teach vegetarian cooking classes on campus. This led to weekly discussions on the Bhagavad Gita. In 2004,  Gadadhara became the first Hindu Chaplain of Columbia University where he provides weekly spiritual guidance and support to students. Originally his talks were to support Hindu students from South Asia, but today his audience is a mixed group of Americans as well as students from other countries like Mexico, Guyana, and Columbia. He also became New York University’s Hindu Chaplain in 2007. His residual time is spent lecturing to colleges and schools on spirituality and hosting interfaith groups that visit the ISKON temple.

The temple is available to the public for meditation and space is rented out to organizations involved in Eastern spirituality. Plans are in motion to open a yoga studio as well as a vegetarian cafe that will serve ‘wholesome karma-free food.’

“We want to live a simple life focused on body, mind and soul that elevates our consciousness through meditation and prayer while simultaneously spending time helping and guiding others,” Gadadhara said.

A Chicano studies teach-in after the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies program in the TUSD. (Photo: Valeria Fernandez)

TUCSON, Arizona—Instead of going to class at Tucson Magnet High School last Tuesday, high school senior Juan Quevedo,  entered a different type of classroom, protesting with hundred of others the cancellation of his Mexican-American studies program (MAS) by the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD).

Inside the Casino Ballroom, organizers from Unidos, a youth group that opposes the ban, held an all day teach-in on culture, critical thinking and Chicano studies with round tables where the students could engage in dialogue.

“It would be illegal now for the teachers to teach us [Mexican-American studies] so we are coming here to learn all the things they don’t want us to,” said the 18-year-old Quevedo.

The students went back to school on Wednesday, but Unidos will continue to hold teach-ins on Saturdays. A representative from Unidos said that independent student groups may also choose to walk out again.

The controversy over MAS entered a new phase on Dec. 27 when an Arizona administrative judge ruled the classes were in violation of a 2010 state law that bans ethnic studies when they promote the “overthrow of the U.S. government.”  As a result, this January, the Tucson School Board and school administrators proceeded to suspend the MAS classes and remove books that were considered inappropriate from classrooms.

In his ruling, Judge Lewis Kowal sided with findings presented by the Superintendent of Education John Huppenthal who argued that “students were being indoctrinated to develop resentment on a racial basis.”

Some of the books that were taken from classrooms include Rethinking Columbus: The next 500 Years and Occupied America. There are reports that teachers were also advised against teaching Shakespeare’s The Tempest, because of its racial themes.

So for the past weeks Quevedo and other students have protested what they believe is an arbitrary ban to their education via walkouts.

“It is very impressive, because students have come together from high schools to middle schools to protest against this,” said Jesus Romero a former MAS student and member of Unidos.

“We want to plant a seed, to keep learning about our history and culture,” Romero said.  Sixty percent of the over 55,000 students in the Tucson school district are Latino.

Like Quevedo, another 800 students enrolled in the MAS classes in Tucson found themselves having to switch gears mid-semester.

“We’re teaching the traditional curriculum, if a student was in the Mexican American history perspective classes they defaulted to a traditional history class,” said Sean Arce, co-founder and director of MAS.

Nicolas Dominguez, an 18-year-old student that attended the Unidos teach-in said he was disheartened and stressed when he discovered his classes had changed from one day to the next.

“It slows us all down,” he said. “Our teachers want to do something but they’re stepping on glass, they don’t know where to go.”

Dominguez was taking classes on Latino literature, Mexican-American  history and the Social Justice Education Program.

He especially liked his literature class when they were analyzing hip-hop songs, and reading magazines to look at how women are portrayed in society.

HB 2281 was introduced by Republican Representative Steve Montenegro in 2010 after he was approached by then-Superintendent of Education Tom Horne—now the state attorney general— specifically to be applied at TUSD.

“One of the reasons we brought this bill forward was because of the curriculum, the text books they were using, some of them had violent material aimed at inciting violence against another race or class of people,” said Montenegro.

Supporters of the MAS program deny Montenegro’s and Huppenthal’s assertions.

The school district was faced with loosing 10 percent of its funding, about $15 million, for not being in compliance with the law. Four members of the board, with the exception of Adelita Grijalva voted to eliminate the classes.

“The law is unjust, it’s racist and it’s discriminatory,” said Grijalva. “Our classes aren’t designed to overthrow the government or for ethnic solidarity.”

Teachers and students that filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of HB 2281 contend that an audit commissioned by Huppenthal himself found “no observable evidence” that MAS violated the law.

“He didn’t like the findings of his own commissioned audit, which spoke of higher graduation rates,”  said Arce, about the documented academic success of the program. “He came up with his own findings, which are not factually based. Misinterpretations of historical text and historical pictures, based on fear and hate mongering for the Latino community,” added the teacher, who is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Arce maintains that the findings and even the the judge’s ruling were subjective and are tied to a hostile climate for Mexican immigrants in the state and linked  to passage of SB 1070, a law that made it a state crime for an immigrant to not carry documents authorizing their presence in the U.S.

Backers of the ethnic studies law said that it is doing what it was intended to do.

Montenegro emphasized that the law “doesn’t prohibit the teaching of ethnic studies in its true nature.”

“It prohibits the teaching of resentment against other people,” he said.

Students from Unidos disagree with Montenegro’s assertion and plan to hold more of their own classes in the future.

“They’re operating like the Nazis did in the 1940s, when they were banning books, were censoring. Even the politics behinds this have sort of a Nazist, fascist, racist orientation,” said Augustin Romero, a founder of the MAS program and director for student equity in TUSD.

“We are going to be here, and we’re going to learn,” said Daniel Montoya, a 19-year-old former MAS student that founded Unidos. “It doesn’t matter if they create laws to stop our education, we’ll get our education anyway.”

Feet in Two Worlds is supported by the New York Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with additional support from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation and the Sirus Fund.

Republican contender Mitt Romney. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr)

The Florida Primary could be a turning point in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, and Latino voters are in the middle of the fight.

It will be the year’s first primary in a state with a large Latino population. Florida also has a significant bloc of conservative Republican Latino voters. Will they vote for Newt Gingrich, a social conservative who says he’s open to some type of immigration reform? Or will they heed the endorsements of powerful Cuban American leaders in the state and support Mitt Romney?

Host Aswini Anburajan is joined on this podcast by Dan Judy, a Republican strategist and pollster at Ayres, McHenry & Associates, Inc., and Mark Lopez, associate director of the Pew Hispanic Center.

Listen to the podcast

Take a look at the recent Latino Decisions/Univision/ABC Poll about Latino voters in Florida.

The Pew Hispanic Center also has a new poll about Florida Latinos.

Subscribe to the Fi2W podcast using iTunes or Podbean

Feet in Two Worlds is supported by the New York Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with additional support from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation. Fi2W podcasts are supported in part by WNYC Radio and the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

Three Cup Chicken at Ku-Shiang in Flushng, Queens. (Photo: Sarah Kate Kramer)

Dinner at a Chinese restaurant was a Sunday night ritual in my family.  We always ordered our favorites,  Cantonese-inspired dishes like chicken with crunchy water chestnuts and bamboo shoots, wonton soup, and lobster Cantonese —a delicious combination of roughly chopped Maine lobster still in the shell, ground pork, scrambled egg and scallions.  Then in the late ’60s Szechuan restaurants started popping up in the city, and we learned that there was actually more than one type of Chinese food.  Dishes featuring hot chiles, finely diced meats, and silky-smooth tofu opened our eyes and our taste buds.

Listen to this Food in Two Worlds podcast:

Subscribe to the Fi2W podcast using iTunes or Podbean 

In later years, Hunan, Yunnan, and Shanghai-style restaurants entered the scene, giving restaurant-goers many more choices, as well as a comprehension of the incredible variety in Chinese regional cooking.

As someone who has spent decades exploring Chinese cuisine in New York, as well as in China, Hong Kong, and San Francisco, I thought I had a pretty good sense of the depth and breadth of China’s culinary offerings.   But on a recent visit to Chinatown in Flushing, New York, with Chef Kian Lam Kho, I learned that there still are worlds of regional Chinese food waiting to be discovered and enjoyed.

Shaved Ice

Smash Ice Device at Snopo

Pot at New World Mall

Hand Pulled Noodles

Food Court at New World Mall

New World Mall

Waitress at Fu Run Restaurant

Cumin Encrusted Ribs at Fu Run Restaurant

Salad at Fu Run Restaurant

Stir Fried Sea Intestine at Fu Run Restaurant

Customers at Nan Xiang Dumpling House

Steamed Soup Dumplings at Nan Xiang Dumpling House

Ku-Shiang Taiwanese Restaurant

Our Guide Kian Lam Kho at Ku-Shiang Taiwanese Restaurant

Our Guide Kian Lam Kho at Ku-Shiang Taiwanese Restaurant

Three Cup Chicken at Ku-Shiang Taiwanese Restaurant

Stinky Tofu at Ku-Shiang Taiwanese Restaurant

Oyster Omelet at Ku-Shiang Taiwanese Restaurant

(Photographs by Sarah Kate Kramer)

Kian is a chef and blogger who runs a company called Red Cook.  His tour of Chinatown, Flushing, is the first segment in this month’s Food in Two Worlds podcast.

We also visit the city’s oldest dim sum restaurant, Nom Wah Tea Parlor on Doyers Street in Manhattan,  and one of the newer, trendy restaurants serving dim sum,  Red Egg on Centre Street with journalist Larry Tung.  Both are run by second-generation Chinese-American restauranteurs who are redefining the dim sum experience.  Finally, in celebration of Chinese New Year, journalist Richard Yeh brings us to his family dinner table to reflect on the connection between food and home.

Kian Lam Kho’s recipe for Egg Dumplings (鮮肉蛋餃)

These tiny omelets filled with pork are eaten during Chinese New Year to symbolize prosperity, since the yellow dumplings resemble gold ingots.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Slow cooking time: 30 minutes

Meat Filling

1/2 lb. ground pork

1 tablespoon minced scallion

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Egg Wrapper

6 eggs

2 tablespoons tapioca starch (木薯粉)

3 tablespoons water

1/4 teaspoon salt

Vegetable oil for coating the skillet

Mix all the filling ingredients together in a small (1 cup) bowl and set aside. Beat the eggs in a medium (1.5 quart) bowl for about one minute. In a separate small (1 cup) bowl mix the water and the tapioca starch into a thin slurry. Then add the slurry and salt into the beaten egg. Continue to beat the egg mixture until evenly combined, or about three minutes.

Heat a skillet on low heat and spread a thin layer of vegetable oil using a kitchen brush. Measure one tablespoon full of the egg batter and pour in the middle of the skillet. Use the measuring spoon to spread the batter into a thin round layer of about three inches in diameter. Form a teaspoon of filling into an oval shape and put it in the center. Use a spatula to flip one side of the wrapper over until the ends meet and press down to close. Remove from heat when the edges are sealed and arrange on a plate. The meat filling should not be completely cooked.

You can use these dumplings in soup or as one of many ingredients for hot pot meal. You can also serve them with oyster sauce gravy. Boil the dumplings over medium heat in about one cup of chicken stock in a wok for about ten minutes. Drain the dumplings and arrange them on a plate leaving the chicken stock in the wok. Add about two tablespoons of oyster sauce to the chicken stock and reduce to about one-quarter cup of gravy. Pour the gravy over the dumplings and garnish with chopped cilantro before serving.

Restaurants and places we visited on our tour of Flushing’s Chinatown

Ku-Shiang, 135-40 39th Ave., Flushing, NY 11354,  phone 718-888-8798.   Also called Gu-Shine Taiwanese Restaurant.

Don’t miss the Three Cup Chicken, listed on the menu as Chicken with Basil in Casserole.

Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao (Dumpling House), 38-12 Prince Street, Flushing, NY 11354, phone 718-321-3838

A Shanghainese dumpling house with superb soup dumplings.

Fu Run Restaurant, 40-09 Prince Street, Flushing, NY 11354, phone 718-321-1363

The barbecued lamb ribs are a must.

The New World Mall Food Court 136-20 Roosvelt Ave, Flushing, NY 11354, phone: (718) 353-055,1 info@newworldmallny.com

You can eat your way from one end of Asia to the other, and back again in this glittering food court that features 32 food stalls.

Lastly, a great source for Asian ingredients is the nearby Chang Jiang Supermarket,  41-41 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, NY 11354, phone 718-359-3399

Feet in Two Worlds is supported by the New York Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with additional support from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation. Fi2W podcasts are supported in part by WNYC Radio and the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

Sen. Marco Rubio from Florida. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

As eyes turn from South Carolina to Florida for the GOP primaries, one Republican Senator who isn’t even running for president is sharing the spotlight with the Republican presidential candidates.

John Liu gets a hug from a longtime supporter at a recent fundraiser. (Photo: Stella Chan)

An F.B.I. investigation into New York City Comptroller John Liu’s fundraising practices has had a chilling effect on Liu’s ability to raise money for a potential 2013 mayoral run. As revealed this week in his campaign filing report, he’s also been forced to spend thousands on legal fees related to the investigation. But John Liu remains a role model for New York’s Asian American community and still embodies the political aspirations of this growing segment of the city’s population. 

In this podcast, Fi2W executive producer John Rudolph interviews Sing Tao Daily reporter Stella Chan about her recent article for Fi2W concerning the conversations taking place about Comptroller Liu among Asian Americans. We also hear from Korea Daily Senior Reporter Danny Shin. Listen:

Subscribe to the Fi2W Podcast using Podbean or iTunes ¦ Download this episode

Reporter’s Notebook: “Scandal” vs. “Issue”

Chinese vs. English Language Media and the Subtlety of Words. By Stella Chan.

When the F.B.I. investigation unleashed a flood of news about City Comptroller John Liu, I saw that the stories in New York’s English-language and Asian-language media were as different as day and night. In contrast to the mainstream English-language press which uses the word “scandal” to refer to Liu’s situation, Chinese newspapers were terming it a “fundraising issue,” while the Korean press used the word “allegation.”

On October 11, 2011, the New York Times ran a front page article titled “Doubts Raised on Donations to Comptroller.” The investigative article uncovered irregularities in Liu’s donor lists, and subsequently, the F.B.I. began a probe into whether Liu’s campaign was illegally bundling donations. Immediately, the Chinese media began to run articles concerning the negative impact of the investigation on Asian American political participation. Several community leaders expressed their concerns about the investigation and some of them wondered if Liu was singled out because of his race. These angles were muted in the English-language press until the recent NY1 report, “Asian-American Community Struggles with Liu Controversy,” on Jan 5, 2012.

Meanwhile, the English media was reporting that Liu may be involved in several irregularities apart from his fundraising scandal, including his appointment of John Dorsa, his decision on a pension fund contract and his own office renovation. The New York Post even called upon Liu to resign, writing that “John Liu was never suited for public office,” in a November 21, 2011 editorial.  An Asian reporter, off the record, told me that some English press were running negative stories in order to damage Liu’s reputation.

The different approaches of English and Chinese media were clearly shown in the reporting on a press conference hosted by Liu’s Chinese supporters on December 22, 2011. The New York Post, Daily News and New York Times joined a number of Chinese media outlets at the Chinatown meeting. The following day, The Post and The Daily News came up with the headlines “Liu in FBI cross hairs” and “Liu insists he’s still running for mayor despite probe,” while the Chinese media wrote articles about supporters calling for a united community to back up Liu.

After the press conference, Lotus Chau, Chief reporter of Sing Tao Daily, (where this reporter is on staff) wrote in a side bar that because Liu is the first Chinese American who holds a city-wide office in New York City, when the New York Post refers to Liu as a “Liu-ser,” it is seen as a personal attack and makes many Chinese supporters uncomfortable.

“Innocent until proven guilty,” said Danny Shin, senior reporter for The Korea Daily who wrote an exclusive report about the FBI investigation of Korean donors. According to Shin, Korean supporters had donated $100,000 to Liu as of July 2011 and Korean supporters hosted a big fundraising event this month.  Shin says while the mainstream English-language media has their own take on the scandal, “We are neither reporting it negative nor positive.”

Listen to Stella Chan speaking about John Liu on our partner WNYC Radio.

Stella Chan is a reporter for Sing Tao Daily and a Feet in Two Worlds reporting fellow. Her work, and that of the other Feet in Two Worlds fellows, is supported by the New York Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with additional support from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation. Fi2W podcasts are also supported in part by WNYC Radio and the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

GOP candidate Mitt Romney.

Mitt Romney is cementing his hardline stance on immigration.

He has touted the endorsement of Kris Kobach, Kansas’ Secretary of State who helped author the draconian immigration laws of Alabama and Arizona. He reiterated his unrelenting position on unauthorized immigrants and DREAMers—young people who stand to benefit from the DREAM Act—at the GOP presidential debate Monday.

“I absolutely believe that those who come here illegally should not be given favoritism or a special route to becoming permanent residents or citizens that’s not given to those people who have stayed in line legally. I just think we have to follow the law, I think that’s the right course,” he said when asked by Fox News political analyst Juan Williams whether he was alienating Latino voters. Romney did say “I love legal immigration.”

“I would veto the DREAM Act, if provisions included in that act say that people who are here illegally, if they go to school here long enough, get a degree here that they can become permanent residents,” Romney added after applause from the audience.

“I think that’s a mistake. I think we have to follow the law and insist those who come here illegally, ultimately return home, apply, and get in line with everyone else.”

He ended by stressing that “to protect our legal immigration system we have got to protect our borders and stop the flood of illegal immigration and I will not do anything that opens up another wave of illegal immigration.”

It won’t help Romney win Hispanic votes. Somos Republicans, the largest Hispanic republican group which says it has 6,000 members, endorsed Newt Gingrich this week, the one candidate who supports a limited path to residency for some undocumented immigrants.

Who is Romney even trying to appeal to? According to the latest Gallup poll, only three percent of Americans say immigration is the most important problem facing the country today, reported Jon Clifton, Gallup Social and Economic Analysis deputy director at an immigration symposium in Washington, D.C. Tuesday.

Clifton said that based on Gallup’s latest findings, lingering unemployment, the federal budget and continuing economic malaise are more worrisome to Americans than the perceived scourge of unauthorized immigration trumpeted by some on the far right.

Its true that almost two thirds of those polled say they are “dissatisfied” about the level of immigration to the U.S. Simon Rosenberg, president and founder of NDN, a think tank and advocacy organization, believes that immigration will be an issue in the upcoming Presidential elections because it is a hot button topic, especially in key southwestern states that will be contested in November. Clearly, Romney is placing his bets that reaching anti-immigration voters in those states is more important than the Hispanic voters who live in them.

Rosenberg, another panelist at Tuesday’s symposium, said that immigration is at a deeper level a “surrogate for growing diversification of society.” It is “about race, culture and how we are changing.”

He believes that with the election of an African American president, “the country has passed on to a new place in race,” but he contends that “we have not digested it yet as a country.”

Mitt Romney, rather than helping us process these seismic social and cultural shifts is calcifying the toxic immigration debate by insisting on an uncompromising position, a stance not taken by previous Republican presidents and candidates.

Ronald Reagan signed into law the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 which legalized the status of millions of unauthorized immigrants. President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain supported comprehensive immigration reform that included border enforcement and a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants.

If Romney’s braggadocio proves to be real, then he will be presenting a very different Republican Party from that of Reagan or Bush. Is pandering to anti-immigrant sentiment the direction the Republican party, and this country, should be going?

You can follow Erwin de Leon on Twitter or read his blog.

Feet in Two Worlds is supported by the New York Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with additional support from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation and the Sirus Fund.

John Liu with South Asian immigrants at an anti-crime event. (Photo: Stella Chan)

Is John Liu politically dead?

Ever since an ongoing FBI investigation into the embattled New York City Comptroller’s campaign finances began last year, bird-like murmurs have fluttered through the air in New York’s Asian American community .

A group of young Korean, Chinese and South Asian professionals gathered at a cozy Manhattan restaurant recently, gossiping about the scandal.

“Did Liu come under increased scrutiny because of perceptions of foreign money? Will there be heightened suspicion of untoward behavior by other Asian American candidates or of Asian money in American politics? These topics are on the mind of every Asian American,” said Bright Limm, President of Korean Americans for Political Advancement.  “A lot of questions need to be answered but they have not appeared in the media yet.”

Limm’s group aims to maximize the political influence of the Korean American community. Last year, they mobilized a large turnout of Korean voters in State Senate District 11, contributing to the victory of State Senator Tony Avella.

John Liu is in hot water. The scandal began in October with a New York Times investigation which found a number of people Liu listed as donors denying they gave him money. Shortly thereafter, Liu’s fundraiser Xing Wu “Oliver” Pan was arrested and charged with conspiring to arrange a $16,000 political contribution to Liu under the cover of straw donors. Now the FBI and Manhattan federal prosecutors are investigating whether foreign money flowed into Mr. Liu’s 2009 campaign. The Foreign Agents Registration Act prohibits campaign contributions by foreign nationals.

Behind the curtain, Liu’s damaged reputation has led to lengthy discussions in New York’s Chinese and Korean communities. Progressive groups, journalists and people in political circles are constantly exchanging emails and opinions. The most pressing question is, “Can John Liu still run for mayor?”

Some believe the scandal has damaged Liu’s ability to raise campaign funds, others think his supporters will remain steadfast, even if they become less vocal in their support.

Liu, the first Asian American to be elected to city-wide office was widely seen as poised to make history again by being elected the city’s first Asian mayor.  Liu has not formally announced his candidacy, just calling it “2013 fundraising.”  But one person close to Liu who preferred to remain anonymous, said if Liu stops right now, there is no other plausible Asian American candidate for mayor, at least in 2013.

John Liu gets a hug from a longtime supporter and friend at a recent fundraiser. (Photo: Stella Chan)

The past decade saw a dramatic increase New York’s Asian population. Asians now make up about 13 percent of the city’s population, with over one million Asians counted in the 2010 Census.  The community’s fundraising ability has also grown. Chinese Americans and Koreans account for a large part of John Liu’s Asian donors.

A new group, the Asian American Civic Alliance was announced last Friday to promote Asian American political participation and empowerment during the election season. The group will focus on voter registration and voter education. While the coalition will not directly express its opinion on the investigation, it is planning to set up a legal referral hotline for Asian Americans who have been contacted by the F.B.I. regarding their donations to Liu.

A person familiar with Liu and his relationship with the Chinese community, who also preferred to remain anonymous, told this reporter that John Liu’s campaign team is still confident it can attract donations from the Chinese community, and is eager to continue fundraising after the FBI completes its investigation. “Their strategy is get money from Chinese, votes from African Americans, votes from Latinos.”

Holding onto the hope of sending an Asian American candidate into higher office, supporters of John Liu are trying to fight the scandal and continue to solicit funds.  A press conference in Liu’s support was hosted by several Chinese American leaders last month, and a Korean group, “Supporters for John Liu” recently held a fundraising event in Flushing. It was the first Korean fundraising event since the FBI started going after Korean donors to the comptroller, according to Danny Shin, senior reporter of The Korea Daily.

Liu’s recent birthday celebration was well attended by the mainstream political establishment.  It was the first fundraiser since he decided to accept donations of the maximum amount allowed, $4,950, in the wake of his fundraising scandal. Previously, Liu had refused to accept more than $800 from donors, which he said reflected the lucky number 8 in Chinese culture, and also gave him bragging rights about his vast number of supporters.

But a Liu campaign event on December 19 was called off.  The event’s sponsor was the Lin Sing Association, a 111-year-old Chinatown advocacy group. The group’s senior adviser Eddie Chiu said, “The FBI investigation shocked the Chinese community, the Chinese are very sensitive to it.”

Chiu maintains the scandal has had a chilling effect on donations—which may be reflected in Liu’s decision to raise his money cap. After the FBI visited the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, which was the first fraternal group in Chinatown, Chiu received calls from many of Liu’s supporters. They were nervous about dealing with the FBI and said they wouldn’t attend the fundraiser.

Supporters in the Korean American community threw Liu a fundraiser on Tuesday. (Photo: Stella Chan)

Some young Asian American professionals suspect that the new immigrant political force is sparking a conflict with the political establishment, and this is why Liu was targeted. A few have asked if  Liu was singled out due to racism.

John Park, a member of KAPA’s Steering Committee, suggested that if John Liu was not a person of color, his legal difficultires might not have aroused the same attention. “Obama is still being questioned on his identity–if he is foreign born or is a Muslim. However, not one question about Mitt Romney. Does a foreign face equal foreign money?” he asked rhetorically.

There’s also concern that if Asian Americans become nervous about making political contributions, it could affect other Asians who want to run for higher office such as Assemblywoman Grace Meng, and City Councilors Peter Koo and Margaret Chin. Corky Lee, a well-known Chinese American photographer, said the investigation will slow down the money flow in general, and without money, candidates cannot move ahead.

Asian Americans have traditionally lagged in voter registration. But many more voted in 2009, and they were expected to turn out for John Liu. Whatever the future of Liu’s political career, there’s no question that his presence on the New York scene invigorated a new generation of Asian American political activists and civic leaders. Back at that Manhattan restaurant, in spite of worries about Liu, there was a note of optimism at the table. “We should conserve our energy for political advancement,” said Limm.

John Liu himself emphasized the importance of the Asian American community’s support at his recent fundraising dinner, where he said there will be tremendous opportunities for the community and for him as a candidate in 2013. When asked if the FBI investigation has changed his relationship with Asian voters and campaign contributors, he simply replied, “at the end of the day, nothing is going to stop or slow us down.”

Stella Chan is a reporter for Sing Tao Daily and a Feet in Two Worlds reporting fellow.

Feet in Two Worlds, a project of the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School, is supported by the New York Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

(Photo: Mockstar/flickr)

While the Republican presidential candidates have taken hard line positions on illegal immigration, rank and file GOP voters in New Hampshire tend to have a more nuanced position on the issue.  Pilar Marrero, senior political writer for La Opinion, says Republican voters she has met in New Hampshire are worried about illegal immigration, but they don’t necessarily support policies that would separate immigrant families.

In this podcast, recorded on the eve of the 2012 New Hampshire Primary, Marrero and free lance journalist Valeria Fernandez speak with Fi2W Executive Producer John Rudolph about the mood of the voters in the Granite State.  Fernandez talks about her reporting on the state’s small but growing Latino population, and their concerns about the Republican candidates and President Obama’s immigration policies. Listen:

Subscribe to the Fi2W podcast using iTunes or Podbean ¦ Download this episode

Feet in Two Worlds podcasts are supported by the New York Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with additional support from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation. Fi2W podcasts are also supported in part by WNYC Radio and the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.