Asian Fortune Your source for all things Asian American
By Jennie L. Ilustre
Americans of Asian ancestry mourned the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18, noting that the nation and the community not only lost a unique American, but a civil rights champion as well.
President Trump and the Senate have declared that a replacement would be named and confirmed sooner rather than later. The mainstream media reports that the nine-member Supreme Court will now most certainly be composed of 6 conservative justices and 3 liberals who will be making decisions affecting daily lives. The impact will be felt for generations, they point out, because the justices serve for life.
Asian American leaders and advocates have expressed concern over this development. For starters, nearly 130 million Americans, including Americans of Asian ancestry, stand to lose their health coverage if the Supreme Court rules the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare is invalid.
Likewise affected are Issues critical to the Asian American community. Immigration, for one, and this includes the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA. There is concern this would lead to mass deportation of approximately 700,000 DACA recipients. This figure includes some 16.000 Asians, who are either studying or have joined the workforce, becoming taxpayers who contribute to the nation’s economy.
The Trump Administration can terminate DACA again. The recent Supreme Court decision only made a ruling that the Administration’s Memorandum on rescinding DACA was defective, and the memo can be corrected and issued again. The nation’s highest court did not rule on the merits of DACA.
DACA is an Executive Order issued by President Obama in 2012. It allowed adults–who were under age 16 when they entered the U.S. without authorization–to stay in the country to study and to work without fear of deportation. To qualify, applicants should not have a criminal record, must have completed education or are attending school, must pay a fee, and register with the government. DACA has to be renewed every two years.
Other issues relate to voting rights, gender equity, LGBTQ rights, and loss of representation in the US Congress and health, education and other federal services, due to undercounting in Census 2020.
Community and Nation
The community views the demise of a giant like Justice Ginsburg, affectionately called RBG, as a profound loss, as well as a motivation to honor her legacy.
Remarked Madalene Xuan-Trang Mielke, President & CEO Of Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS): “Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had been a champion for communities like ours, and her untimely death last weekend has affected our community tremendously.”
“We hope that her legacy will continue to inspire more women, including Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. or AAPI, women, to run for political office or serve in government and reduce the gender equity gap when it comes to female representation,” she added.
As well, the community is sounding the alarm on a host of issues that will be decided by a new Supreme Court, affecting the community and the nation.
Juliet K. Choi, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Justice Ginsburg’s legacy on the Supreme Court included protecting critical rights and laws that helped underrepresented communities like ours. One such bill was the Affordable Care Act, which expanded health coverage to millions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.
Any efforts to undercut, or eliminate this critical law is damaging to our community and all Americans, and we hope that the next Supreme Court Justice will continue Justice Ginsburg’s work to preserve it.
Irene Bueno, partner at NVG based in the nation’s capital, Presidential Assistant on Domestic Policy during President Bill Clinton’s terms of office.
Days after the November 3 elections, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on a case which President Trump supports that could invalidate the Affordable Care Act or ACA. The ACA was enacted into law during the Obama/Biden Administration, and has helped millions of Americans gain access to health insurance that had been beyond reach due to high cost or they had “pre-existing conditions.”
Among other things, the ACA provides subsidies to help Americans afford health insurance, it allows states to expand their Medicaid program to make health insurance available to low income Americans, and provides protections for Americans who have “pre-existing conditions.”
If the U.S. Senate confirms President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, it is likely that she will vote to invalidate the ACA, jeopardizing the 129 million Americans who have pre-existing conditions. This is unconscionable during a time of a deadly pandemic.
The DACA program has helped thousands of people who were brought to the United States through no choice of their own and are contributing to our society as health professionals, teachers, and other essential workers.
If President Trump’s nominee for the US Supreme Court is confirmed and the President again tries to abolish the DACA program, it would likely be upheld by the US Supreme Court. This would result in mass deportation of people who have been raised as Americans and have never lived anywhere else.”
Karen Narasaki, former President and Executive Director of NAPALC (now Asian Americans Advancing Justice)
We have lost an extremely important voice for justice on the Supreme Court. There are many important cases pending and making their way to the court that are critical to our democracy and to our communities.
President Trump and the Republicans in Congress have been trying to take away important health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, like the bar against insurance companies refusing coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
They have been trying to eliminate protections for the DACA recipients/Dreamers. They are trying to cut short the Census in order to undercount immigrants and people of color, so they can hold onto power and cheat minority communities of their fair share of government resources. The Trump Administration has routinely violated federal laws and the Constitution, and in the case of civil rights, the Supreme Court rulings have generally been 5 to 4 decisions.
John C. Yang, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC’s President and Executive Director.
We were saddened by the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was a pioneering champion for gender equality and a tireless protector of civil and human rights for all people in this country. She leaves a gaping hole in the Supreme Court as a Justice who fought for the issues that matter to Asian Americans, including immigration, voting rights, gender equity, and LGBTQ rights.
Words of Wisdom
At this crucial point in the nation’s history, it is uplifting to hear the words of wisdom from an Asian American who has made a difference as an extraordinary public servant in this great country.
Norman Y. Mineta was a former Congressman from California. He has the great distinction of being the only American of Asian ancestry appointed to cabinet positions by presidents from both parties. Mineta was the Secretary of Commerce under President Bill Clinton and the Secretary of Transportation under President George W. Bush.
Commenting on the late Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg, he noted: “Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and I were both nominated to our positions during the Clinton Administration. And since then, Justice Ginsburg had left a lasting legacy that defended the rights of hundreds of millions of those that live in our nation.“
He added: “Her tenure on the Supreme Court showed us that when our government reflects the diversity of our nation, our nation becomes more equitable and just. As we grieve the loss of such a trailblazer, we must ensure that decision makers should be representative of the fabric of our country.”
