President Donald Trump has chosen Orange County Supervisor Michelle Steel to help lead a panel which advises him on Asian American issues, reports the OCR.
As co-chair of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Steel will address Southern California’s Vietnamese, Korean and Chinese populations, who have been increasingly vocal in opposition to the administration’s immigration policies.
The commission had a bumpy transition when the White House changed hands in 2016. A month after President Trump was sworn in, ten members of the then 14-person commission resigned, saying they opposed President Trump’s planned immigration policies and anti-immigration rhetoric. Steel is one of 12 new members picked for the panel, and Asian Americans in Southern California are curious what policies she’ll advocate.
Although Steel has been a vocal proponent of President Trump, in 2018, she opposed the administration’s plan to deport thousands of Vietnamese refugees who had fled to the U.S. prior to 1995.
Steel argued that “deporting Vietnamese refugees who have committed crimes” should not be in the “same category” as “criminal illegal aliens,” according to Resonate.
“While it’s heartening that she’s taken a stance against (Vietnamese refugee) deportations, my confidence wanes when I hear that she actively opposed sanctuary laws,” said Reshma Shamasunder, an official with the Los Angeles office of the civil rights group Asian Americans Advancing Justice.
Tammy Kim, co-founder of the Korean American Center in Irvine, which helps Korean immigrants apply for citizenship, stated that Steel’s appointment was “not necessarily a reflection of the community.”
“It’s a great opportunity, but, from what I’ve seen, I don’t know whether she’ll truly seize it,” Kim continued. “I’m not placing a lot of hope.”
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