Category Archives: Asian Americans

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, Asian Americans, blog, diversity, Filipino, humor, journalism, LISTEN to Emil's PODCASTS, news, race

Emil Guillermo: Check out Emil Amok’s Takeout…our new podcast

The Donald at the Merkel presser didn’t like being questioned by the Germans.  Just wait till next week when his Obama lie about wiretapping is formally exposed. There is no there there. Just the Donald’s own fake news to distract us from the real issues of Jeff Sessions pre-election actions, and his assault on the poor and middle class through budget cuts and health care decimation.

Have you checked out our new podcast?

It’s right here. And also on the AALDEF blog….

On the travel ban 2.0’s rejection by a federal judge in Hawaii.

The  Justice Dept. is appealing the rejection by a Maryland judge to get it before a different appeals court in Virginia. The whole thing will likely go to the Supreme Court.

Also. an interview with Jenn Fang of reappropriate.co, on Kuchibhotla and whether the South Asian’s killing is a Vincent Chin moment for all Asian Americans.

It’s Emil Amok’s Takeout.

Subscribe on iTunes!

Thanks for listening.

Asian Americans, blog, diversity, LISTEN to Emil's PODCASTS, news, politics, race

Emil Guillermo: Trump’s Revised #TravelBan is still a Muslim Ban.

The White House occupant I call Trump 45 is all thumbs up about the new executive order he just signed.

But those who found the previous travel ban held up by the courts offensive will still be all thumbs down.

Travel Ban 2.0 may be written better with cosmetic changes to take away particularly embarrassing situations. But a Muslim ban is still a Muslim ban and no less odious.

Some changes: Iraq, our ally in fighting ISIS, is now off the list, reducing the number of countries from seven to six.

Existing green card and visa holders are also now exempt, as are a list of situations like the foreign national who “seeks to visit or reside with a close family member who is a U.S. citizen.”

Or an infant or child needing urgent medical care.

But, at it’s core, the travel ban is still essentially a “Muslim Ban” worthy of a challenge on constitutional grounds.

Asian Americans, as targets of immigration bans in the past, know how harmful these bans have been.

History tells us these kind of bans have no place in our democracy.

Read the White House’s Travel Ban 2.0

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, Asian Americans, blog, diversity, news, politics, race

Emil Guillermo: Has Trump’s Outrageous Finger-pointing backfired?

Donald Trump continues to set a new low in America.

After hurling a damning allegation with zero evidence against Barack Obama– that the former president wiretapped Trump Towers—Trump now says he wants a Congressional investigation.
This is serious stuff. Evidence on no evidence.
But it may backfire.
A call for an investigation may actually expose Trump to far worse.
Rep. Ted Lieu of California released this statement on Sunday: “I fully support the White House’s request for Congressional investigations into President Trump’s explosive claim that Trump Tower was wiretapped. If the claim is true, such a wiretap would mean that an independent FISA Court Judge—appointed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts—reviewed evidence and found probable cause there were agents of a foreign power at Trump Tower.”

And that of course, would circle back to the reason Trump was trying to distract us all in the first place, that the Trump campaign had contact with the Russian government during the campaign.

Lieu continued: “The American people need to know if Donald Trump or his associates colluded with the Russian government during the election last year. A special prosecutor is clearly needed to immediately review what was learned from any possible wiretaps and any other potential evidence of collusion between Team Trump, Vladimir Putin and his agents. If the wiretapping claim is true, then Congress also needs to investigate if President Trump violated laws related to the leaking of classified information when he disclosed the existence of a secret wiretap via his Twitter account.”
“President Trump’s wiretapping claim points to a serious counterintelligence investigation of him and/or his associates. The multiple lies by Trump and his associates denying contacts with the Russians; the making of a false statement by Attorney General Sessions under oath to Congress about his Russian contacts; and now the explosive revelation of a potential wiretap at Trump Tower suggests that we could be looking at a situation far worse than Watergate.”

Only Trump knows what was behind his Obama wiretap allegations.

Was it a talkshow host’s claim that Trump simply believed and repeated, though again without evidence?

Was it based on a FISA court decision?

None of it is good for Trump, nor our democracy.

Listen to my podcast below, “Emil Amok’s Takeout.” The latest on a DACA recipients reaction after witnessing Trump’s speech before Congress in person!

Asian Americans, blog, journalism, news, politics, race

Emil Guillermo: Trump rhetoric on Russia? More “nanny-nanny-neener-neener” kid stuff. Disgraceful.

Donald Trump is showing his class here with this attempt to discredit Dem leader Sen. Charles Schumer with an old photograph from 2003. Trump could come clean on Russia, admit that his surrogates and aides all met with Russia prior to the election. And he should share his vision of making Russia a grand partner with the U.S. That should shake the Reaganites who are barely on the Trump Train.

But that would take real political leadership, not to mention a sense of honesty.

Instead, Trump prefers playing the school yard bully. Disgraceful from a commander-in-chief who doesn’t know the high road. With Trump, despite the towers, it’s all low and lower, with a corporate FU touch.

Kellyanne Conway’s feet on the Oval Office couch is nothing. All of Trump in the White House is an affront. Everyday in office, Trump continues to devalue the presidency.