This week is congee because Jamie found a veg dim sum place in ny (and also wants a nice, warm, feel-good meal)
Surprise!!! It's a Thursday morning newsletter. How are we feeling today? Melinda went into the office for the first time in person this week, and Jamie just started training 🥵! Big things ahead 🤞
Reminder today to call your parents and do something for yourself.
What's your favorite comfort dish?
<3 Jamie & Melinda
News
🏄 Surfing in the Olympics touches US colonial history. There's a petition out there by Hawaiian sovereignty activists to let native Hawaiian surfers compete for the Hawaiian Kingdom instead of the US. Though the petition is largely symbolic, we thought the discussion of sports, culture, and politics was quite relevant.
📺 Subtle Asian Traits tea on TV? Honestly, I did a double-take when I read this article title. The new production company Jumpcut - which is headed by Kartik Hosanagar, Winnie Kemp, and Dilip Rajan - is looking to develop a series around first-gen Asian Americans, highlighting the diversity within the category and different cultural experiences. It's in the early stages, but I'm curious to see how this will go...
🙊 Talk shit, get hit. Delaware state Rep Gerald Brady is not seeking re-election after some quite ugly language (see: racist and sexist) towards Asian women. It was in the context of an email about decriminalizing prostitution, and while we won't show what the email contained (it's in the article), we're glad to see some level of accountability about these things.
🔥 In light of all the terrible climate news (and the forthcoming 6th IPCC report), we once again bring your attention to the Pacific Islands and how global warming has influenced hurricanes, sea-level rise, typhoons, drought, and infrastructure damage. Cultural, language, and economic barriers to adaptation and migration continue, especially for communities from the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Tonga, and more.
Chef's Specials 💋
🇺🇸 Ok this article on how Indian American politicians have increased over the past couple of years is pretty cool. Great graphics and talks about the inspiration behind second-gen folks running for national office. There are groups like the Indian American Impact Fund organizing to support candidates, and just in the past decade, there's been a huge growth in political power.
🎻 Musician Jennifer Koh writes about Asian Americans in classical music and how to support and recognize Asian American musical talent. I was surprised because I thought that Asians were overrepresented in classical music, but I was wrong (mostly white)!
📑 So.... all I hear from academics on Twitter is that academia is toxic lol. More on that, but this one is about how funding and reviewers exhibit biases when evaluating research on AAPIs
TIL ... visas
As a U.S. citizen, I feel lucky and privileged that I haven't had the stress of figuring out visa things as an international student and later as a "foreign worker".. it looks like a complicated/anxious process that costs $$$. I was honestly quite ignorant about visas until I looked into them for this.
Recently, I learned that "About 190,000 kids and young adults that have lived in the U.S. since childhood have no clear path to staying in the country after they turn 21." This is the case for many Indian Americans who are going to "age out" of the H4 visa, which is "issued to dependent family members of those who received H temporary employment visas" (like the H1-B). So, many kids enter the U.S. with the H4 visa but then have no clear path to citizenship... which sounds super stressful.
For example, one student applied for her student visa (F1) almost a year before her 21st birthday, but it didn't come in time—she had to get a B2 visitor's visa to avoid deportation.
Source: Chicago Tribune. Context: the 17-year-old kid on the right, who was on an H4 visa, was somehow denied renewal of his visa and temporarily unable to leave India after a short vacation there in 2019.
Although this won't be comprehensive at ALL, I did a little digging to learn more about some of the visas my peers—college students or new members of the U.S. workforce—might have.
Work Visas
The below are ones I've seen mentioned in the "Young Microsoft FTEs" Facebook group.
*Note: according to Pew, Asian immigrants are more likely to be admitted with employment visas than other immigrant groups
📑 H-1B (Specialty Occupation) - this is the most popular work visa type in the U.S. It's available for "foreign nationals who work in specialty occupations, such as engineering and computer science." There's a cap of 85K each year and 20K are reserved for those with master's degrees (!!).
📜 H1-B visas were authorized under the Immigration Act of 1990! In 2014, folks from India accounted for 70% of these visas (source).
(when my parents started working in the late 90s, they got the H1-B!)
📑 TN - this was established as part of NAFTA (#tb to history class)! It's specifically for citizens of Mexico and Canada and also intended for those with specific professions (e.g. lawyer, engineer, etc.). There's no annual cap.
📑 E3 - this is specifically for Australian citizens! There's a max of 10.5K issued each year.
📑 L1 (Intracompany Transferee) - this means your company transfers you (as someone with "specialized knowledge") from a foreign entity to a U.S. entity. There are other qualifications too.
College student visas
📑 F1 - it's the most common visa status used by int'l students in the U.S. Usually, all full-time, admitted college students are eligible (you have to show proof of funding for at least the first year of study, apparently).
For off-campus employment (I'm guessing internships for example), you have the option of "Optional Practical Training" (OPT - I've heard of this term) or "Curricular Practical Training" (CPT).
with this one, you can change or add majors while in school!
this is the one my dad came to the US on!
📑 J1 - int'l students are eligible for this visa if they're either (1) in an established exchange program or (2) receive 50% or more of their funding for college "from a source other than personal or family funds" (e.g. government, scholarship, etc.)
with this one, you prob can't change your major (?!? ☹️ )
you might have to return to your home country for at least 2 years after your term of study before you come back to the U.S. on another visa (I think I heard about this from Singaporean classmates whose tuition was funded by their gov't)
you must have medical insurance that matches a certain standard
There are also the F2 and J2 visas for dependents of F1 and J1 visa holders! Initially, when my mom wasn’t in school in the US yet, she was on the F2.
Family visas
I won't go into this yet because this TIL is already wordy, but the family-sponsored visa is the biggest migration pathway for Asian immigrants. Apparently, "among Asian immigrants, 55 percent of visas in 2012 were issued through family-sponsored preferences, of which 35 percent were issued to immediate relatives of U.S. citizens."
I'm assuming the H4 visa mentioned earlier in this TIL is part of this!
Also I didn't know this but apparently, the U.S. doesn't allow any country to have more than 7% of the annual visas issued, so there are often backlogs... the Philippines, India, Vietnam, and China placed 2nd-5th for longest waiting lists for family visas (source).
Anyhow, I haven't even gotten to talking about refugees/asylees... another time, I will!
Small Feelings
This week I really thought about feeling alone + looking to others for general support in life. Moving to a new city and starting a new job is kinda stressful, and while I'm having such a great time, I wish there was a little more adult guidance that I could turn to. I've lived with people who call their parents and siblings regularly for advice, and while I'm feeling more comfortable doing that now, a lot of the things I have questions about I'm not sure if my parents can help with + language barrier + we're not as close (yet, hopefully). Anyways, this feels like a weird child of immigrants sort of thing, and I'll stop here before I get soppy and start writing diaspora poetry lmao
WHERE are asians who are into country music pLease someone go to a fcking midland concert w me*
Also the TIL reminded me of when my friend almost lost her green card in a McDonalds
OUR LINKS
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AAPI Artists Spotify Playlist (it's collaborative again!) :