Jeffrey Ngo on Hong Kong, Kham Moua on SE Asian Refugees.

Hong Kong has been embroiled in pro-democracy raging protests for the past several weeks, wreaking havoc of the local council, rattling its distant rulers in Beijing, and throwing the future of self-government on the island into further doubt. The protests began as a revolt against a pending bill to establish an extradition treaty with Beijing, which would have allowed mainland Chinese authorities to take individuals on Hong Kong territory to the mainland for criminal prosecution. The public was outraged at the perceived encroachment on Hong Kong’s autonomy under the so-called one country, two systems framework. The demonstrations intensified in early July, when a group of protesters stormed the Legislative Council (LegCo) building. Although the bill has been suspended, HK Chief Executive Carrie Lam still faces intensifying backlash. And the tensions show no signs of abating, as protesters have remained on the streets, braving fierce police crackdowns. Jeffrey Ngo, Hong Kong-based activist with Demosisto, discusses the future of young Hong Kongers’ struggle for self-determination.

Since the start of the Trump administration, the Southeast Asian refugee Community has been threatened with deportation orders for people with past criminal convictions, many of them dating back over a decade. They are caught up in the deportation machine due to obscure federal statutes that make deportation a consequence of certain crimes, including some nonviolent drug charges, and scores of Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees, many of whom grew up in the US and have no family ties to the places they fled long ago, have been deported to back to their home countries. Families have been left without parents, communities have been deprived of workers and neighbors, and, in light of the Trump administration’s general clampdown on refugee admissions, the entire SE Asian community fears its refugees are just the latest target in Trump’s broader war on immigrants.

Kham S. Moua, Immigration Policy Advocate at the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC), talks about about who has been deported so far and why.