For Immediate Release: January 21, 2025 
Contact: Lasamee Kettavong, media@napawf.org

WASHINGTON D.C. – Yesterday Donald Trump was inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States, and signed and rescinded a slew of executive orders that will likely mark a dark chapter for our communities. The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) reaffirms its unwavering commitment to defend the rights and dignity of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and gender expansive individuals. NAPAWF stands ready to delay, obstruct, and resist policies that undermine gender justice, reproductive justice, economic security, and the well-being of AAPI women, gender expansive individuals, and all marginalized communities.

“Trump’s swearing in underscores the renewed urgency for our organization to cast light on the inhumane impact of his agenda on our communities and to obstruct his agenda and onslaught of executive orders in every way possible,” said Sung Yeon Choimorrow, Executive Director of NAPAWF. “This includes cruel executive actions that attack access to public healthcare, reproductive care, gender equality, food assistance, and housing support for immigrants, revoke birthright citizenship, and institute drastic and inhumane immigration enforcement and detention actions. We must protect the most vulnerable among us.”

The new Trump White House rescinded dozens of Biden-era Executive Orders to include those that strengthened access to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act; developed racial equity plans; preventing and combating discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation; the orders establishing the White House Gender Policy Council and White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders; and also revoking access to over the counter contraceptives. Reproductiverights.gov was also taken down overnight. 

The Trump Administration also released the following priorities, alongside additional published executive orders: 

  • Creating an unconstitutional new birthright citizenship policy by directing all federal agencies from providing children citizenship documentation if the mother was either undocumented or was a temporary worker, and the father was not a U.S. citizen or green card holder at the time of the child’s birth;
  • Suspending federal refugee resettlement programs; 
  • Directing federal agencies to create a new set of vetting standards for visa applicants, develop a list of countries for deeper scrutiny of visa applicants and entrants, and other measures similar to those justifying a previous Trump-era “Muslim ban” that was shut down in the courts; 
  • Declaring a border emergency, and thus expediting removal and eliminating most key humanitarian categories of immigration; 
  • Rescinding all Biden-era immigration directives on family immigration and asylum, and instead sweeping directives to  federal agencies  that include investigating or denying public benefits to all undocumented individuals; reinstating the use of federal state programs such as 287(g); allowing only employment authorization and parole for narrow cases; and revoking funding from sanctuary cities, etc.; 
  • Redefining gender to only mean “male and female” for a swath of federal policies, government programs, and government identification; disallowing the use of federal support of healthcare for those transitioning genders; eliminating federal policy documents naming transgender and “LGBTQ”, instituting erasure of this community; and
  • Eliminating all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs in the federal government.

During his inauguration speech, Trump also promised to revive the use of the Enemy Aliens Act for purposes of border and internal enforcement, giving himself unchecked power to detain and arrest all “enemies” of the U.S. federal government. This troublesome law was used to justify the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. 

“During his inauguration speech, President Trump invoked the name of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in vain. Trump’s vision is the antithesis of Dr. King’s dream of true racial justice and justice for all,” said Tuyet Duong, Chief Policy and Government Affairs Officer. “The new Trump Administration has decided to upend our systems in favor of policies that promote hate and division, policies that eliminate due process, civil rights, and civil liberties, and uphold narrow and cruel views of American culture.”

NAPAWF will work across movements to counter this Administration’s flawed leadership and educate AAPI communities across the country about our vision for an America that includes all and calls on all communities to stand strong and fight back against these unjust policies and actions. 

“We deserve policies that affirm our humanity and dignity, regardless of race, income, immigration status or gender. We deserve access to healthcare, including reproductive care, that empowers us to make decisions about our bodies and families,” added Choimorrow. “ We will fight tirelessly for an America where justice, equity, and opportunity are not empty promises, but lived realities. AAPIs have long been integral to the fabric of this nation, contributing to its economy and history. We refuse to be sidelined or silenced. Together with countless other communities, we will demand a future where our institutions and systems serve the people—not the other way around.”

NAPAWF has assembled a comprehensive list of community resources, explanation of rights, and additional information as members of the AAPI and immigrant communities are confronted with these unjust and dehumanizing policies. For more, visit NAPAWF’s community resources page. 

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The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) is the only organization dedicated to uplifting and building power with AAPI women and girls in the US. Employing a reproductive justice framework to guide our work, we use organizing, advocacy, and communications strategies to assert full agency over our lives, our families, and our communities.