November 4, 2022
MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: team@feldmanstrategies.com
Leading Asian American Voting Rights Advocates Condemn Hateful, Racist Mailers by Stephen Miller’s American First Legal Ahead of 2022 Midterms
Centreville, VA – In recent days, as voting has begun in Virginia, the households of Asian American voters across the Commonwealth have been receiving deceitful, racist, hateful mailers aimed at suppressing the turnout of the fastest growing racial group.
The target mailings were sent by the American First Legal Foundation, a conservative organization founded by Trump confidant Stephen Miller. Miller has a long history with peddling racist hate and division and was the architect behind the Trump Administration’s family separation program, which led to the widespread images of kids in cages that shocked the nation. Asian American voters in multiple regions of the state including Northern, Central, and Hampton Roads have confirmed receiving the mailers starting last week.
“As Asian American political influence grows in Virginia, it is not surprising that bad actors are seeking to stifle or take advantage of our power for their own nefarious means,” says Sookyung Oh, NAKASEC Action Fund Virginia Director. “Asian American voters can see through the manipulation. What’s driving Asian Americans to vote is to elect candidates who support abortion and reproductive health access, student debt relief, and a path to citizenship.”
The Asian American vote in Virginia is the largest it has ever been at 383,800+ voters and growing consistently in both size and power. Asian Americans are the fastest-growing ethnic group in the US and make up 47% of newly naturalized citizens in Virginia, and will play a significant role in determining Virginia’s next members of Congress.
This voter suppression effort is part of a coordinated campaign by the American First Legal Foundation. Outside of Virginia, mailers have been received in Arizona, California, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas over the past week and digital and radio advertisements have also popped up across the country. Since its formation in 2021, the group has a long history of using these tactics and divisive rhetoric.
NAKASEC Action Fund, which is part of the Asian American Power Network – the leading coalition of grassroots community organizations working to not only mobilize Asian American voters but build Asian American political power across the country – will not be deterred from educating and engaging the Asian American community on the issues that matter.
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