Name: Logan Chen

Social Justice Group: Refugees and Migrants in NYC (A)

Date of Fieldwork: February 1, 2025

Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):Mae Lee, The Executive Director of the Chinese Progressive Association

What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork:

In the afternoon of February 1st, I met with Mae Lee. She is the Executive Director of the Chinese Progressive Association. They assist newcoming Chinese immigrants as well as the Chinese people who have lived in New York City for generations. Their main goal is to serve the Chinese community as a whole. From our conversation I learned a lot more about the experience of Chinese immigrants.

She spoke to me about the early stages of immigrating to America and how the Chinese Progressive Association helps to ease the overwhelm and stress of moving to a new country. They offer English classes as well as assistance on finding jobs, justifying tenant rights, citizenship classes and help registering to vote. However, with more immigrants coming, she has had a different array of who she serves at the English classes. She has found that more parents are coming to class. This is not a surprise.

The experience of children to Chinese immigrants is similar to those of other children of immigrants. A lot of the time, they have to become the translator for their parents, even handling legal obligations. She told me that kids from even age 10 have to help their parents pay taxes or apply for a job, because their parents’ English is not up to par. In many of these families, the children also have to navigate the school system on their own. But, Chinese parents do a lot of work and sacrifice for their children. Mae said that one of the main reasons people have been immigrating from China is for educational opportunities for their children. This is a large sacrifice, especially for people with established careers in their home country.

One of the largest reasons that Chinese immigration is happening is also that many of their family members live in the US. Family is one of the core values in Chinese life and having family in America makes the move a lot more relaxed. A big motivator of getting a Green Card in America is that it helps you be able to bring family over. It also gives many more protections, especially with Trump’s anti-Chinese attitudes, they are needed.
With Trump back in office for his second term, Chinese racism is skyrocketing. He has pushed stereotypes on Chinese Immigrants. There was even proposed legislation by Tom Cotton, a Republican Senator from Arkansas, to restrict Chinese nationals from buying property, forcing generations out of a stable home to call theirs. Mae said that if we teach children more ethics studies on Chinese history and immigration, we could have future people who fight against policies such as this and people like Tom Cotton. I want to end off with that she told me we need to realize our common interests “to unite and stand together”.

*Image from the Chinese Progressive Association’s website