WASHINGTON- DNC AAPI Caucus Chair Bel Leong-Hong issued the following statement:

“Donald Trump campaigned on a dangerous promise to discriminate against Muslim Americans. Now, his supporters are turning to one of the darkest chapters in our history to justify Trump’s proposed ‘Muslim registry’ for tracking Muslim immigrants. Yesterday, the spokesman for a major pro-Trump super PAC, Carl Higbie, cited Japanese internment camps as a precedent for such a program. But Higbie’s comments shouldn’t be a surprise because Trump himself argued the same thing last year.  And let’s not forget that he has chosen Alt-Right leader Stephen Bannon – a man associated with White Nationalists who once complained that there are too many Asian CEOs in Silicon Valley – as his senior adviser.  

“Our nation has long since rejected Japanese Internment in a bipartisan fashion. Under no conditions should the US adopt such a measure against a whole sector of our community. We are calling on Republicans and fellow Democrats alike to denounce this rhetoric and openly xenophobic policies. We cannot repeat the terrible mistakes of our past. And we must never cease in our defense of the rights and freedoms that all Americans share, no matter their race, religion or creed.”