前言：纽约第七区国会议员的这封信虽然姗姗来迟，但我们还是可以从其笔迹中体味一下陈郗案件引发的反应...

Dear Attorney General Lynch:

 

I am writing you regarding a troubling pattern of the false accusation and wrongful arrest of Asian Americans under charges of espionage.  Such occurrences are especially concerning given that there is the potential that the race, country of origin, and ethnicity of these individuals is playing a role in their surveillance and subsequent arrest.    As a result, I am requesting that the Department of Justice (DoJ) conduct an independent investigation to determine whether race, ethnicity, and country of origin has played a role in these arrests. 

 

There is growing concern that the specter of espionage is being used to violate U.S. citizens’ civil rights.  In the last year alone, at least two Asian Americans have been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under allegations of espionage, only to have such charges dropped.  Sherry Chen, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service, was wrongfully accused of using a stolen password to download information about U.S. dams and of lying about meeting with a high-ranking Chinese official.  Dr. Xi was accused of sharing American-made technology with China.  Although both cases were dismissed, both Ms. Chen and Dr. Xi have suffered egregious emotional and reputational harm.

 

Unfortunately, it appears that such instances are not isolated and may exhibit a worrisome trend in federal law enforcement.  The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on September 18, 2015 that “[i]n the last 10 months, federal prosecutors have withdrawn high-profile cases against four Chinese American scientists around the nation who had been accused of spying for China or Chinese companies.”  This suggests that the degree of false accusations is beyond the scope of the cases brought and subsequently dropped against Dr. Xi and Ms. Chen.

 

Such a pattern of false arrest is extremely disturbing for all Americans and for these reasons I request that the DoJ carry out an independent investigation to determine what role country of origin, race, and ethnicity have played in the arrest of these individuals, as well as others in similar situations. 

 

I thank you for your attention to this important civil rights issue and look forward to working with you to ensure that Asian Americans are not being systematically falsely accused of wrongdoing.

 

Sincerely,

 

Nydia M. Velázquez

Member of Congress