April 8, 2020

As of 4/8/20, there are currently over 1.4 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 83,000 deaths reported in 184 countries around the world. The US continues to lead the world in the total numbers of infections with over 400,000 cases reported and over 13,000 deaths. New York continues to be hardest hit, with over 140,000 cases and 5,400 deaths statewide.

March 29, 2020

The vast majority of Americans believe that women should receive equal pay when performing the same work as men. The idea of equality for women is given a lot of lip service, in that candidates say they support women, but once in office, not all candidates will actually take action to ensure that women are being treated fairly. When you go to the voting polls in November, remember to vote for candidates who value women's equality and will ensure fair treatment and that there are real consequences for unfair treatment. Vote for equality!

March 28, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic makes it very clear that not all Americans have the proper healthcare coverage needed for testing and treatment. In this video, PIVOT president Dr. Tung Nguyen, talks about how Democratic candidates want more people on health insurance, while Donald Trump and the current administration want to reduce insurance coverage for Americans.

When you go to the voting polls this November, remember to vote for candidates that value human life and will fight for more healthcare coverage for Americans. Vote for a healthy America.

Tung Nguyen, MD
Professor of Medicine, University of California San Francisco (UCSF)
President, PIVOT-The Progressive Vietnamese American Association

What if you think you may be infected with COVID-19?

Remember that what makes COVID-19 so scary is that the number of people infected can be so large that it will overwhelm the healthcare system so that it cannot take care of the very sick, who then will die.

The most important thing to know is that many people who get infected with COVID-19 do not have any symptoms. This should be reassuring to you but also show why it is important that we follow the rules about staying at home. Right now, you do not need to be tested for COVID-19 if you do not have any symptoms. Testing for COVID-19 takes healthcare resources, from personnel to testing kits to protective equipment, so save it for when you absolutely need it.

Tung Nguyen, MD
Professor of Medicine, University of California San Francisco (UCSF)
President, PIVOT-The Progressive Vietnamese American Association

If you do not have COVID-19, what should you do?
The most important thing to do is to protect yourself and protect everyone you love. Click on the link to read more.

Tung Nguyen, MD
Professor of Medicine, University of California San Francisco (UCSF)
President, PIVOT-The Progressive Vietnamese American Association

It has been 3 months since the first patients infected with COVID-19 showed up in China, and 2 months in the U.S. Worldwide, there are over 200,000 infected people as of March 20th, and 14,000 cases in the U.S. Since we can only test a small number of people, the actual number of infected people are much higher. As far as scientists can tell, the death rate is about 3.6%, that is, for every 100 infected persons, 3 to 4 will die. This is about 30 times worse than the usual flu.

March 17, 2020

Announcement from US Citizenship and Immigration Services:

The Public Charge rule does not restrict access to testing, screening, or treatment of communicable diseases, including COVID-19. In addition, the rule does not restrict access to vaccines for children or adults to prevent vaccine-preventable diseases. Importantly, for purposes of a public charge inadmissibility determination, USCIS considers the receipt of public benefits as only one consideration among a number of factors and considerations in the totality of the alien’s circumstances over a period of time with no single factor being outcome determinative. To address the possibility that some aliens impacted by COVID-19 may be hesitant to seek necessary medical treatment or preventive services, USCIS will neither consider testing, treatment, nor preventative care (including vaccines, if a vaccine becomes available) related to COVID-19 as part of a public charge inadmissibility determination, nor as related to the public benefit condition applicable to certain nonimmigrants seeking an extension of stay or change of status, even if such treatment is provided or paid for by one or more public benefits, as defined in the rule (e.g. federally funded Medicaid).

My family and other close relatives escaped by boat from Communist Vietnam in the early 1980's. We lost our houses and even our meager luggage at sea after encountering storms or hidden rocks that broke one of our boats near the Malaysian shore.

Now, I can list the following achievements after years of financial hardship and hard work:
* Family A: 4 children are now professionals (including 2 PhD and 2 MS degree holders - engineering and economics)
* Family B: 4 children are now professionals (including 1 MD, 2 MS degree holders, 1 BS degree holder - health, computer science, and engineering, including an extraordinarily successful investor who has been making astute investments for charitable nonprofits here and around the world)
* Family C: 4 children are now senior technicians and professionals (including 1 master mechanic, 1 construction project manager, and 2 BS degree holder - computer science and engineering)

Without public assistance in our initial years, this country would not have seen such results.

We need a government which does not waste time and money on border walls and questionable legal tactics to hurt immigrants and refugees.

Check out PIVOT’s Policy platform: https://www.pivotnetwork.org/policy-platform

February 13, 2020

From our friends at One Nation AAPI:

The Department of Homeland Security released changes to the public charge rule, which go into effect on February 24, 2020. The new rule affects legal immigrants who do not have “green cards.” It does not affect all immigrants. If you are worried or confused about the new “public charge” rule and have questions, we hope the answers below can address your concerns.*

*Note: This is intended as general information, not legal advice.

Please click here for the FAQ page.

February 5, 2020
PIVOT announces our endorsement of Huy Tran in his race for San Jose (CA) City Council District 4.

Huy’s first organizing job began at San José State University (SJSU) in 2003 mobilizing students against budget cuts being imposed by then Governor Schwarzenneger. He continued on with an AFL-CIO apprenticeship program in Biloxi, MS and worked during the Katrina crisis there. Angered by the injustices he saw, Huy became a lawyer whose work has been focused on promoting the rights of workers and immigrants.