The severe weather threat Tuesday brought Kenton County emergency teams together for a training. “This is very timely training,” Kenton County Homeland Security and Emergency Management director Steve Hensley said. “We spend a great deal of time planning for events we hope never occur, but on occasion, unfortunately, we know that they do.”As the potential for severe weather loomed, agencies from across Kenton County and beyond came together to train including police, fire, environmental agencies and hospital representatives among others.The teams are preparing for disasters such as tornados, floods, chemical spills, terrorist activities and unforeseen problems.“That’s what this is today, bringing everyone together so the first time they meet is not in the event of a real disaster,” Hensley said. “These kinds of exercises help us practice those skills. So, when those unfortunate real-life situations happen, we can hit the ground running,” said Ft. Mitchell police Chief Andrew Schierberg.

The White House rolled out the first-ever strategy to advance Asian American, Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian communities Tuesday in a townhall online meeting as the country continues to grapple with anti-Asian hate crimes.

Hate incidents against Asian Americans soared in the aftermath of the pandemic as Asians became scapegoats for COVID-19 which started in Wuhan, China.

The new strategy features plans by 32 federal agencies calling for combatting anti-Asian hate and better language access for non-native speakers. FBI data shows that anti-Asian hate crimes increased 73% in the past two years while overall hate crimes rose 13%.

John Tien, deputy secretary of Homeland Security, said in the online gathering it’s important that Asian communities understand there is support.

“It’s on us, the government, to do better,” Tien said.

Communication can be a matter of life and death, Tien said, adding that language access is crucial. Translations are provided in Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese, as well as other languages.

On the law enforcement end, 55 defendants were prosecuted in 2021 with 50 convictions in bias crimes against Asian Americans, said Associate U.S. Attorney General Vanita Gupta. Federal departments across all sectors are involved to ensure communities are safe, she said.

To combat hate crimes, $20 million is being spent on law enforcement and community groups, creating funding for hotlines and other safety measures. There are more than 18 million Asian Americans in the United States, the fastest-growing ethnic group in the country according to the 2020 Census.

The report from various federal departments Tuesday come after President Joe Biden’s executive order in May 2021. In the executive order, government agencies drew plans to advance equity and justice for Asian Americans.

The White House Initiative on Asian Americans Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders is the first national plan of its kind with elected officials, federal leaders, community members and prominent Asian Americans working together to combat racism.

According to the nonprofit agency Stop AAPI Hate, more than 11,500 hate incidents against Asian Americans have been reported between March 2020 and March 2022. Harassment is a major problem, with 67% of the incidents involving hate speech.

The Asian American community has suffered severe mental health anguish due to being stereotyped and targeted as America grappled with the effects of the pandemic, said Korean American actor Daniel Dae Kim. The hate crimes in cities such as New York, Dallas, Atlanta, San Francisco have targeted the elderly and Asian women. A community that has been reluctant to speak out due to cultural norms is now active.

“I have never seen our community come together as it has,” Kim said.

Mary Chao is a Specialty Reporter at Scripps News covering Asian American issues and real estate. Email mary.chao@scripps.com.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- In April, the governor of New York passed the state's 2020 budget, and in it, an

amendment was made




to a law that was passed last year allowing undocumented immigrants to get a state driver’s license.

The Green Light Law also prohibited the sharing of DMV information to any federal agency in charge of immigration.

Last month, the original law was amended as part of the 2020 budget, now making it an E Felony for any law enforcement officer to share DMV records with another law enforcement agency in charge of immigration like ICE or DHS.

“Border Patrol for example, working the highway in the middle of the night and pulls over a vehicle, they can’t run the plates to determine who owns that vehicle,” said U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York J.P. Kennedy. “I think it’s legislating obstruction and it’s very concerning to me.”

Kennedy says this was done silently, amidst a global pandemic, and has concerns for the safety and security of New York residents because of this.

“We’ve seen how important communication and coordination in coming up with a response to the pandemic and sort of causing people to work in isolation, it’s a recipe for disaster,” he said of not being able to share information. “I’m very concerned about this and I think it’s very unfortunate and makes me really question the motives of the individuals that enacted this law, if their professed interest in public safety and public health is really as important as they say they are.”

Kennedy says the law amendment also has a national impact.

“If any law enforcement officer in Texas ran across a New York State-registered vehicle, they could not run that plate if it was any officer who was involved in the enforcement of immigration law.”

“This is shocking. This is unheard of and especially during a pandemic that someone, the Governor, who is under so much pressure thought about that to put that in there,” said Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns. “We just had I think it was 29 people, law enforcement people, in the State of New York that just died from COVID, and they’re criminals now?”

“They basically criminalize police work in this budget,” he said.

“I just think it’s wrong to put the lives and rights of illegal immigrants over law enforcement,” said Erie County Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw.

WKBW reached out to the Governor’s office for a statement and have not heard back.

This story was originally published by Hannah Buehler at WKBW.

CNN —

The Department of Homeland Security warned state and local authorities Friday about an increase in calls for violence online tied to election-related conspiracy theories, according to a law enforcement source.

In an effort to prevent online threats from manifesting in violent acts, DHS issued a public safety notification to reach law enforcement throughout the United States.

"[D]HS is providing awareness of reports regarding an increasing but modest level of activity online calling for violence in response to unsubstantiated claims of fraud related to the 2020 election and the alleged 'reinstatement' of former President Trump," the public safety notification said, according to the source.

The notification was first reported by ABC News.

The warning, which does not contain a specific threat, comes amid a resurgence of false claims about the 2020 election, pushed in part by Mike Lindell, MyPillow CEO and a close ally of former President Donald Trump, who has emerged as one of the most vocal proponents of these conspiracy theories.

"As public visibility of the narratives increases, we are concerned about more calls to violence. Reporting indicates that the timing of these actives may occur during August 2021, although we lack information on specific plots or planned actions," the notification says, according to the source.

For weeks, the federal government has been aware of online narratives focused on reinstatement, particularly on platforms associated with promoting conspiracy theories, like QAnon, and forums where extremists tend to engage, the source said.

While "modest," there is a concern that those conspiracy theories are being "woven into calls for violence," the source added, pointing to the need for greater awareness of the issue throughout the U.S.

In the current threat environment, DHS is especially concerned that lone offenders and small groups of individuals would potentially view these narratives as justification to act out violently, according to the source.

Some of the online rhetoric directly references Jan. 6. There are also calls for violence in Washington, D.C., and state capitols across the country, the source said.

In additional to the Lindell-backed false claims, another conspiracy theory relates to the upcoming FEMA test of the nationwide emergency alert system, according to the source, with some viewing it as a so-called "go code."

The notification is based on the department's "assessment of the current threat environment in its similarity to situations to 2020 and 2021 that manifested in acts of violence and destructive behavior by individuals and groups, including the 6 January 2021 breach of the US Capitol," according to the source.

Dissemination of the notification will be followed up with additional meetings between the FBI, DHS and state and local law enforcement to evaluate the threat and assess whether more is needed to mitigate the risk, the source said.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Reopening offices and hiring more staff, agencies across the U.S. are preparing to welcome more refugees. Many were forced to close or scale back operations after years of record-low admissions set by the Trump Administration.

“We literally pick them up at the airport," said Michael Hopkins, CEO of Jewish Family Service (JFS) of San Diego.

Resettlement agencies like JFS welcome refugees to their new homes in cities across the U.S.

“Everything from furniture to dishes to food in the fridge, we start the family off. So, we’re beginning to plan for all of that," said Hopkins.

In anticipation of more refugee arrivals, they’re renting apartments, recruiting volunteers, and hiring specialized staff.

“In past years, San Diego alone could resettle 5,000 individuals. So, when you think about 15,000 throughout the entire country, it’s a rather small number," says Hopkins, referring to the 15,000 refugee cap set by President Trump for 2021.

Each year in the United States, the president consults Congress and sets an annual cap for refugee admissions.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) says before the Trump Administration, the average annual ceiling exceeded 95,000. The organization says presidents of both parties have set even higher ceilings: President Ronald Reagan’s highest ceiling was 140,000, and President Barack Obama set a refugee admissions target of 110,000 for 2017.

After Trump took office, he lowered Obama's 110,000 refugee cap to 50,000 and would continue reducing admission in the years ahead:

• 2018 : 45,000 cap
• 2019: 30,000 cap
• 2020: 18,000 cap
• 2021: 15,000 cap

Despite promising to raise admissions, President Biden announced in April he wouldn’t be doing it this year. But after weeks of backlash, he reversed the decision, raising the cap to 62,500 refugees, quadrupling Trump’s refugee cap.

But resettling 62,500 this fiscal year is unlikely.

“The whole process was really dismantled," said Hopkins. "So, the Biden Administration, in order to get the numbers back up, also has to reinvest in the infrastructure and get government personnel to all those locations to be able to do this work.”

The UN Refugee Agency says of the 80 million people who’ve been forced from their homes worldwide, 26 million are identified as refugees.

Unlike asylum-seekers, refugees are vetted and screened overseas in a lengthy process. Hopkins says they've already fled their country of origin either because of persecution, war, or violence. Asylum-seekers leave their country seeking protection from persecution and human rights violations, but they haven't yet been legally recognized as a refugee and must wait to receive a decision on their asylum claim.

“As a person who was a first-year in a university, that was extremely difficult, having car bombs and IEDs and terrorist groups operating," said Eder Raheemah, an Iraqi refugee resettled to the U.S. five years ago.

Born in Mosul, Iraq, Raheemah says he was familiar with the sounds of war. But by the time he got to college, the violence intensified.

“What’s next? Even if you get a Ph.D. in physics, what would you do with it? That’s the worst part, the absence of hope," said Raheemah.

His family waited five years before they were accepted to the U.S. as refugees.

“That was one of the real happy moments for me and my family," said Raheemah. “Having a job where you can feed your family and be secure, that’s all."

Raheemah says he was lucky to know English already when he came to the U.S. but he says his family was blessed to have so many people help them get acclimated to their new home.

"It's a completely different country, culture, language. Different lifestyle, different everything. But it's still, it's security," said Raheemah.

Hopkins says they may only get a couple of day's notice that a refugee is coming to San Diego.

"We need to do a lot of this work, whether they’re coming or not. Because we can’t wait until the moment they come," said Hopkins.

But he says they'll be ready to serve more refugees when they arrive.

“Today is exactly five years I’ve been in the United States. And after those five years, I’ve been blessed like 200 times than what I ever thought of,” said Raheemah.

An engineer and new homeowner, he hopes more refugees will soon get the same chance.

“I can’t ask to be rich because I think I am rich, because I’m safe.”