On June 25th, the Asian Wave Alliance, an organization representing Asian American voters in New York City, held an early candidate forum in the Queens borough ahead of the party primaries for the New York State Assembly. The forum was attended by seven candidates running for Civil Court Judges, Surrogate Court Judges, and State Assembly members.
Among the candidates is Kenneth Paek, a Republican challenging incumbent State Assembly member Nily Rozic. Paek, a retired officer from the New York City Police Department (NYPD), has garnered support from the Republican Party. Both Paek and his fellow Republican candidate, Jingan Zhao, share similar views on addressing the immigration crisis, advocating for the abolishment of New York City’s sanctuary city status.
Paek expressed concerns about the financial burden of supporting over 200,000 undocumented immigrants in the city and the associated public safety issues. He pledged to propose the elimination of the obligation to shelter asylum seekers in New York City and push to revoke the state’s sanctuary city status if elected.
On the other hand, Zhao attributes the immigration crisis in New York to the federal government’s policies. He believes that the state’s budget should not bear the cost of dealing with the immigration crisis and instead should focus on public safety and education. Zhao also stated that if elected, he would propose the elimination of sanctuary city obligations at both the state and city levels, and pursue legal action against the federal government for failing to provide funding to address the immigration crisis in New York.
Incumbent State Assembly member Nily Rozic, representing the 25th District in Queens, including Flushing, Bayside, Kissena Park, Fresh Meadows, and St. John’s University area, is running for re-election unopposed in the Democratic and Working Families Party primaries. Her current term extends until January 2025.
Democratic candidate Dao Yin, who is registered to run for State Assembly, will compete in the upcoming party primaries along with fellow Chinese American candidate Yi Chen to challenge incumbent State Assembly member Ron Kim. Yin opposes granting work permits to undocumented immigrants by the federal government but hopes that the state legislature can propose solutions to address the immigration crisis.
Additionally, the forum featured three Democratic candidates running for Civil Court Judges in Queens, Glenda Hernandez, Julie Milner, Amish Doshi, and Democratic candidate Wendy Li, running for Surrogate Court Judge in Queens, who introduced themselves to the community during the event.