THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2024 51 organizations. In May, we sent the department three diversity issue papers requesting barrier analyses, improved data, and review of the Foreign Service assignments process’s impact on workforce diversity. And at AAFAA’s 10th anniversary celebration in May 2019, Acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Michelle Giuda shared her Vietnamese American story to underscore the power of narratives. On July 25, 2019, the House passed the FY19 State Authorization (HR 3352) on a bipartisan basis. The legislation included Section 311, a mandate to fully implement an independent appeals process, but the bill died at the end of that congressional session. In a July 31, 2019, letter to State, HFAC Chair Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and SFRC ranking member Sen. Menendez urged more transparency and oversight and underscored their commitment to seeing this employee right fully implemented. One of the reasons for the success of this multiyear campaign has been the continued involvement of AAFAA leaders. In June 2020, former AAFAA President Christina Le and several AAFAA members affected by assignment restrictions briefed Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun on the issue. Several months later, Biegun established an internal taskforce to review assignment restrictions and audit all existing cases. To inform the discussions, newly elected AAFAA President Tina Wong sent a July 27, 2020, information memorandum to the Bureau for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP) describing bias and errors in the application of assignment restrictions that had come to light through AAFAA’s 2020 assignment restriction survey spearheaded by AAFAA member Joshua Shen and others. Wong and AAFAA’s senior adviser met with the under secretary of State for management, Director General of the Foreign Service, and Diplomatic Security in early September to discuss these concerns. AAFAA President Shirlene Yee and Vice President Liz Liu wrote about the association’s “Historic Year of Advocacy” in the October 2021 issue of State Magazine. That historic year of advocacy and outreach had resulted in articles in CNN, Politico, and The Hill. CNN reporter Nicole Gaouette profiled Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), whose own assignment restriction while a State Department employee “felt like a very clear signal … that they didn’t trust me fully.” In December 2021, AAFAA, now led by Liz Liu, sent EAP a final memo, “Assignment Restrictions’ Negative Impact on EAP Staffing, Capabilities, and Public Messaging.” To address the continuing employee concerns, HFAC Chair Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and ranking member Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) again added assignment restriction appeal language to the Department of State’s 2021 Authorization Act. The legislation, which confirmed the independent appeal and established a 60-day decision timeline, was signed into law (PL 117-81). Confirming the Employee Right The 2021 legislation mandated a report on “a rationale for the use of assignment restrictions by the Department of State” (22 USC 2734e). The data, shared exclusively with Congress, indicated that even after more than 60 percent of all restrictions were lifted, Asian Americans were proportionally three times as likely as white colleagues to have a restriction. On March 23, 2023, Secretary Blinken announced the end of new assignment restrictions and a process for employees to appeal existing assignment restrictions. In an internal email to employees, he said the change “allows us to unlock the full Four presidents of the Asian American Foreign Affairs Association won AFSA’s 2017 William R. Rivkin Award for Constructive Dissent by a Mid-Level Officer for their work to reform the assignment restriction programs at State, as reported in the September 2017 AFSA News. Shown here, from left: Former AAFAA presidents Mariju Bofill, Cecilia Choi, and Thomas Wong, with current President Christina Le at the AFSA Awards ceremony. AFSA/FSJ DIGITAL ARCHIVE
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