chris punongbayan is executive director of asian americans advancing justice, asian law caucus. thank you all for being here. now, this is meant to be a stimulating conversation, so feel free to jump in with your thoughts and ideas like you would with friends, because we are all friends here. all right? welcome. you know, cheryl cited the growing asian-american population in the u.s. this has historical basis, of course, in a very important piece of federal law that passed 50 years ago. so, chris, let's begin with you. how did the immigration and nationality act open the door for immigrants, specifically for asians? >> mm-hmm. so that law was really transformative for all immigrants but particularly from asia. prior to 1965, there were quotas sealing limits on immigrants from certain countries, but in 1965, the doors were opened wide. prior to 1965, there had only been 1.5 million immigrants from asia in almost the 150 years prior to that. since then, in the last 50 years, we've seen over 12 million immigrants come from asia, and this is all due to the 1965 act. >> all right, th