Filipino Discrimination Crisis

The Filipino Discrimination Crisis was a collection of policies instituted across the United States which systemically disenfranchised people from the Philippines. This discrimination commenced in 2222 with the National Guard's occupation of the Philippines, and ended following the efforts taken by the Department of Justice between 2261 and 2275. 
== National Guard Occupation ==
During the Blankenship and Alighieri Administrations, the Philippines was consistently refusing to join the United States. They distrusted the American government following what Imperialist rule, especially since President Barnabas Blankenship used to be an Imperialist Party elite, and additionally saw the Americans as warmongering due to the American-Kramerian War. Because of this, the President of the "Free Philippine Republic", Alexa Delstro, asserted the Philippines's independence. 
In response to this, President Donte Alighieri II offered to negotiate with President Delstro in Washington DC. Upon Delstro's refusal, President Alighieri dispatched the National Guard to assert the American federal legal code in the Philippines. However, Alighieri additionally specified in his order to the National Guard that the Filipino government was not to be deposed unless removed from office via a legal procedure; his goal was to establish American law on the island, rather than to regulate their state government.
The National Guard remained largely obedient to President Alighieri's orders. Alighieri's national legal code was maintained on the islands, as federal police forces and courts were established thereon. Alexa Delstro even remained Governor of the Philippines until her retirement. 
However, the National Guard additionally took advantage over their power in the Philippines in ways President Alighieri did not anticipate. Given that they were meant to detain the Philippines, high ranking officers began teaching that the Filipinos were traitors to the United States, and that the National Guard was there to snuff their treason out. With this, many soldiers within the National Guard began arresting and killing Filipino civilians based on stretched, flimsy evidence. After doing so, the National Guard soldiers consistently justified themselves by saying "It was an emergency" and they were "just doing their job." In many cases, the soldiers would even steal money from the Filipino people in the name of "compensation." 
With this, the National Guard soldiers stationed in the Philippines became very rich. They often bought large swathes of land within the Philippines, as natives often sold their own land just to get by. Because of this, those from the continental United States became an upper-class within the Philippines, whereas the majority native to the island were of a lower economic and social status. Even as President Xander Peralta issued an executive order ending National Guard involvement within the Philippines, the soldiers therein already owned property in the state, and even ran businesses that exploited native Filipino workers. The stage for Filipino discrimination was set and underway.
== Filipino Migration ==
Seeing this oppression in their own homeland, many Filipino people began migrating out of their home state to other parts of the United States, in addition to the prosperous Republic of Krameria. With this, they hoped they would find a home not dominated by soldiers wishing to take from them.
While they were correct in their assertion that the National Guard would no longer oppress them, they faced new hardships on the American continent. Because the influx of Filipino migrants was so prolific, many states began introducing policy known as "interstate residency restrictions", which essentially treated new residents of the state as foreigners who needed to obtain citizenship. Essentially, this meant that while residents of the state were entitled to rights, being a resident of the state itself would be a privilege. When this occurred, many filed suits challenging this in the judiciary. When these cases reached the Supreme Court, they would be swiftly rendered unconstitutional.
However, the narrative was still in place that Filipino migrants were taking jobs away from the other states' native residents, especially given the Philippines's lack of compliance with the United States. Because of this, Filipino citizens were far less likely to be offered employment opportunities than other citizens, and would even be denied services by businesses. Because of this, the Filipino population continued living in poverty.
== Police Discrimination ==
Meanwhile, as the police enforced federal law, statistics in the 23rd century showed that they were more likely to suspect Filipinos for crimes than other Americans. This led to the false arrests and deaths of many Filipinos, as police often targeted Filipino Americans without obtaining proper warrants. Ultimately, Filipinos involved in police whereabouts were far more likely to receive harsh treatment than Americans of other ethnicities. This continued throughout the entire time period.
Generally, this occurred more often when Commawatch policy was in effect, as federal law enforcement had more funding. Because of this, much of the Filipino population began joining the Liberty Party, as they wanted the government to be restricted from being involved in their affairs. Thus, the Liberty Party became the party of Filipino equality. Meanwhile, while the Commawatch Party was never actively discriminatory, their policy is generally regarded by historians as worsening for Filipino discrimination.
== Corruption in the Philippines ==
Meanwhile in the Philippines itself, the rich continental Americans largely paid off state legislators and executives to prevent criminal charges from being levied against them. In many cases, executives outright disobeyed the orders from Governor Delstro, thus rendering her effectively powerless by 2224. Two years later, continental American Ryan Smith ran against Delstro for the position of Governor, pointing out that Delstro has been "too weak" to stop the Filipino discrimination. Because Smith's campaign was more well-funded than Delstro's, much of the Filipino population believed Smith, thus seeing him unseat Delstro with 52.5% of the vote.
As Governor, Smith actively prevented the Philippine state government from taking action against discrimination. While he did not enact any law permitting it, he silently upheld it through this manner. Additionally, Smith used the Governorship to continue amassing his own wealth. At the time, Smith was reportedly the richest Governor in the Philippines's history. Through exploitation, heavy campaign financing, and corruption, Smith managed to stay in power for the next 24 years, until obtaining a seat in the Senate in 2250. Following his Governorship, state Attorney General Barnabas Connell, another continental American formerly part of the National Guard, succeeded him.
== Rise of Quezon Picaso ==
In 2254, political activist Quezon Picaso commenced his campaign to put an end to the oppression of his ethnic group. He commenced this through a run for Governor against Connell. Initially, many thought that Picaso would just be another candidate who stood no chance against the continental American elite in the Philippines. However, Picaso turned to a tactic which no candidate for Philippine Governor had attempted thus far: A grassroots campaign not only within the Philippines's borders, but across the United States as a whole. Noticing what was occurring, many Filipinos who had migrated to the continental United States donated to Picaso, on the rationale that if they sacrificed this, their own condition might be improved as Picaso gained influence. Because of this, there was a greater motive for them to donate to Picaso's campaign. With this, Picaso was able to rival Connell in the 2254 Governor election.
Even as individuals thought that Connell would have won a second term, Picaso managed to defeat him with 54.5% of the vote to Connell's 45.5%. Seeing this, Connell issued an executive order attempting to invalidate the election results and remain as Governor. This would be met with Picaso organizing a large protest outside the Governor's Mansion. Famously, Picaso called out to Connell by saying "Former Governor Connell, you are currently breaking the law by refusing to turn over your office. Who's to say those here will be more law-abiding than you?". After 7 hours of intense protesting, Connell finally caved and repealed his executive order. Thus, Picaso was inaugurated as President on January 30, 2255, and is recognized to have held the office since January 3, 2255.
As Governor, Picaso cracked down on the corruption that had been occurring over the last three decades. Various politicians in the Philippine state legislature were finally prosecuted by the state, as were former National Guard soldiers engaging in bribery. Over the course of his term, Picaso managed to reduce corruption by 72%. In June of 2257, Picaso additionally took action that would shock both the state and nation as a whole: He prosecuted Ryan Smith. Within the month, Smith would be found guilty by the Philippine state government. However, he would not be imprisoned, given that he primarily resided in Washington DC for attending Senate sessions, and the Philippines could not remove a federal Congressman. Because of this, Smith was successfully able to convince the House of Representatives to let him remain in power and not follow through with impeachment charges. 
The inability to imprison Ryan Smith enraged Governor Picaso; his state could not imprison someone who had committed crimes against its government. With this, Picaso knew that if he wanted to affect change, it would need to be on the national level. Because of this, Picaso declared his candidacy for the Presidency in 2260.
In the 2260 Liberty Party primaries, Picaso primarily faced Omarosa Sandoval, who was largely leading a movement to see more of the Liberty Party's economic policy enacted. In the primaries, Picaso levied this as criticism against Sandoval, claiming he was too rooted in the party's policy to adequately work with others. Picaso additionally asserted that while he would reduce the federal government's involvement in the lives of its citizens, he would additionally use it to conduct investigations into Filipino discrimination. Although Sandoval was favored to win, Picaso just barely defeated him, having obtained 50.4% of the vote to Sandoval's 49.6%. Because of Sandoval's prominence within the Liberty Party, Picaso chose him as his running mate.
In the General Election, Picaso faced Commawatch incumbent President Theodore Vogel. In the election, Picaso criticized Vogel for "stepping back from duty when a demographic of Americans need help", in reference to how Vogel structured his executive in a way that had him serve as a mediator between his Bipartisan Executive Office. Picaso additionally noted that the bills Vogel signed were heavily Commawatch-based, and "upheld the federal intervention ruining Filipinos lives". President Vogel defended himself by saying he was pursuing ideals of democracy and bipartisanship, which was what empowered the people the most. To this, Picaso responded by saying this could only be true if the people were not facing active discrimination; which, ever since the Alighieri Administration, Filipinos had been. Picaso famously stated in this election that "No system will ever be democratic for a people, if that people is held as inferior."
Most Americans, in this election, thought that Vogel would win, given that he was more in line with the highly popular Commawatch-Liberty Collaboration. However, although Picaso lost the popular vote, he would obtain 53% of the vote in the electoral college to Vogel's 47%. With this, he successfully became President of the United States.
Upon becoming President, Picaso dissolved President Vogel's Bipartisan Executive Office. He assumed a more hands-on approach to the executive, and ordered the Department of Justice to investigate instances in which Filipinos were denied job opportunities and services. To the pleasure of Vice President Sandoval, he additionally worked to repeal Commawatch policy upholding a strong federal legal structure. Picaso largely left criminalization up to the states, so that the federal police force would have less leverage to disenfranchise Filipinos. Within his four months in office, Picaso had already reduced Filipino discrimination by 9%, and had convicted many individuals of hate crimes.
== Picaso's Aftermath ==
This would render President Picaso's assassination as especially shocking to the Filipino community. Individuals feared whether or not Picaso's progress would be stopped in its tracks, as Picaso's successor, Omarosa Sandoval, had less interest in helping Filipinos than he did with instituting the Liberty Party's economic policy.
During the Sandoval Administration, little progress was made in regards to helping Filipinos. President Sandoval ceased the Department of Justice investigations into Filipino discrimination, wanting to institute the Liberty Party's economic policy to a greater extent than Picaso. Meanwhile, President Eli Pendergast largely focused on repairing the damage dealt by the Sandoval Administration, thus meaning helping Filipinos was low on Pendergast's list.
The effort to reduce Filipino discrimination would finally recommence with the Presidency of Augustus Julius, who largely opposed Sandoval's faction of the Liberty Party, and who was more of a classical politician who fell in line with the Commawatch-Liberty Collaboration. During his administration, President Julius announced that he would recommence the work to counter Filipino hate crimes. In terms of his social and economic stances, Julius's policy would largely parallel Picaso's. Thus, the work of bringing about social equality for Filipinos recommenced, and continued during the moderate Commawatch Presidency of Corey Chaffey. 
By the end of the Chaffey Administration, Filipino discrimination reduced by 91%. Thus, the Filipino Discrimination Crisis officially ended, and the Filipino population experienced peace for the first time in five decades.