NEWS AS WE CELEBRATE ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH, WE’RE LEARNING MORE ABOUT THEIR IMPACT ON NEW MEXICO. STEPHANIE SHOWS US HOW A COURT CASE HERE IMPROVED RIGHTS FOR IMMIGRANTS COMING TO THE US. THE BOOMING RAILROAD INDUSTRY IN THE 19TH CENTURY HELPED BUILD WHAT THE CITY OF LAS VEGAS IS TODAY. BUT A MURDER AT A LAUNDRY MADE HISTORY FOR CHINESE IMMIGRANTS. HE JUST LIKE STEPPED INTO JOHN LEE’S LAUNDRY ON THAT FATEFUL NIGHT, DR. YING XU STUDIED THE CASE OF 20 YEAR OLD CHINESE IMMIGRANT YE. SOON, SHE SAYS, ON FEBRUARY 24TH, 1882, SIX CHINESE MEN WERE INSIDE JOHN LEE’S LAUNDRY TRYING TO BUY THE BUSINESS. HE SOON WAS THERE LOOKING FOR A FRIEND. PEOPLE HEARD TWO GUNSHOTS AND THEN PEOPLE LIKE FLEEING THE SCENE. ONE MAN WAS LEFT DEAD. POLICE INTERVIEWED A WITNESS NAMED JOE CHINA. MAN WELL, AT THE FIRST QUESTION BY THE POLICE, HE REFUSED TO IDENTIFY YASIN AS THE KILLER. STILL SOON WAS ARRESTED FOR THE MURDER. SIX MONTHS LATER IN COURT, CHINA MAN BECAME THE KEY WITNESS. HE WAS ASKED ABOUT HIS BELIEFS BECAUSE AT THE TIME, NON-CHRISTIAN, CHINESE TESTIMONY WAS NOT ALLOWED IN COURT. HE SOON’S LAWYER OBJECTED TO HIM AS A CREDIBLE. THE JUDGE ALLOWED THE TESTIMONY AND YEE SOON WAS CONVICTED OF SECOND DEGREE MURDER. YES, SINCE LAWYER LIKE DECIDED TO SEND A NOTICE OF APPEAL BY ARGUING THAT BECAUSE JOE CHINAMAN WAS NOT CHRISTIAN, THE APPEAL FAILED. YEE SOON KILLED HIMSELF IN JAIL WHILE THIS TRAGIC STORY TOOK THE LIVES OF TWO PEOPLE, IT CHANGED THE COURSE FOR MANY ASIAN IMMIGRANTS. YES, THIS CASE SET UP A PRECEDENT FOR CHINESE PEOPLE TO VOICE TO SEEK THEIR LEGAL JUSTICE IN THE AMERICAN COURT. 30 YEARS LATER, SOON’S CASE ALLOWED A JAPANESE MAN THE RIGHT TO TESTIFY IN COURT. WE NEEDED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT OUR OWN HISTORY, INCLUDING, YOU KNOW, LIKE CHINESE IMMIGRANTS CONTRIBUTING TO THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO, THE NATION’S LIFE, PEOPLE’S LIFE. THEY JUST LIKE TORRENT OF RIVER. THEY THEY WERE JUST LIKE CONTINUOUSLY RUNNING DOWN. AND WE AS INDIVIDUALS, NO MATTER WHO WE ARE, WHERE WE ARE, WHERE WE CAME FROM, AND WE ARE JUST A DROP OF WATER IN THIS TORRENT OF HISTORY. AND TODAY, THIS MONUMENT OUTSIDE DISTRICT COURT IN ALBUQUERQUE HONORS YE SOON AND OTHER GROUNDBREAKING CASES THAT PAVED A ROAD TOWARDS RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS FOR ASIAN AMERICANS IN THE US. THE REA KIND OF YOU KNOW, SHINING ON THE STATUE. AND IT’S THIS CHINESE IMMIGRANT LOOKING AT THE FUTURE, YOU KNOW, VIEW FROM GOLD MOUNTAIN. STEPHANIE MUNIZ KOAT ACTION SEVEN NEWS. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE IMPACTS ASIAN AMERICANS HAVE MADE ON NEW MEXICO AND THEIR CULTURE, YOU CAN VISIT AN RPI EVENT AT THE MUSEUM OF NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND HISTORY S