1. So, nothing actually, you know,
HAPPENED to this Chinese lady, just fear that
Coventina probably engendered and fed. ASSuming, of course that
Coventina actually works and that this coworker exists.
2. True 
time ... in the building in which I work, the three most common first languages, in probable order of % are Mandarin, Vietnamese, and English. The Mandarin speakers are mostly from Taiwan, with a few from China. The age range of the Vietnamese speakers is broad enough that some came to the US as immigrants at a young age, while others are probably the children of immigrants who were born here
(it is not uncommon for the children of immigrants to grow up speaking their parents' native language, e.g. German in my father's parents' home, while learning and speaking English at school and places outside of their home).
With apologies for the long intro, the coworkers I've spoken to, mostly from Taiwan (though one is from Indonesia), travel freely, around the US and to their home countries. One (who told me) traveled to Taiwan to vote in their Presidential election. Zero. Fear. Before or after.
There is zero IRL
"Trump cruelty" in this
. But there almost certainly is
Coventina cruelty in the form of her stoking groundless fear in a coworker less familiar with how this country works.
