Our Platform

We believe that through our shared platform we can achieve equity for Massachusetts Asian and Pacific Islander communities.

2025/2026 Advocacy Agenda

APIs CAN’s advocacy agenda for the 2025/26 legislative session is driven by our coalition members to support and advocate for issues and programs that advance immigrant, racial, and economic justice by investing in our working class communities. 

Our agenda priorities are rooted in the long term goal of a Massachusetts Commonwealth where Asian/Pacific Islanders, and all Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, are given the tools and resources we need to thrive, including safe communities which keep our immigrant communities safe, access to housing, language justice, and data equity, where we define our narrative rooted in Pan-Asian unity and equity.

Immigrant Justice

AAPI Communities have a long history of being excluded and treated as perpetuate-foreigners regardless of where we were born and how long we have been in the USA. Because of this, our communities will benefit from a more pro-immigrant atmosphere and policies that protect immigrants. APIs CAN is moving together to support immigrant communities and advocate that the MA legislature take a stronger stance to protect all of its residents regardless of their immigration status. 

  • Dignity Not Deportation (H.1588/S.1122), Senator Adam Gomez, Representative Christine Barber and Representative David Rogers

  • Safe Communities Act (H.2580/S.1681), Senator Jamie Eldridge and Senator Liz Miranda, Representative Cruz and Sousa

  • Immigrant Legal Defense Act (H.1954/S.1127), Senator Adam Gomez and Representative  Rogers and Representative F. Moran

Housing Justice

APIs CAN believes that housing should be a human right and Massachusetts should work towards housing for all. We call for legislation protecting tenant rights, especially lifting the ban on rent control. At the same time we call for preservation of affordable housing and increase in funding for affordable housing that prioritizes permanent affordable housing and taking housing out of the speculative market.  We need all of the following proposed policies to be working together in order  to ensure the economic and social stability of all AAPI communities.

  • An Act enabling cities and towns to stabilize rents and protect tenants (H.2328/S.1447), Senator Pat Jehlen, Representative Sam Montaño and Representative David Rogers 

  • An Act to Guarantee a Tenant’s First Right of Refusal (TOPA) (H.1544/S.998), Senator Pat Jehlen, Representative Jay Livingstone and Representative Rob Consalvo

Civil Rights

As part of our work to build a network of progressive, working class AAPI organization, APIs CAN has focused on expanding from only working on issues of voting and civic action, to engaging AAPI communities on a wide range of issues and representing the perspective of working class AAPI communities within the mainstream discourse in our state. Our communities have been hurt by structural racism: AAPI communities in Massachusetts face incarceration due to immigration status, lack of housing and homelessness due to language access, and the over-policing and criminalization in our neighborhoods that limits access to economic opportunities.

  • An Act relative to voting rights restoration (H.873/S.524), Senator Liz Miranda, Representative Erika Uyterhoeven

Language Justice

APIs CAN believes that to be an equitable and representative democracy, we must center language access in order to have a truly participatory government. With our partners across the Commonwealth, we are championing language access advocacy for the most commonly spoken AAPI languages in Massachusetts in all areas of civic life. 78% of Asian Americans in Massachusetts speak a language other than English at home, and a third of Asian Americans in Massachusetts speak English less than “very well.” (Source)

  • An Act relative to the training, assessment, and assignment of qualified school interpreters in educational settings (H.520/S.320), Senator Brendan Crighton, Representative Antonio Cabral

Data Equity

In Massachusetts, there are significant disparities in all areas between different ethnic groups within the Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian populations. When it comes to housing in Massachusetts, a lower percentage of Asians as a whole are rent burdened than the US average. Chinese Americans, though, experience some of the highest rates of being rent burdened (National CAPACD, 2021). Additionally, in the Greater Boston area, while 64% of Chinese immigrant residents hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, only 30% of Vietnamese immigrant residents have this same level of educational attainment (Boston Indicators, 2021). 

  • An Act establishing the Massachusetts Data Privacy Act (H.104/S.29), Senator Michael Moore, Representative Andreas Vargas and Representative David Rogers

  • “Our communities have always known what we need to thrive. This agenda reflects the real conditions facing AAPI and BIPOC communities—and a path forward built through solidarity and collective action.”

    Jaya Savita, Executive Director of APIs CAN

  • "Asian American organizations from across Massachusetts have united under a historic advocacy agenda. AARW urges lawmakers on Beacon Hill to act decisively on our collective call for legislative action.”

    Nicole Eigbrett, Co-Executive Director of the Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW) and Co-Chair of the APIs CAN Steering Committee.

  • “ACDC recognizes the importance of standing together with our fellow Asian American grassroots community to advocate for state resources and legislation that protect our communities, especially during this time when many of these rights are under assault at the federal level.”

    Angie Liou, Executive Director of ACDC, and Co-Chcommunities, especially during this timair of the APIs CAN Steering Committee.

  • "To achieve true economic success and social well-being for immigrant families BCNC serves, we believe in advancing immigrant justice, housing stability, civil rights, language access, and equitable data—because only when every voice is heard and every family is protected can all of our communities truly thrive.”

    Ben Hires, CEO, BCNC

  • "The agenda speaks to the heart of what it means to build a Commonwealth that truly embraces inclusion, celebrates diversity, and ensures everyone has the opportunity to thrive."

    Karen Chen, Executive Director, Chinese Progressive Association

APIs CAN narrative change strategy is focused on three core values: racial justice, economic empowerment, and job advancement. Through the coalition, APIs CAN works with members to collect and share stories, life histories, and other artifacts to dispel the one-dimensional story of Asian American and Pacific Islanders through community gatherings, storytelling, and digital and in-person campaigns. APIs CAN uses ongoing work around data equity, monitoring anti-Asian hate, and civic engagement to advocate for representative research and data that captures the diversity of the AAPI experience.

Narrative Change