ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER AMERICANS ARE THE FASTEST GROWING MAJOR RACIAL GROUPS IN MASSACHUSETTS. THE POPULATION IS UP BY NEARLY 38% SINCE 2012 TO MORE THAN HALF A MILLION. SEVERAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT REPRESENT THE AAPI COMMUNITY IN MASSACHUSETTS HAVE PRODUCED THE FIRST EVER IN-DEPTH, COMPREHENSIVE, COMMUNITY DRIVEN REPORT TO DELVE INTO THE NUANCES OF THE ASIAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. SO JOINING ME NOW TO TALK ABOUT THAT MORE IS JAY SAVITA, DIRECTOR OF THE ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDERS CIVIC ACTION NETWORK. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE TODAY. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME. YES. SO TELL ME, HOW DID THIS REPORT COME TOGETHER AND WHY NOW? YEAH. SO THIS REPORT HAS BEEN IN THE WORKS FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, BUT IT CAME TOGETHER REALLY WITH THE HELP OF THE COMMUNITY. WE WORKED WITH THE INSTITUTE FOR ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES AT UMASS BOSTON, THE ASIAN AMERICAN PACIFIC ISLANDER COMMISSION FOR THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS, THE ASIAN COMMUNITY FUND AT TBF AND API’S CAN, AS WELL AS MASSINC AND A HANDFUL OF OTHER PARTNERS. BUT IT REALLY CAME OUT OF THE URGENCY THAT WE’RE NOT SEEING OURSELVES REPRESENTED IN DATA. AS AN ASIAN AMERICAN, I CAN SPEAK FOR MY EXPERIENCE THAT WE’RE OFTEN PORTRAYED AT A ONE DIMENSIONAL LEVEL. THE STORY IS WE’RE A MODEL MINORITY. WE ARE ALL HIGHLY EDUCATED, CLASS PRIVILEGED, AND DON’T NEED HELP FROM COMMUNITY, FROM GOVERNMENT, FROM FROM SERVICES, AND FROM THE BROADER STATE. AND THIS REALLY CAME OUT OF THE REALIZATION AND THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THAT STORY ISN’T TRUE, BUT THE DATA ISN’T SHOWING IT. TELL ME ABOUT SOME OF THAT DATA. WHAT ARE WE FINDING HERE? WHAT ARE SOME OF THE KEY FINDINGS FROM THIS REPORT? YEAH. SO SOME OF THE KEY FINDINGS IS THAT ASIAN AMERICANS ARE BEING ARE IMPACTED BY THE SOCIOECONOMIC CLIMATE THAT MANY OF US ARE FACING RIGHT NOW. WE HAVE A SIZABLE WORKING CLASS COMMUNITY ACROSS THE STATE WHO ARE DEALING WITH RISING HOUSING PRICES, RISING COST OF FOOD, LACK OF ACCESS TO RENTAL ASSISTANCE AND OTHER WELFARE PROGRAMS AND SOCIAL SERVICE PROGRAMS. OKAY. AND I KNOW ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT IS ESPECIALLY RELEVANT TODAY, YOU TALK ABOUT THE SENSE OF BELONGING AND EXPERIENCE WITH RACISM AND ASIAN HATE NOW, ESPECIALLY WITHIN THE CURRENT CLIMATE AND RHETORIC AROUND IMMIGRANTS. CAN YOU TALK TO ME MORE ABOUT THAT? YEAH. SO, YOU KNOW, IN THE CONTEXT OF OF MASSACHUSETTS AND IN THE CONTEXT OF OUR ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES HERE, WE ARE SEEING, YOU KNOW, SINCE COVID, A SIGNIFICANT RISE IN ANTI-ASIAN VIOLENCE, THREATS OF VIOLENCE, HATE AND HARASSMENT. AND WHAT WE FOUND IS OUR RESPONDENTS HAVE REPORTED HIGH RATES OF THOSE INSTANCES, BUT LOW BUT LOW RATES OF ACTION BEING TAKEN. AND THAT’S WHETHER THEY’VE REACHED OUT TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT, TO COMMUNITY GROUPS AND OTHER RESOURCES. I THINK THERE’S A SENSE OF A BROADER SENSE OF A LACK OF BELONGING THAT OUR COMMUNITIES ARE FACING, AND THAT IS NUANCED ACROSS THE DIFFERENT ETHNIC COMMUNITIES. AND WHETHER OR NOT SOMEONE WAS BORN IN THIS COUNTRY VERSUS BEING AN IMMIGRANT. AND WE TALK WE’RE TALKING A LOT TODAY ABOUT ICE AND THE RAIDS. AND THE ASIAN COMMUNITY IS ALSO IMPACTED BY ICE AND THE RAIDS. NEARLY 500 IMMIGRANTS FROM THE ASIAN COMMUNITY WERE SWEPT UP BY THE RAIDS IN MASSACHUSETTS IN MARCH AND WERE DETAINED LAST MONTH. BUT WE DON’T HEAR MUCH ABOUT THIS SIDE OF THE IMMIGRATION ISSUE. WHY? I MEAN, THAT GOES BACK TO THE ONE DIMENSIONAL STORY. THERE IS A SIZABLE SOUTHEAST ASIAN POPULATION HERE IN MASSACHUSETTS WHO CAME TO THIS STATE AS REFUGEES FLEEING THE U.S. INVASION OF SOUTHEAST ASIA 50 YEARS AGO THIS YEAR. THOSE ARE PEOPLE WHO FLED VIETNAM, LAOS, CAMBODIA, AT VERY YOUNG AGES. IF IF EVEN, YOU KNOW, MAYBE BABIES AND HAVE ONLY KNOWN MASSACHUSETTS AS THEIR HOME. BUT DUE TO THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND LACK OF OPPORTUNITY AND REALLY HAVING TO MAKE HARD CHOICES, THEY’VE BEEN SWEPT UP INTO INTO BEING DETAINED AND ULTIMATELY BEING DEPORTED OUT OF THE PLACE THEY’VE ONLY KNOWN AS HOME. WHAT DO YOU WANT THE COMMUNITY TO KNOW ABOUT THAT? WELL, THAT OUR STORIES ARE NUANCED. WE’RE NOT ONE DIMENSIONAL. WE ARE NOT. YOU KNOW WHAT’S BEING TOLD BY THE BROADER MEDIA. OUR STORIES ARE DIVERSE. AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE REPORT, YOU’LL REALLY SEE THAT WE HAVE A VARIETY OF POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS, BUT WE’RE HIGHLY INVOLVED IN CIVIC ADVOCACY AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, REGARDLESS OF CITIZENSHIP STATUS. OUR COMMUNITIES ARE HURTING BY THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION’S ACTIONS, AND WE ARE DEALING WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF LACK OF RESOURCING AND ATTENTION. WHICH IS REALLY ULTIMATELY LEADING TO SILENCING. TALK ABOUT ALSO BEING INVOLVED WITH DIFFERENT NETWORKS, RIGHT? YOU’RE ALSO INVOLVED WITH THE LUCY NETWORK AND IMMIGRANT JUSTICE NETWORK OPERATING IN MASSACHUSETTS. TELL ME MORE ABOUT HOW THAT WORKS. YEAH. SO THE LUCY IMMIGRANT JUSTICE NETWORK OF MASSACHUSETTS IS A STATEWIDE NETWORK OF BASE BUILDING GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATIONS. APIS CAN IS ON THE STEERING COMMITTEE OF THAT. AND A PART OF THAT IS REALLY CRITICAL BECAUSE WE NEED ASIAN AMERICANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS TO BE AT THE TABLE TO BE PART OF THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND TO DRIVE OUR DIALOG ABOUT WHAT IT IS TO BE AN IMMIGRANT AND WHAT IT IS TO BE AN IMMIGRANT UNDER A REGIME THAT IS BOLSTERING UP IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT AND DEPORTING OUR COMMUNITIES AND LOVED ONES. SPEAKING WITH DEPORTATION AND IMMIGRATION, THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN TARGETING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS SPECIFICALLY FROM CHINA. NOW, OBVIOUSLY, THAT’S A STRESSFUL SITUATION. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN HEARING? I MEAN, THERE’S A LOT OF FEAR AND ANXIETY THAT WE’RE HEARING FROM STUDENTS. AND AT THE END OF THE DAY, A LOT OF THE STUDENTS THAT HAVE BEEN TARGETED IN REGARDS TO ADVOCACY AND ORGANIZING ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES HAVE BEEN ASIAN AMERICAN OR ASIAN, COMING FROM ACROSS THE CONTINENT. AND WE’RE SEEING A REAL FEAR, BOTH FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS BUT ALSO FROM STUDENTS WHO ARE SEEKING EDUCATION AND ADVANCEMENT OPPORTUNITIES HERE. THIS IS REALLY AN ATTACK, NOT JUST ON THE RIGHT TO STUDY AND THE RIGHT TO ACCESS EDUCATION, BUT ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND THE RIGHT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO ORGANIZE AND ADVOCATE AND USE THEIR VOICES. HEY, ORGANIZING AND ADVOCATING, TELL ME QUICKLY THE PASSAGE OF THE DATA EQUITY BILL ON BEACON HILL IS SIGNIFICANT FOR THE APIA COMMUNITY. NOW, GIVE ME A QUICK REFRESHER ON WHAT THAT IS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT. YEAH. SO THE DATA EQUITY BILL WAS CHAMPIONED BY API’S CAN AND MANY OF OUR PARTNERS A FEW YEARS AGO. IT FOCUSES ON DATA DISAGGREGATION. SO THAT’S REALLY ROOTED IN THE IDEA THAT ASIANS ARE NOT A MONOLITH, THAT WE ARE DIVERSE AND NUANCED, AND THE DATA THAT’S BEING COLLECTED ABOUT ASIAN AMERICANS IN MASSACHUSETTS IS ONE DIMENSIONAL, AND WE NEED OUR STORIES TO BE TOLD. AND WE NEED THAT STORIES TO BE TOLD THROUGH THE BREAKING UP OF DATA. AND SO DATA DISAGGREGATION MEANS WE’RE ACCOUNTING FOR THE CHINESE COMMUNITY, THE INDIAN COMMUNITY, THE VIETNAMESE, LAOTIAN, KHMER, ETC. COMMUNITIES THAT REPRESENT THE DIVERSITY OF THE ASIAN COMMUNITY HERE IN MASSACHUSETTS. JIA, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE TODAY TO GIVE US MORE AND BREAK DOWN THIS REPORT TODAY. DIRECTOR OF THE ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDERS CIVIC ACTION NETWORK. YOU C