AAPI New Jersey

Join Estamos Unidos, the MinKwon Center 민권센터 and AAPI NJ at Chino's Bakery and Cafe in Palisades Park on Sunday, June 28, from 11 a.m.–2 p.m. to write messages of hope, solidarity, and encouragement to people detained at Delaney Hall.

Meet some of the organizers leading rapid response efforts in the Palisades Park area and learn about ways to support immigrant communities. Whether that means volunteering on the ground, taking action from home, or supporting behind the scenes, there are many ways to stand in solidarity.

Every day, organizations across New Jersey are supporting AAPI communities. Whether it's helping seniors access care in a language they understand, supporting immigrant families as they navigate complex systems, or providing culturally responsive mental health care for our youth, this work is already happening.

The need is there. The trusted organizations are there. The investment is missing.

The Healthy AAPI Communities Budget would dedicate $5 million to community organizations serving AAPI New Jerseyans across the state so they can reach more people and meet growing needs.

Take action today: tinyurl.com/HAAPInow

Please join us for a benefit screening of Which Way Home, the Academy Award–nominated documentary that follows unaccompanied migrant children traveling atop La Bestia, a freight train crossing Mexico in search of safety, opportunity, and a future in the United States.

Today, people inside detention centers across the country face violence, inhumane conditions, and the denial of basic rights. At Delaney Hall in Newark, detained immigrants have organized hunger and labor strikes in protest. Families are being torn apart and left struggling without financial support. Children are losing parents overnight to detention and deportation, forced to navigate grief, instability, and fear while the adults in their lives disappear into a system with no transparency and no timeline. For the children who made the journey themselves, the system has never been more dangerous or more hostile.

Every dollar from your ticket purchase goes directly to Cosecha New Jersey's Family Support Fund, which provides emergency financial assistance to families impacted by detention, advocates for policy change, and builds community power.
Doors open: 6:15 PM Film begins: 7:00 PM
Tickets & info at the QR code or https://tinyurl.com/whichwayhome0626

Following the film, stay for a panel discussion with organizers, attorneys, and nonprofit leaders working to support immigrant families.

Our team was thrilled to participate in Netroots Nation last week and left the conference feeling energized, equipped, and inspired to take on the challenges ahead.

We were honored to share some of our work on a panel about AAPI Community Organizing in Response to Police Violence. Thanks to Zellie Imani of Black Lives Matter - Paterson and Christina Thomas of Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance for joining us in this discussion. We recognized the foundation Black communities have built to oppose police violence, and while anti-Blackness continues to exist within many AAPI communities, recognizing each other’s humanity and standing in solidarity is the only way we succeed against white-supremacist structures.

An attendee called out the absence of Pacific Islander experiences in our session, for which we’re grateful. We know there are stark differences between what many Asian Americans face as immigrants and children of immigrants, and the state violence Pacific Islander communities have endured for centuries in their fight for sovereignty and as victims of police violence at rates more akin to Black and Indigenous folks. Their history and experiences should not be forgotten.

Thank you to everyone who attended and joined in remembering Victoria Lee, Christian Hall, and Najee Seabrooks who should all be alive today. We hope their stories encourage you to keep working together across communities and fighting for justice.

Why do we need the Healthy AAPI Communities Budget?
In recent years, AAPI communities have faced a sharp rise in anti-Asian hate and harassment. At the same time, too many AAPI individuals and families continue to face barriers to mental health support and other essential services.

The Healthy AAPI Communities Budget would invest in community-based mental health support, language-accessible resources, and trusted organizations serving AAPI communities across New Jersey.

We need your support to ensure our communities are not left out of this year's budget.
Take action & contact your lawmakers today through our one-click form: tinyurl.com/HAAPInow

AAPI communities are diverse. But when we're treated as one big group, our different needs can go unseen and unmet.

Many AAPI New Jerseyans face language barriers, social isolation, poverty, and unmet health needs.

Community-based organizations play a critical role in helping people access support, resources, and services. But they cannot do it alone.

The Healthy AAPI Communities Budget would invest in trusted organizations that understand and serve our communities every day.

Stand with us for Healthier AAPI Communities. Take action ➡️ tinyurl.com/HAAPInow

Attending Netroots Nation? Join us on tomorrow, Saturday June 6 at 2:30pm in 124 for AAPI Community Organizing in Response to Police Violence, featuring our Co-Executive Director Amber Reed, Christina Thomas of , of , moderated by our Director of Organizing Danielle Iwata.

On December 30, 2020, police killed 19-year old Chinese-American Christian Hall on Route 33 in Pennsylvania. On July 28, 2024 Victoria Lee, a 25-year-old Korean American, was experiencing a mental health crisis when her family called 911, seeking medical assistance and instead, police shot and killed her. In response to these tragedies, organizers from APIA PA and AAPI New Jersey led campaigns to demand alternatives to the law enforcement responses that have too often ended the lives of those they should have protected. Learn about strategies used to advocate to lawmakers, educate community members, and build cross-racial coalitions who all understood: no one is safe, unless we are all safe.

AAPI Heritage Month may be over, but our work supporting and amplifying AAPI voices is a year-round effort. We’re halfway to 300 donors, and we’re not giving up yet. Help us reach our goal by June 14!

In the weeks ahead, we'll be advocating for historic investments in AAPI communities, training educators to teach AAPI histories and experiences, defending the rights of immigrants and families, and encouraging civic participation across the state.

Every one of these efforts is powered by people like you.

If you believe in a New Jersey where AAPI communities can thrive, belong, and lead, please consider making a gift today. Give at tinyurl.com/AAPINJgive