The census is the largest publicly available dataset with SEAA data. It directly influences political representation and funding for our communities.
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Hmong Leaders Meet with Census Director on Hmong Misclassification
On Thursday, May 23, 16 Hmong and Asian American advocates met with Director Robert L. Santos of the US Census Bureau to discuss the need to reclassify the Hmong as Southeast Asian. The meeting comes as a result of a letter and petition with over 1,700 signatures to Director Santos asking the Bureau to address the issue and meet with community leaders.
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“We talk about how it is so important for us as a group of people to participate in the census, so we show up in the data. Once that data comes out, we will have information about ourselves. Right now, we don’t know how many of us live in the Bay Area, or even the city of Richmond.”
Director, Asian Senior/Adult Daycare Center
“I want to help Cambodians and other minorities be counted in the 2020 Census. We are a minority of a minority group. We are Asians, but we’re also Cambodians. There are only 260,000 of us in the United States according to the 2010 Census, so having everyone counted is important.”
Technical engineer
“It’s vital for us to know each other as a community, locally and nationally. Where are we, how many of us are there, and how can we use our collective numbers to be changemakers? These are questions I find myself asking when I’m planning my dance classes or looking out to a crowd during a performance.”
Director, Cambodian American Girls Empowering
“I’m the son, nephew, and grandson of Vietnamese refugees who benefited from ESL education and other social programs, and I feel like we’ve come full circle now that I’m a first-generation college graduate and ESL teacher. I know that the type of services my school district and I are able to provide relies on data from the Census, so it is so important that educators encourage their community members to complete it.”
ESL Teacher
“When individuals are invisible in data, they remain invisible in policy conversations. To understand how groups within the AAPI community fare in higher education and the specific challenges each face, we must disaggregate data along racial and ethnic lines. Doing so will reveal where inequities exist and, in turn, unlock the full power of postsecondary education to spur social mobility, economic health, and a stronger society.”
Institute for Higher Education Policy
“Without data disaggregation, this system makes students like me invisible, our needs are downplayed, and resources aren’t offered. Data disaggregation allows for students like me to be seen, to get the resources we need, and to reach our fullest potential.”
Minnesota student
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Latest related posts
🚨🆕! APIAVote and AAPI Data, in collaboration with NCAPA, have produced the 2026 AAPI Voters Data and Narrative Toolkit ahead of this November’s elections. AAPI voters are the fastest-growing voter demographic with tremendous potential to impact the outcome in key races across the country. Outreach to these communities needs to be prioritized, and this toolkit is meant to help elevate that argument to news media, funders, campaigns, elected representatives, and other relevant stakeholders to better understand and engage AAPI communities! 🗳️📢
This toolkit provides a standardized, evidence-based, and field-tested set of facts and messaging resources for AAPI community organizers and advocates and will be updated as new data becomes available.
🔗 Explore today at the link in bio!
#MidtermElections #AAPIVoters #AAPIElectorate #VoterData
Aug 31
Have you already taken action to ensure AANHPI students are seen and supported?
SEARAC, NCAPA, and more than 50 organizations are calling on Congress to cosponsor the All Students Count Act. The bill would provide more detailed education data to help schools better understand student outcomes and direct resources where they are needed most.
Join us in urging your representative and senators to act. Take action at the link in our bio.
#AllStudentsCount #AANHPI #EducationEquity #DataEquity #BackToSchool
Aug 28
SEARAC and AAPI Data’s latest fact sheet, Southeast Asian American Deportations: Trends and Policy Implications, makes one thing clear: we must act now to keep our families together.
Southeast Asian American communities are being targeted at an alarming rate, with 42% of ALL Southeast Asian deportations since 1998 happening in just the last two fiscal years, including a more than 20x increase in deportations of our elders. People who have called the United States home for decades, many since childhood, are being sent to countries they no longer have connection to. We need policy solutions that ensure dignity for our communities and respect for human life. Read the fact sheet and our policy recommendations at the link in our bio or bit.ly/seadeportationtrends2026
@searac @aapidata
Aug 27
As students head back to school, AANHPI students deserve to be seen and supported.
SEARAC, NCAPA, and more than 50 organizations are calling on Congress to cosponsor the All Students Count Act. The bill would provide more detailed education data to help schools better understand student outcomes and direct resources where they are needed most.
Join us in urging your representative and senators to act. Take action at the link in our bio.
#AllStudentsCount #AANHPI #EducationEquity #DataEquity #BackToSchool
Aug 24
SEARAC`s Rising Up report confirms what our communities have known all along: when Southeast Asian American students have access to culturally relevant curricula, heritage language learning, mental health supports, and educators who see them, they thrive.
Graduation and college enrollment are up for our communities, but federal cuts to education programs are threatening these gains. "Progress is possible because of community power," says SEARAC`s Quyên Đinh. Let`s keep building it!
Read SEARAC`s report and the full story from @asamnews at the link in our bio!
Aug 21
