AARW Pushes Rent Control Effort, Talks About ICE in Dorchester

As the cost of living in Massachusetts has risen dramatically for many residents, the Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW) has been campaigning to put rent control — which was abolished decades ago in the state — on the ballot in November of 2026. That effort, which has deadline of this Nov.19, is just one initiative the Dorchester-based nonprofit has been supporting to help Asian Americans in the Greater Boston area.

The Sampan recently spoke to the group’s co-executive director Nicole Eigbrett, to discuss the rent control effort, as well AARW's response to local immigration raids.

“We view bringing back rent control in Massachusetts as one of the key policy tools we have to fight this (housing) crisis,” Eigbrett said. “For AARW, it was really clear that we need to be part of this campaign, which would have an impact, of course, not only here in Boston, but across the entire state.”

Massachusetts has consistently ranked as one of the most expensive places to live in the nation. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator, a family of four in the state would require one working adult to earn at least $106,000 before taxes are taken out in order to make ends meet. That number shoots up to around $114,000 for those in Suffolk County and nearly $119,000 in Norfolk County.

“It would cost nothing to allow rent control, rent stabilization to be a policy again,” Eigbrett said.

AARW co-executive director Nicole Eigbrett; Courtesy photo

The policy AARW is promoting was crafted with the help of local tenants, homeowners and small landlords. In its current iteration, it would prevent rent increases of more than the cost of inflation in any given year, and would cap them at 5%. There would be some exemptions to this, such as new construction, which would be excused for the first 10 years, as well as small-building landlords who live in their own buildings. AARW is part of a statewide coalition called Homes for All Massachusetts, which is made up of other immigrant- and racial-minority-led organizations and has been campaigning for rent control in Massachusetts and fighting housing injustice for the past half decade.

“This is not a matter of pitting tenants against landlords,” said Eigbrett. “This is more about the working class against corporate real estate interests, who are the ones really driving the worst of the rent increases, the worst of the displacements....”

AARW has been working with community members of all different generations to reach their goal. For instance, they’ve been engaging with community youth by holding political organization workshops and encouraging them to collect signatures in areas like Malden, Chinatown, and Dorchester.

The group also has a rent control campaign team of volunteers who collect signatures at T-stops and farmers' markets, as well as public events in Greater Boston. Members of the Vietnamese and Southeast Asian communities in Dorchester have also stepped up in the fight against displacement, thanks to AARW’s advocacy.

“This is a first for our organization and something I feel very proud of. Because in a lot of immigrant and Southeast Asian immigrant communities, there can sometimes be either a lack of understanding or just cultural differences about what it means to be civically engaged. Because people are bringing such unique histories and trauma from their home countries.” Eigbrett said.

Fighting against displacement is especially important for Asian American communities, such as the Vietnamese and Southeast Asian immigrant communities, who have historically struggled with displacement due to the Vietnam War. For immigrant families, many have already experienced displacement from their home once before and now find themselves in Boston, trying to recapture that sense of home they once lost; the idea of that happening again can be devastating for a community. According to a study conducted by UMass Boston’s Institute for Asian American Studies, 32% of Asian Americans in Massachusetts consider the cost of living to be their number one concern.

“We know, especially for like working class and low income Asians and Asian Americans, you know, when your housing is unstable, everything else in life can fall into crisis. Housing is health, housing is stability, housing is community, and this is just, this is such as an intersecting, interconnected issue for our people,” Eigbrett said.

Immigration Struggles

AARW has also been advocating against the deportation and immigration raids of Boston-area Southeast Asians. Just this past September, seven members of the Vietnamese community in Dorchester were abducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, according to AARW.

“We know that there's a lot of fear right now in the community. People are changing their daily patterns and the way they go to work or when they're at school or even socializing less because they just don't want to leave their home,” Eigbrett said.

In addition, said the director, immigration raids and housing crises are interconnected.

“When someone is detained and at risk of deportation, the next thing that often happens to that impacted family is that their housing falls into crisis,” Eigbrett said.

AARW has been organizing mutual aid fundraisers to help those at risk pay rent and mortgage expenses, as well as a meal train where people can donate meals and restaurant gift cards to families in need. The group has also been educating the community about their rights and resources. The Asian Outreach Unit of Greater Boston Legal Services has been working with AARW by helping with Know Your Rights information and co-leading trainings for what to do if under threat. AARW has been doing what it can to help community members legally, connecting them with attorneys and lawmakers.

“So this is really a moment that is requiring, you know, our network of relationships and community solidarity to show up for one another,” Eigbrett said.

To get the campaign into the second stage, Keep Massachusetts Home will need 76,500 certified signatures from registered voters by Nov. 19.