Amihan Matias to Head State AAPI Commission
Amihan Matias knows firsthand the benefits of open immigration laws and policies. Born in Manila, her family moved to the U.S. — after spending time in Toronto — thanks to the Immigration and Nationality Act. The law, signed on Oct. 3, 1965 by Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson had a profound effect on immigration from Asia and around the world, especially following a history of restrictive and racist policies and laws.
“We were part of the wave of Asian and Pacific Islander professionals that came in 1965,” Matias told Sampan recently.
Her father’s skills and knowledge were in particular demand, she said. He was a mechanical engineer who designed piping systems for nuclear power plants.
But she didn’t take her family’s ability to start a new life in the U.S. for granted. Instead, Matias has been active in Asian American and Pacific Islander advocacy for decades in Boston and in western Massachusetts.
Now, Matias is taking her advocacy to a statewide level. She was named executive director of the Massachusetts Asian American and Pacific Islanders Commission, which turns 20 this year.
Matias said her new role comes at a time when mass immigration raids and deportations — and anti-immigrant policies — mean that the need to build solidarity among AAPI communities is more important than ever.
“We cannot be focused (on only) our own ethnic groups,” Matias said of the highly diverse AAPI community in Massachusetts that includes people from around 100 different countries, many of which have historically endured their own nation-to-nation conflicts.
“We as immigrants have contributed greatly to the success of the commonwealth in all kinds of ways,” she points out.
In the 1990s, Matias founded what started as an HIV/AIDS prevention and advocacy group, MAP for Health. She is also the founder of the AAPI Alliance of Western Massachusetts. In addition, she has worked with the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) and the nonprofit group, the Asian American Resource Workshop.
In her new position with the Commission, she said, she plans to strengthen connections across the state’s diverse AAPI communities and wants to engage and learn about less-served groups, such as the Bhutanese and Khmer populations, by collaborating with trusted community groups and longtime Commission partner, the Institute for Asian American Studies at the University of Massachusetts-Boston.
“We don’t have disaggregated information (on these and other underserved groups). We don’t even have disaggregated information for the Filipino communities,” she noted. “That’s a very real, legitimate concern.”
She said gathering this type of data will help learn the needs of AAPI subgroups, better serve them, and help in her goal of building solidarity.
“I have dedicated most of my life to creating, supporting, and strengthening Asian and Pacific Islander American organizations and communities,” she said. “Due to the anti-immigrant sentiment and policies that have taken root more powerfully in this country during this time, I feel even more compelled to protect their rights and safety, and uplift the voices, contributions, and humanity of our AAPI communities."
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