Unpacking challenges facing Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian Women and what policymakers can do
February 2026 | By Nina Long, Laura Pryor, Nishi Nair, and Hannah Orbach-Mandel
How might recent federal and state action impact AANHPI Californians?
The harmful Republican megabill (referred to as H.R. 1), passed in the summer of 2025, includes historic cuts to health care and food assistance to fund tax breaks for the well-off. These cuts fall particularly hard on immigrants, with several of the most vulnerable classes of legally documented immigrants — like refugees, asylees, humanitarian parolees, and trafficking survivors — losing access to care.
Around a third of the California state budget comes from federal funding, and a projected multi-year budget deficit means the state — without bold action — may be unable to backfill some or all of these cuts. Rather than pursuing revenue solutions, the state has instead balanced its budget on the backs of its most vulnerable residents.
Immigrant Californians, many of whom are AANHPI, have borne the brunt of cuts to the social safety net in the state budget. The 2025-26 state budget included an enrollment freeze for undocumented Californians in Medi-Cal, a cut to dental benefits for certain groups of immigrants, and the introduction of unaffordable premiums for certain groups of immigrants.
The impacts of H.R. 1 and state budget policies stand to exacerbate the economic security challenges AANHPI women already face. Importantly, different AANHPI ethnicities face distinct challenges in health, economic mobility, and economic security, and policy approaches must account for these disparities.
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