CASL Advocacy: A Year in Review

Written by April Rosché, CASL’s Senior Policy Analyst

CASL spent the past year pushing for policies that protect immigrant families and make Chicago’s Asian American and Pacific Islander communities more visible in city and state government. We led community events, briefed lawmakers, and helped pass new city legislation on data collection — work that outpaced our own targets for the year. 

We set out to lead five community engagement events and led 10. We aimed for three government officials or organizations to reach out for input, events, or press, and ended with 39. We planned for three internal workshops on government affairs and hosted nine. 

Here are some of the highlights from the past year. 

In July 2025, Senator Durbin held a press conference in Chicago to condemn the Federal Government’s violent immigration actions in the city. He stood alongside community leaders and City Alderpeople, including CASL CEO Paul Luu, to reaffirm his commitment to the City of Chicago and all of its residents. The event underscored growing concern among local leaders about the impact of these actions on immigrant families and community trust and reinforced a shared commitment to protecting all Chicagoans. 

In August 2025, CASL’s Senior Leadership Team members, Thy Nguyen and Jered Pruitt, along with Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy Lisa Wright, met with Speaker Chris Welch and Leader Theresa Mah to discuss CASL. They covered CASL’s services, the changing federal landscape and its impact on our grants, as well as how we hope to grow to meet the needs of our community through the Community Hub in Bridgeport.

 

In October 2025, CASL was invited to participate in a CAN TV interview for October’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The segment dissected critical community issues, including the negative impact of immigration enforcement activities on survivors who want to seek legal and counseling services. These enforcement activities have driven survivors into isolation and potentially more violence. The interview also discussed ways to increase awareness in Chicago neighborhoods. Representatives from KAN-WIN and Apna Ghar joined our own domestic violence case manager, Yvette Yijia Hu, for a conversation that highlighted lifesaving resources for survivors and families. 

CASL brought its voice to City Hall! In October 2025, a team of CASL teachers, behavioral health counselors, and advocates showed up at the Chicago City Budget Hearing to make sure multi-generational, low-income families weren’t left out of the budget conversation. VP of Impact & Advocacy Thy Nguyen testified before the Committee on Budget and Government Operations, pushing three core priorities: out-of-school time and childcare for kids with special needs, investment in behavioral health and caregiver services, and data equity for AAPI communities.  

In March 2026, Chinatown hosted its first-ever congressional candidate forum at Pui Tak Center, bringing IL-07 primary candidates face-to-face with the community ahead of the March 17th election. Candidates tackled the issues that matter most; immigration, language access, healthcare, senior services, and affordability with live interpretation in Cantonese, Mandarin, and Spanish so every voice in the room could participate. With Asian Americans being the fastest-growing racial demographic in Illinois and 80,000 residents in IL-07 alone, this forum made sure the community’s voice was heard loud and clear. 

On May 20, 2026, Chicago City Council passed historic legislation, introduced by Ald. Nicole Lee in partnership with CASL, requiring the city to collect and publicly report disaggregated data across 15+ Asian ethnic groups and Pacific Islander communities. This is the result of a year of relentless advocacy: CASL and seven community partners testified, organized, and pushed alongside alderpeople to get this across the finish line. Chicago now joins a growing wave of cities fighting for AAPI communities to be seen, not lumped together and overlooked.

In April 2026, the CASL team traveled to the Illinois capitol for a full day of advocacy, meeting directly with lawmakers and their staff to push for investments that strengthen families, support immigrants, and help our communities thrive. Every conversation carried real stories, turning lived experience into a case for action lawmakers couldn’t ignore. This is how change happens: showing up, building relationships, and making sure the people closest to the issues have a seat at the table. Priorities that CASL championed on the ground in Springfield are reflected in next year’s budget, proof that our advocacy translates into real investment for the communities we serve.  

None of this happens without community members willing to show up, testify, and share their stories — and without partners and supporters who back that work. As we head into the next fiscal year, CASL’s Government Affairs team will keep pushing for policies that reflect the needs of Chicago’s AAPI and immigrant communities. Learn more about CASL’s advocacy work and how to get involved.