In a pivotal election year, fast-growing Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities are deeply concerned about affordability and believe Trump administration’s spending priorities are at odds with theirs, according to a new survey.
With AAPI communities poised to have a critical impact on races across the nation, they are looking to elected officials to support policies that strengthen the social safety net in these tumultuous economic times, according to the 2026 AAPI Policy Priorities Survey.
Conducted by the National Council for Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) and AAPI Data, the survey polled AAPIs between March 23-30, 2026 on topics encompassing economy, immigration, war/foreign policy, health, government priorities.
Key Findings:
Similar to 2025, AAPI respondents overwhelmingly identify affordability among their top concerns, with 58% citing cost of living and inflation and 34% pointing to jobs and the economy as the most important problems facing the country.
Concerns about global events also predominate, with 46% identifying war and foreign policy as a major issue.
AAPI spending priorities are at odds with the priorities of the current administration: the vast majority believe the government spends too much on military and defense (69%) and immigration enforcement (72%), and spends too little on healthcare (68%) and education (70%).
Read: Affordability, immigration top concerns for AAPI adults: Poll
AAPIs trust Democrats more than Republicans on most issues, including the top priority issues of cost of living, foreign policy, healthcare and immigration.
Still, many are unsure about which party to trust more on the issue of cost of living. Views on the parties are more evenly divided on crime and public safety, which is a lower priority issue.
On healthcare, there is overwhelming community support for policies aimed at reducing out-of-pocket costs, with 83% listing reducing the cost of prescription drugs as their top priority and 67% prioritizing providing healthcare access for low-income individuals.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are increasingly wary of threats to personal autonomy and constitutional rights. Freedom of speech is viewed as the most threatened right (49%), followed by protection against unreasonable search and seizure (38%).
On policies governing artificial intelligence, over two thirds of respondents say that preventing racial bias (68%) and preventing AI systems from making final medical decisions (75%) and education placement decisions (69%) should be high government priorities.