‘Illegal’ immigration, fiscal conservatism: What’s driving Indian-American support for Donald Trump
The community has traditionally backed Democrats. But that has declined lately with many finding their views align with the Republican Party’s policy position.
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Mike Patel, a second-generation Indian immigrant to America, does not support the Republican position banning abortion and opposing gun control. As a scientist and engineer who has spent a large part of his career working for Silicon Valley tech giants, he finds the conservative denial of climate change ludicrous. He does not like Donald Trump – and yet will be voting for the Republican Party candidate in the US presidential elections on November 5.
“I vote for policies over individuals,” said Patel, who, like other subjects interviewed for this article, asked to be identified by a pseudonym. “Obviously, an individual’s personality traits play a role in whom I vote for. But this is not the main consideration.”
Patel isn’t an anomaly in the Indian-American community. The community – estimated to number 5.2 million – have traditionally been strong supporters of the Democratic Party. However a survey by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace released last week showed that Indian-American support for the Democratic Party had declined from 56% in 2020 to 47% now. Like Patel, 32% of the respondents said that they intend to vote for Republican Party’s candidate Trump.
Though California, where Patel lives, is overwhelmingly liberal, he and other Indian-American Trump supporters from the state who...
