Home / Affected Populations

Asian Americans

Asian Americans are a distinctive group of Americans made up of immigrants and their descendants from a dozen culturally unique countries in Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese immigrants represent 85 percent of the Asian population in the United States. More than half of all Asian immigrants in the U.S. live in five states: California, New York, Texas, New Jersey, and Hawaii. Asian Americans have the highest income, are the best-educated, and fastest growing racial group in the U.S. Even so, approximately 1.5 million of the 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. are of Asian descent. 

While Trump was not the only Republican presidential candidate to make disparaging remarks about Asian Americans during the 2016 campaign (Jeb Bush accused Asian immigrants of having "anchor babies" as a ploy for citizenship), they were not spared in his populist message, nor his disparaging comments. (Pew Research Center)

This page will track Trump’s statements and actions as they impact Asian Americans.

Timeline

2015.08.27Trump links Asians with theft and "performs" the speech of a Chinese trade negotiator, offending Asian Americans. abc7.com (See also 2016 Campaign)
2015.10.05During a Breitbart interview Jeff Sessions praises The 1924 National Origins Act, a law passed in order to keep Jews and Asians out of the country as “good for America.” theatlantic.com (See also Jeff Sessions, Immigration, Anti-Semitism, Jewish Americans)
2015.10.15During a Q&A session, Trump interrupts an Asian-American student by asking if he's from South Korea. npr.org
2015.12.08Trump says he might have supported Japanese Internment if he was alive at the time. time.com (See also 2016 Campaign, Fascism, Assaults on Civil Liberties)
2016.10.09NYT editor Michael Luo writes an open letter to the woman who told his family to go back to China nytimes.com
2016.10.10Readers respond to NYT editor Michael Luo's open letter with their own stories of racism in America nytimes.com
2017.01.13Asian Americans express fears about the Trump administration at an Asian Americans Advancing Justice panel in Orange County, CA. ocregister.com (See also Immigrants, Affordable Care Act, Health Care)
2017.08.01Justice Department officials are planning a new project to investigate and sue universities over affirmative action admissions policies they determine discriminate against white applicants. washingtonpost.com (See also Department of Justice, Jeff Sessions, Black Americans, Mexican Americans, Department of Education)
2018.02.13President Trump's search for deeply conservative federal judges appears to have eliminated most African Americans and Hispanics, as only one is African American, one is Hispanic, five are Asian Americans, and yet 80 are white. usatoday.com (See also Racism, Black Americans)

Analysis

Asian-American voters are the fastest-growing segment of the United States electorate, according to an advocacy organization called Asian Americans Advancing Justice. If Trump continues to hold offensive positions that suggest people of Asian background aren't real Americans, he could be vulnerable in a re-election campaign. 

Assessments

  • 2016.10.01 "Donald Trump is Seen as Helping Push Asian-Americans Into Democratic Arms" (New York Times)
    "...Asian-Americans are identifying as Democrats at a quicker pace than any other racial group. And many Republicans worry this election will only accelerate that trend, damaging their party for years to come with what is now the fastest-growing minority in the country." 

Further research