How Might a Second Trump Presidency Impact Indians in America?
Building for conservative victory through policy, personnel, and training.
November 11, 2024
By Parthiv Parekh*
Indian Americans, who have traditionally overwhelmingly voted for Democrats, saw some of that support shift towards Republican Donald Trump in this month’s U.S. Presidential election. Could the trust, placed in a president aligning with White nationalism and Project 2025, backfire on us?
Radical. Draconian. Dystopian. These are just some of the adjectives used by civil liberties advocates to describe Project 2025, a 900-page overarching right-wing manifesto, with an ambitious agenda of fundamentally transforming the United States into a White supremacist Christian nation. Now that the Senate has also tilted in favor of Republicans, Trump’s ability to push through agendas such as Project 2025 has only increased. This means that the official marginalization and likely oppression of minorities along the lines of race, skin color, religion, gender and sexuality is no longer speculation but a clear and present danger.
It is important for Indian Americans to know that Project 2025 seeks to staff the federal bureaucracy with political lackeys who swear loyalty to President Trump. The underlying aspiration is to consolidate more power in the executive branch, paving the way for a slide toward an authoritarian regime that would be the perfect bully pulpit for the White Christian establishment.
Earlier this year, while he was a presidential candidate, Trump tried to distance himself from Project 2025. However, the reality is that his track record, affiliations, and policy proposals are inextricably aligned with the objectives of this malicious manifesto. In fact, Schedule F, a key component of Project 2025, was already signed into an executive order by Trump during his first term as president, 2016 to 2020. A far more emboldened and empowered Trump, in his second term, is more likely than not to be outright antithetical to the interests of the very minorities who tilted towards him: Latinos, African Americans, Arab Americans, Pakistani Americans, and of course, Indian Americans.
Prior to this month’s U.S. Presidential election, some Hindu American groups endorsed Republican Donald Trump. One wonders whether to laugh or cry at the glaring irony and gullibility of brown-skinned Hindus who endorsed Trump, the hero and henchman of White supremacist groups—a cabal that subscribes to the "Great Replacement Theory,” a belief that immigrants who look like us Hindus and pray like us are threatening the Aryan and Christian culture and identity of America.
Meanwhile, Trump, I imagine, welcomed these “useful idiots,” perhaps thinking to himself, “You’re not very bright, are you? My whole campaign shouted contempt for minorities, but here you are, bending over for my benefit.” Is there anything sadder than Uncle Toms, including the brown kind, who insist that Trump is not racist? Even Trump may have felt a tad frustrated perhaps wondering: “Where did I fall short? I said the most unspeakable things to advertise my racism. And yet, here you are, poor suckers—brown, black, Mexicans, Hindus, Muslims—willingly supporting my barely coded vision of an Aryan nation!”
Similarly, many in the Republican Party, currently dominated by right-wing extremists, view people like us—those with brown skin and of Hindu or Muslim faith—as emblematic of what they believe has gone wrong with America. Making America White and Christian again is their brazen dream— and we will likely end up among those suffering the collateral damage of such a nefarious agenda.
At a transactional level, if the federal bureaucracy gets transformed into a political wing of the executive branch, as is likely under a Trump presidency, things like the following can be expected to occur:
1. Beloved family members could be deported and sent back to India over minor technicalities.
2. Children in public schools could be taught Christian Biblical theories in place of science.
3. Since a federal umbrella of right-leaning personnel would similarly influence local official appointments, building permits for Hindu temples or mosques could be denied based on questionable criteria.
In the area of Indo-US relations, it would be foolish for us to let the optics of partisan showmanship override the actual hardcore consequences of Republican policies. Some of us are flattered enough to feel all warm and fuzzy when Trump butters up Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his trademark salesman pretense of friendship—while in reality, his aggressive tariffs on India are likely to hurt the robust trade relationship between the two nations.
Also, during his first term as president, Trump tried to ban the H1B professional work visa category, of which Indians are the biggest beneficiaries.
Many Indian Americans do not seem concerned about White nationalism because they believe they are too prosperous and have clout and are therefore safe. But when power is handed over to racist forces, no racial minority is safe from hate crimes. Organizations like South Asians Leading Together have documented over 400 hate crimes against South Asians since 2015.
Did many Indian Americans just give license to a president and a party to now indulge in their racist agenda with even fewer restrictions?
*Parthiv Parekh is editor-in-chief of Khabar (www.khabar.com), a print magazine published in Atlanta, U.S. This is an edited excerpt of an editorial published in Khabar. Reprinted with permission.