The Tuesday Interview | ‘It’s remarkable to see the ascent of Indian Americans in US politics’

What explains the rise of Indian Americans in US politics vis-a-vis other communities?

The rise of Indian Americans (IAs) in United States’ politics has evoked global interest. Vice-President Kamala Harris is on the verge of winning the Democratic Party nomination to take on former President Donald Trump in the November elections. In an interview with Deccan Herald’s Sumit Pande, Karthik Ramakrishnan, the Executive Director and Founder of AAPI Data — a publisher of demographic data and policy research on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the US — discusses challenges before the Harris campaign, and explains why IAs are more inclined towards the Democratic Party. Excerpts of the interview:

It’s a remarkable climb since IAs came to America more recently as compared to other Asian immigrants. The IAs did not come in till 1965 when they relaxed visa restrictions. Only 100 people were allowed between 1947 and 1965. They did not come in significant numbers until 1975. The next big wave came in 2000 with the Y2K bug.

Given that they had recently arrived, it was surprising that they were doing better than other immigrant groups.

My research shows that people coming from democratic countries are more likely to participate (in the political processes) as compared to those who come from Communist countries.

Having English as the medium of learning, and also in the workplace, gives IAs a significant boost over other immigrant populations.

Finally, for the IAs, it’s the resources. A large number of IAs either come because of employment-based visas or family visas, and they have had a decent amount of education in India.

All of these factors play a role in shaping not only the fact that IAs are more likely to vote but also to run for office.

But IAs are significantly less than the Latino immigrant population, and yet politically they are more active.

If you talk about the power of the Asian American vote, nationally it is not as big as the Latino vote. It is about half the size. But in some states, the Asian American vote can make a significant difference. Say in Georgia, where Asian Americans are 2-3% of the electorate. Right now, when the parties are so closely divided, every vote counts. In states like Georgia, and Pennsylvania, IAs are the largest group of Asian Americans.

It's not a national story, but a story in particular states where the population is big enough to make a difference in the election outcome.

Kamala Harris is running a 100-day sprint against Trump after President Joe Biden decided to call it quits. What are Harris’ challenges in this campaign?

If she is identified only with Biden, there are many achievements he has — but there are also shortcomings that might reflect on her.

She has been given some tough assignments when it comes to immigrants crossing from the Mexican border. That might be used against her. Then she comes from California, a pretty liberal state, and they might want to use it against her.

She has done a lot of work with Biden, and she has a chance to turn a new leaf and say ‘hey, I’m a new person here’. She doesn’t have Biden’s burden of being too old or being mentally capable of executing the job.

In terms of background and race, already having Barack Obama been president helps. Having someone who is the daughter of an Indian-American who ran for V-P’s office, America has already gotten used to it. This may be a higher bar, and that is being a woman might really make a difference. But it would be interesting to see who she picks as her running mate.

Do the IAs in terms of electoral preference remain largely pro-Democratic?

IAs among the Asian American groups have been mostly Democratic voters. Trump, however, made some headway, especially among IA men, between 2016 and 2020. In 2024, he has not made a significant headway. What we found was that Biden dropped a lot in his support among IAs, almost 20 points, but Trump’s support increased only by a couple of points. This big gap was among people who said they were going to vote for some other candidate or said ‘I don’t want to answer that question’.

That to me reflects dissatisfaction with Biden as a candidate, and not necessarily as a move away from the Democratic Party. That said, thousands of IAs are naturalised every year and many are ageing into the electorate. Those two dynamics are important. But it is tough for the Republican Party to make headway among the IA voters because they have a strong brand of Christian Conservatism that is turning IAs off. When it comes to racial discrimination, the Republican Party is pushing an agenda saying that we are paying too much attention to diversity and people are making too much of an issue out of discrimination. That makes it challenging for the Republican Party to make inroads with the IAs.

The Indian diaspora that is progressive, Left-of-the-centre is generally seen to be pro-Right wing when it comes to India’s domestic politics. How does one understand this paradox?

People are complicated. You might expect people to be logically consistent in terms of ideology. But the way people think about their homeland can be very different from the way that they look at politics in the US. A Hindu in the US may feel strongly that the rights of religious minorities must be protected; which means they get protected. The same person might not have similar worries or concerns back in India. My understanding is that a lot of support for the BJP and [Narendra] Modi among IAs is for someone who vows to clean up corruption. It is very appealing for someone in the West that are safe and clean.