|
👋 Good morning and welcome to Power Shift, The Yappie’s weekly guide to the politics, policy news, and activism affecting Asian American + Pacific Islander communities. Email me at [email protected] to share tips, comments, or questions. And support our work by making a donation.
THE BIG STORY
These census proposals could reshape AAPI representation
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Marine One. Photo courtesy of the White House.
The U.S. is home to more than 25 million Asian American and Pacific Islanders.
That benchmark could disappear under the Trump administration’s proposed rule to overhaul how the federal government collects demographic data through the U.S. Census—and potentially dilute AAPI political power as soon as the next count in 2030.
The stakes: Census results help determine how many U.S. House seats and Electoral College votes each state receives.
Under the rule change, noncitizens without green cards—including refugees, asylum seekers, and people on work or student visas—could be barred from the apportionment count.
This would render entire swaths of the AAPI community invisible, including:
Immigrants on temporary and provisional visas.
Undocumented immigrants, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, and Documented Dreamers.
Compact of Free Association migrants, including Marshallese, Chuukese, Palauan, and other Micronesian citizens who can live and work in the U.S. indefinitely but are not classified as Lawful Permanent Residents.
States where these groups are concentrated—such as California and New York—could lose House seats as a result.
The new rule would also remove questions about race and ethnicity on the decennial questionnaire, which could deal a harsh blow to efforts to study racial disparities and issues specific to AAPI communities.
It’d similarly hinder enforcement of civil rights and anti-discrimination laws, and impact allocation of federal resources.
The Trump administration claims the two moves would increase participation in the census, but the language used to justify it tells a slightly different story.
“Illegal aliens (among others) … are not true inhabitants … due to their lack of a sufficient tie and allegiance to the United States,” the U.S. Census Bureau writes on the Federal Register.
The agency also states the census should be “colorblind” and that race shouldn’t play a role in deciding House seats.
What now? The public has until Oct. 13 to submit comments.
Our Take
For years, community leaders have advocated for the federal government to collect more detailed demographic data—breaking it down by ethnic groups would enable more accurate tracking of long-term trends.
If enacted, this rule would be an enormous step backwards.
ELECTIONS WATCH
Why do Texas Republicans suddenly care about racism?
Designed by Andrew Peng/The Yappie
Bo French, GOP nominee for the Texas Railroad Commission, faced backlash last week after claiming that a photo of mostly South Asian students celebrating a UT Austin football victory shows “how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners.”
To some surprise, several prominent Republicans hit back.
“He’s going to drag the whole ticket down because of his racist comments,” outgoing Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who said he will not vote for French, told the Washington Examiner.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also called it an “idiotic tweet,” NBC News reports.
The backdrop: Anti-South Asian sentiment is on the rise across the U.S., according to Stop AAPI Hate.
It has been particularly potent in Texas, where some residents have decried the so-called “Indian takeover” amid increased buy-in to the Great Replacement Theory.
Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the state, where the number of Indian Americans has nearly doubled between 2010 and 2021, per the Census Bureau.
Our Take
While party infighting implies that some GOP leaders are taking a stand against racism, the reality is that Indian Americans are a significant voting bloc in Texas—one they need to court as Election Day nears.
French’s social media post puts a sledgehammer in these efforts, once again positioning South Asians as the perpetual foreigner even when taking part in the uniquely American tradition of college football.
It’s clear that for him and his supporters, the affirmative action debate was never about meritocracy.
POLICY TRACKER
The hidden numbers in Trump’s immigration crackdown
Designed by Andrew Peng/The Yappie
A new Stop AAPI Hate tracker provides fresh details on the scale of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and its impacts on Asians.
India and China are the top countries of origin for AAPIs targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but several ethnic groups were overrepresented in arrests, detentions, and deportations relative to the size of their population.
That includes:
Communities from Uzbekistan
Laotian, Vietnamese, and Cambodian people
Nepali-speaking Bhutanese refugees
The fine print: Joint operations targeting truck drivers across state is one factor behind the increase in enforcement against these communities, according to Stop AAPI Hate’s report.
Other notable findings:
Oklahoma, Indiana, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania recorded disproportionately high shares of arrests of Asians.
AAPIs stayed detained for 92 days on average—55 days longer than non-AAPIs.
11 AAPIs have died in ICE custody.
Our Take
Asians are often overlooked when legacy news outlets cover ICE activity.
This tracker reveals how exactly the crisis is unfolding in communities and locations you might not otherwise hear about.
ON OUR RADAR
Courtesy of New York Magazine
“The Wasian Generation,” a Vulture article written by E. Alex Jung, took the internet by storm when it was published earlier this month.
I have my own thoughts on the story and the community’s reaction to it, but I think Black and Filipino actress Leyna Bloom says it best:
“Maybe the real conversation isn’t about who is trending, but who society has historically decided is easiest to celebrate.”
Like what you’ve read?
Make a donation, forward this newsletter to a friend, or subscribe here. You can also follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.
Founded in 2018, The Yappie is an independent, nonprofit news organization reporting on Asian American + Pacific Islander power, politics, and influence. Learn more.
