Indians in the U.S. are in the crosshairs of Trump-loving extremists yet again amid the president’s falling-out with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Indian Americans were key to Donald Trump’s electoral victory last year, but the relationship between some conservative Indian Americans and MAGA proved tenuous earlier this year as extremists fueled a backlash over Indian immigrants coming to the U.S. on H-1B visas.
My colleague Steve Benen recently covered how Trump’s haphazard tariff war (which a federal court recently ruled illegal) has pushed Modi, a former Trump ally, and his country closer to China and Russia. And MAGA influencers have responded to this with unabashed xenophobia.
“Enough already. We’re full,” Trump whisperer Charlie Kirk posted to X, promoting Fox News host Laura Ingraham’s opposition to any trade deal that allows more immigration from India. Kirk’s post earned condemnation from various MAGA-adjacent Indian Americans on social media, though his comment was merely a sample of the movement’s increasingly anti-Indian invective online in recent weeks (other examples include right-wing activist Jack Posobiec and influencer Lilly Gaddis).
A recent Washington Post article highlighted how these bigoted attacks can lead to violent radicalization. Check out this quote from the Post’s interview with a man at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement recruiting expo:
Reports of rough tactics don’t bother Aaron Ely, either. A former bantamweight MMA fighter who went by the ring name ‘The Cyborg,’ Ely settled on an IT career after his hip gave out. He limped into the hiring expo last week hoping ICE could use his computer expertise. He said he felt he was no longer able to advance in the private sector because the market is crowded with candidates from India willing to do the work for less. ‘I keep seeing these memes where Indians are bragging about taking our tech jobs,’ said Ely, 36. ‘So I said, “Oh yeah? Well I’m going to work with these guys that are going to arrest you, slam your face on the pavement and send you home.”’
It’s a direct line from the right-wing propaganda that’s swirling online to threats of violence against Indian people. It shows how MAGA has made scapegoats of Indians to ramp up extremist ire amid Trump’s faltering economy.
