US, Nov. 3 -- South Asian America has arrived at its political coming of age not through a love affair with either party, but through a sense of being unwelcome. The headline number is striking: according to a survey by the advocacy group Indian American Impact, 25 per cent of South Asian Americans who voted for Donald Trump in 2024 plan to back Democrats in the 2026 midterms. But the more important story is underneath it.

The community is moving decisively; it is moving for defensive reasons, and it is concentrated in exactly the states where small margins decide national outcomes. Whether that becomes lasting power depends on choices the community has yet to make.

The headline, properly understood

The Indian American Impact survey...