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Until the big wave of new Asian immigration began in the early 1970s, the assumption was that Asian Americans were Democrats. But as the recent wave of immigrants began participating in party politics, a division appeared. A majority of Coreans, Vietnamese, Taiwanese and Indians seemed to favor Republicans. Their views were in sharp contrast to Filipinos, Japanese and earlier waves of Chinese Americans.
Recent immigrants even began questioning the most sacred of Democratic cows: affirmative action. They were determinedly upwardly mobile, working to save enough to open their own businesses, then send their kids to college to enter professional ranks. They cared more about low taxes, protecting their homelands against communist rule and maintaining law and order than in issues like social liberties, racial equality or securing universal healthcare.
But three decades later, now that the big wave of recent immigrants have evolved into a population balanced between securing the American Dream and trying to improve the quality of middle-class life, the Asian American population is emerging more as a swing bloc in the big states of California, Texas and New York.
Which party favors a better life for the majority of Asian Americans?
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