Last winter, while Pooja Sethi was canvassing to become the Democratic candidate for the Texas house of representatives, she received a text from a staff member alerting her to a post on X.
asserted
she → canvass → X.
The Turning Point USA influencer Savanah Hernandez – a Trump supporter known for creating videos that target immigrants – had posted a photo of Sethi’s campaign banner with the caption: “Welcome to politics in Texas.”
asserted
that → know → Texas
The post went viral.
asserted
post → go → ?
The responses were so vile, Sethi said, “that I called my team and I said I’m going to go home because I need to be with my son.
asserted
I → say → son
I’m a little scared about what’s happening right now.”
asserted
what → ’m → ?
The far right even turned her name into a racist slogan: “Don’t Pooja my Texas.”
asserted
right → turn → slogan
If elected, Sethi will become the first Asian Democratic woman and south Asian woman in the Texas legislature.
asserted
Sethi → elect → legislature
“I didn’t run to have to sit here and combat anti-Indian hate.
asserted
I → run → hate
I didn’t know that this was going to be a thing,” said Sethi to a room of about 50 south Asians gathered at a private community listening session on anti-south Asian hate in Austin at the height of election season in October.
asserted
Sethi → know → October
The event, which included Washington congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, was hosted by Indian American Impact, a nonpartisan group that supports south Asian candidates and voter engagement.
asserted
that → include → candidates
Across the country, anti-south Asian hate has spiked since Trump took office.
asserted
Trump → spike → office
According to the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH), online rhetoric against south Asians surged by 240% between January 2024 and June 2026.
uncertain
rhetoric → accord → January
In addition to citing xenophobia and racism, the report finds that economic resentment casting south Asians as “invaders” and “job thieves”, increased visibility in politics, and anti-migrant policies that include Trump’s prohibitive annual fee on H1-B visa applications, have contributed to the sharp rise in hate against south Asian communities of all faiths and nationalities.
asserted
that → cite → faiths
Rightwing public officials too have ramped up the xenophobic and racist rhetoric ahead of the midterm election: in September, on X, the Department of Homeland Security posted an AI-generated image resembling a movie poster that featured a Sikh man facing off against a character that looked like Optimus Prime from Transformers.
asserted
that → ramp → Transformers
The caption read: “America for Americans.
asserted
caption → read → Americans
Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive Mr. Singh.”
asserted
you → get → Singh
The agency deleted the image amid backlash.
asserted
agency → delete → backlash
Days later, Bo French, the Republican candidate for the Texas railroad commission, posted a photo of a photo of what appeared to be majority south Asian American UT Austin students celebrating the school’s football win with the caption: “I heard UT graduation this year look like this, I didn’t believe it, the problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”
asserted
anyone → post → it
This rhetoric stokes fear and translates into physical violence, says Chintan Patel, executive director of Indian American Impact.
asserted
Patel → stoke → Impact
“There’s a lot of hate and discrimination that has been spreading for years on social media and online … but those things, they make it to the foreground.”
asserted
they → ’ → foreground
About a week after the DHS post, a Sikh truck driver was stabbed 17 times at a rest stop in Wyoming, deepening fears of violence within the Sikh community.
asserted
driver → stab → community
In October – the day before Indian American Impact’s event in Austin – news broke of an attempted mass shooting at a Hindu temple in Aurora, Illinois, where a self-described white supremacist armed with a rifle and body armor had planned to “kill Indian people”.
asserted
supremacist → break → people
Texas has become the “ground zero” for anti-south Asian hate, says Chanda Parbhoo, founder and executive director of nonpartisan voter engagement nonprofit South Asian American Voter Empowerment of Texas Education Fund (SAAVETX EF).
asserted
Parbhoo → become → Texas
According to 2021 US census estimates, more than 600,000 south Asians live in Texas – the second-largest population of south Asians in the country behind California.
uncertain
population → accord → California
South Asians make up one of the state’s fastest growing ethnic groups.
asserted
Asians → make → groups
Unlike California, however, Texas is a breeding ground for far-right policies that then travel to other state legislatures across the country.
asserted
that → travel → country
Ahead of the 2026 midterms, Texas Republicans have built a platform on Islamophobia and attacks on migrants, issues that closely intersect with the attacks on south Asians writ large.
asserted
that → build → Asians
In the last year, Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, who is currently tied in the Senate race against Democrat James Talarico, sued to shut down the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights group.
asserted
who → tie → Relations
Paxton and Republican governor Greg Abbott deemed Cair a “ terrorist organization”, fabricated charges against a North Texas mosque, and launched an investigation into unsubstantiated claims of H1-B visa fraud – an inquiry that disproportionately targets Indian immigrants.
uncertain
that → deem → immigrants
In the state legislature, Republican representative Brent Money launched a “Sharia Free Texas Caucus,” which has amassed nearly 40 members, following the creation of a national “Sharia Free America Caucus” started by Texas congressmen Keith Self and Chip Roy in 2025.
asserted
which → launch → 2025
According to a 2026 survey by Stop AAPI Hate Action, ICE deportations of south Asians are approximately 14 times higher under Trump’s second term – in July, Texas accounted for nearly a third of the nation’s ICE arrests, the largest share of any state in the country.
uncertain
Texas → accord → country
“The hate that’s happening right now is more than anything that I’ve seen.
asserted
I → happen → that
More than during 9/11,” said Texas state representative Salman Bhojani, who immigrated to Texas from Pakistan as a teenager.
asserted
who → say → teenager
“This is not the Texas that I immigrated to.”
asserted
I → immigrate → that
In 2022, Bhojani became one of the first Muslims and south Asians in the state legislature and arguably the most visible Muslim in Texas politics.
asserted
Bhojani → become → politics
At a re-election campaign fundraising event held two days before early voting began in Texas, Bhojani told the Guardian: “I get these calls a lot, like, every almost on a daily basis, where somebody is calling to say, “My dad was picked up by ICE, my brother was picked up by ICE, or my sister was walking on campus in a hijab and somebody pulled a knife on her.”
asserted
somebody → hold → her
In Bhojani’s city of Euless, a white woman was sentenced to five years in prison for attempted murder after she tried to drown a three-year-old Muslim girl in 2024.
asserted
she → sentence → 2024
Bhojani launched the Religious Freedom Caucus to promote religious tolerance.
asserted
Bhojani → launch → tolerance
Tomorrow maybe other communities – we cannot afford that.
asserted
we → afford → that
We need to stop it right now,” he said.
asserted
he → need → it
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
