US midterm elections: How anti-India, anti-South Asia hate issue has entered the US campaign debate

United States is going to witness mid term elections next month which is going to be a test for President Donald Trump's policies and his popularity. There are several factors that will drive the election results. One among them is how the immigrants, particularly the Indian Sikh community and South Asian Americans have been a victim of increasing hate crime incidents in recent months.

The incidents have moved from online and local immigration debates into candidate campaigns.

Anti-Indian rhetoric a campaign issue in Texas

Rapid demographic change and arguments over H-1B visas has become a major subject of local political debate in Frisco, Texas. According to local media reports, Indian Americans had faced a wave of anti-Indian rhetoric that became a central issue in the city's mayoral race in May.

Online rhetoric included claims of an “Indian takeover,” while critics of immigration targeted H-1B workers, a program widely availed by Indian professionals.

The Frisco mayoral contest gave the issue an explicit electoral dimension. Candidate Rod Vilhauer referred to South Asian immigrants as “rats” and described Islam as a “terrorist group.” However, he failed to win the elections that was won by Mark Hill by 58% votes.

Bo French brought the issue into a statewide 2026 campaign

Then in September, Bo French, the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, posted pictures from a University of Texas football game on social media portraying the largely South Asian-looking crowd as evidence that Americans were being “displaced by foreigners.”

He suggested that the university was being dominated by foreign students, but the enrollment data spoke the opposite. Only 4.3% of undergraduates were international students, while more than 80% were Texas residents, reported Reuters.

French's characterization of the students was condemned by seven members of Congress, including five South Asian/Indian-American representatives. Those five were Suhas Subramanyam, Ami Bera, Pramila Jayapal, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Shri Thanedar; CAPAC Chair Grace Meng and Ro Khanna also signed.

The “Take your curry and go home” episode

The Florida episode involved Chandler Langevin, a Palm Bay city councilman, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi making anti-Indian rhetoric personal and electoral.

After Krishnamoorthi criticized the DHS post, Langevin replied directly to him: “I won Rajesh. Take your curry and go home.”

Krishnamoorthi responded that he was staying, that America was his home, and that neither a politician nor anyone else could decide who was American.

This episode garnered even greater interest as the target was not an anonymous immigrant but a sitting U.S. representative and an American elected official (Krishnamoorthi). The debate therefore transformed an immigration argument into a dispute about who is entitled to claim American belonging.

DHS “Mr. Singh” post

On September 9, the Department of Homeland Security took to social media post AI-generated image depicting a brown-skinned, bearded man identified as “Mr. Singh.”

The graphic on the post read, “I won Rajesh. Take your curry and go home. America for Americans”

“Get off our roads, you don't know how to drive Mr. Singh. Self-deport or find out”, read the graphics further.

It was part of a DHS campaign encouraging people to report undocumented immigrants driving on US roads. The Sikh Coalition brought the up the issue with the department and the image was subsequently deleted.

The Wyoming stabbing dramatically changed the stakes

Four days after the DHS post, a 28-year-old Sikh truck driver from Sacramento was attacked at a rest stop on Interstate 80 in Wyoming.

The driver was stabbed 17 times at a rest area in Wyoming, United States. The 28-year-old from Sacramento was hospitalised after the incident with injuries to his neck, chest, arms and ribs.

The suspect, Andrew Kris Bzdak of Pennsylvania, was arrested and charged with attempted murder.