SAN ANTONIO — A survey conducted in April 2026 found that approximately 50 percent of Asian American and Pacific Islander adults reported personal or community-level behavioral changes due to immigration policies. These changes included increased carrying of legal documentation, disruptions to travel plans, and alterations to daily routines within the previous year.

About 60 percent of surveyed adults indicated that the United States was formerly a favorable nation for immigrants but no longer holds that status, while 30 percent stated the U.S. remains a positive environment. The survey also found that 73 percent of these adults considered the integration of global cultures and values to be extremely or very important to national identity, compared to 55 percent of U.S. adults in a separate survey.

Khoa Tran, a math teacher who immigrated from Vietnam in 2015 and became a U.S. citizen in 2019, described carrying documents. "It seemed like we needed to do it. It is literally become like a second form of identification in addition to the driver's license." Tran said. He also stated that people are afraid and unsure of related laws. "They are just scared. They do not know the law around that." He added.

Abigail Jeyaraj, 22, residing in South Hadley, Massachusetts, and born in Texas, emphasized her cultural connections. "Especially as a South Asian woman, I am very sensitive to the fact that I have opportunities that my mother and my grandmother, all the women before that did not have." Jeyaraj said. She also stated, "I really try to honor that culture. I try to maintain really strong connections to my family in India." Jeyaraj said.

Karthick Ramakrishnan, a research organization director, noted the importance of immigrants to the country. "America's success story has depended critically on the role of Asian Americans, but also immigrants in general." Ramakrishnan said. He also noted concerns from long-term residents. "When you have people who are already in this country, have been here for decades saying, 'I am not really sure that this is the best country anymore,' that is a warning sign." He said. The survey included 1,075 U.S. adults identifying as Asian American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander, and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. Forty percent of Asian American and Pacific Islander adults reported knowing someone who began carrying proof of legal status or citizenship in the past year, rising to 50 percent among South Asian adults. South Asian adults in the survey were more often born outside the U.S. than East Asian or Southeast Asian American adults in the survey.