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AAPI communities identify top priorities for 2025
42% of AAPI adults identify immigration as a key issue for the government to address in 2025, up from 29% who cited it as a key issue in 2024
Topics covered: direction of the country, 2025 policy priorities, Trump administration proposed policies and executive orders, immigration, favorability of Trump and confidence in ability to govern
Key Survey Takeaways
- 60% of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) adults have little or no confidence that the government will make progress on key issues in 2025—a slightly less pessimistic outlook compared with the 69% who felt this way last year.
- 42% name immigration as a top issue, up from the 29% in 2023. 38% support deporting all immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, but Republicans are more likely than Democrats to approve of the policy (70% vs. 18%).
- 37% favor Trump, up slightly from 27% in 2023. Still, only about a third favor key policy priorities including reducing the size of the federal workforce (35%) or increasing oil drilling on federal lands (30%), while fewer support imposing additional tariffs on imports from China (24%) or pardoning January 6th participants (14%).
Direction of the Country
Just before Donald Trump returns to the White House, a new AAPI Data/AP-NORC survey finds 31% of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) adults believe the country is heading in the right direction, similar to the share (29%) of the general population who felt the same when last asked in December 2024. Optimism among AAPI Republicans increased with Trump’s electoral victory. Just 23% thought the country was headed in the right direction in November 2023, compared to 53% now. And AAPI Democrats are now more pessimistic. Sixty-one percent felt the country was on the wrong track in November 2023; now 81% feel that way.
AAPI communities’ confidence in the United States’ ability to tackle major challenges to the democracy in 2025 remains low, with most expecting little to no progress in reducing partisanship in Congress (71%), unifying the country (70%), increasing trust in government (67%), or improving voter confidence (60%).
AAPI Policy Priorities for 2025
Respondents to the nationally representative survey of AAPI adults were asked to identify up to five key issues they believe should be top priorities for the federal government in the coming year. Immigration tops the list, with 42% identifying it as a key issue, followed by foreign policy issues (33%), and inflation (32%). These priorities track closely with those of the broader U.S. population in December 2024, where 47% cite immigration, 32% foreign policy issues, and 29% inflation. Immigration has risen as a concern among AAPI adults, growing from 29% last year to 42% now, following months of heated rhetoric and misinformation about the issue during the campaign.
Other frequently mentioned concerns include the economy (31%), environment and climate change (28%), healthcare reform (18%), and education (18%).
Confidence in the federal government’s ability to address the nation’s challenges in 2025 remains low among AAPI adults, with 60% expressing little or no confidence and only 11% feeling highly confident. While still quite pessimistic, AAPI Republicans are seven times as likely than AAPI Democrats to express confidence (28% vs. 4%).
Trump Administration Proposed Policies and Executive Orders
AAPI adults show mixed support for various policies that Donald Trump proposed during the presidential campaign, with the highest approval for eliminating taxes on tipped earnings (48%). Roughly a third favor deporting all undocumented immigrants (38%), reducing the size of the federal workforce (35%), or increasing oil drilling on federal lands (30%). Support is lower for policies like imposing additional tariffs on imports (24%) or pardoning January 6th participants (14%).
Partisan divides are evident among AAPI adults, with Republicans far more likely than Democrats to support policies like deporting all immigrants living in the U.S. illegally (70% vs. 18%), increasing drilling on federal lands (65% vs. 14%), or reducing the federal workforce (61% vs. 19%).
Support for these policies provides additional insights on people’s issue priorities for 2025. For example, those who named immigration as a top issue priority are more likely to back deportations (55% vs. 24%), while those who identified climate change tend to oppose both expanding oil drilling (57% vs. 33%) and cutting clean energy investments (68% vs. 47%).
Digging Deeper on Immigration
On immigration, AAPI adults are far more likely than the general population to view legal immigrants as an important asset. For example, 79% of AAPI adults feel legal immigration is a major benefit for economic growth in the country, compared to about 42% of the general public who were last asked in March 2024. And 73% see skilled labor in science and technology as a major benefit, well above the 41% of the broader population.
Concerns about illegal immigration are similar between AAPI adults and the general public, with similar shares perceiving illegal immigration as a risk to welfare programs (48% vs. 53%) and crime (38% vs. 40%), despite recent reports noting that immigrants tend to use benefits at lower rates and commit fewer crimes than the general population. Overall, while AAPI adults tend to view illegal immigrants as presenting higher risks compared to legal immigrants, no more than half within these communities believe that either group poses major risks.
AAPI adults see increasing security at the U.S.-Mexico border (45%) and strengthening policies to prevent visa overstays (41%) as top immigration priorities for the federal government, which is similar to the general population who were last asked in December 2021. Reducing green card wait times is also a top issue for AAPI adults, with 44% considering it a high priority, and about another third prioritizing other legal immigration policies such as expanding family visas and providing green cards to college graduates. About a third of AAPI adults and the general population consider providing legal status for undocumented immigrants and deporting immigrants living in the U.S. illegally as high priorities.
Presidential Favorability & Confidence in Ability to Govern
Six in 10 AAPI adults hold an unfavorable view of Trump, a slight improvement from October 2023 when 70% viewed him unfavorably. Opinions are similarly divided for other leaders, with about half expressing unfavorable views of the incoming vice president, JD Vance (53%), and the outgoing president, Joe Biden (55%) and vice president, Kamala Harris (47%).
Confidence in Trump’s ability to govern during his second term is low among AAPI adults across key areas of leadership. Just 20% are extremely or very confident in his ability to effectively manage the White House, the military, or government spending. Confidence is similarly low regarding his ability to appoint well-qualified officials (19%). However, AAPI Republicans are much more optimistic about Trump’s abilities to govern in all areas compared with AAPI Democrats.
Few AAPI adults have confidence in Donald Trump’s ability to positively impact the economy such as creating more jobs (20%), or lowering the cost of groceries (16%), housing (15%), or health care (12%). Again, confidence in Trump varies sharply by party affiliation. AAPI Democrats express far less confidence in him on these issues compared with AAPI Republicans.
Study Methodology
The nationwide study was conducted by The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and AAPI Data from December 9–17, 2024, using the Amplify AAPI Monthly survey drawing from NORC’s Amplify AAPI® Panel designed to be representative of the U.S. Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander household population. Online and telephone interviews were offered in English, the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Korean with 1,045 Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders aged 18 and older living in the United States. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.9 percentage points.