Trump's 'Worst Nightmare' Mamdani Symbolises the American Dream for South Asians

“I worry about the boy,” a woman said recently at an Indian American gathering. “He has to be careful. There are too many crazies running around with guns.” Despite his social-media prowess, charm, and a remarkable grassroots campaign, the democratic socialist is an underdog who will face intense opposition.The “boy” she was referring to is the charismatic Zohran Kwame Mamdani, who catapulted to fame after winning in the Democratic primary for Mayor of New York City. It was a stunning upset. Still, while his rivals may be unimpressive, the path for Mamdani, who has many critics even within his own party, remains steep. Anything can happen between now and 4 November 2025, the date of the mayoral election. But Mamdani is a fighter, and his infectious energy and magnetism won’t cease to propel him, continuing to inspire young Democrats and progressives who have been disheartened by their party’s unpopularity and stumbles since Kamala Harris lost the election to Donald Trump. As Mamdani said, “In the words of Nelson Mandela: it always seems impossible until it’s done.” Mamdani’s rise seems well-timed. With the midterms coming up next year, the mayoral election could turn out to be a bellwether, although it’s true that New York City is different from much of the country. Also in 2026, when the US commemorates its 250th anniversary, Indian Americans will mark the 80th anniversary of another landmark event that benefitted them.In 1946, the year that bridged the end of World War II and the dawn of India’s independence, President Harry Truman signed the Luce-Celler Act, which granted US citizenship rights to Indian and Filipino residents. Immigrant activists played a big role in its passage, but the bill was also a recognition of anti-colonial sentiments and Asia’s contribution to the Allied war effort. As Trump 2.0 threatens to end birthright citizenship, the 1946 bill—a reminder of what immigrant activists could achieve even when the odds were against them—is worth celebrating. The Luce-Celler Act, besides offering naturalisation, allowed 100 Indians and 100 Filipinos to immigrate every year. Those were modest numbers, to be sure, but this opening of the door was a big change from the Asiatic Barred Zone, which had shut out Asians for 35 years. When Truman signed the 1946 bill, there were only about 4,000 Indians living in the US. Mamdani, like his filmmaker mother and academic father, was born outside the US. “His identity as an immigrant was very meaningful, especially when immigrant communities are being grabbed off the streets,” the head of Working Families Party told The New York Times after his recent victory.In the last primary debate, Mamdani said, also meaningfully, “I am Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.” New York: Zohran Mamdani Has Surprised Everyone With His Challenge. Can He Win?Whatever misgivings potential supporters have about his “democratic socialist” approach to solving New York’s pressing issues, one thing is clear: Mamdani is fearless. And he stands up for the rights of immigrants. In the Trump 2.0 era, arguably, that could be the main draw of his campaign. A 2024 mayoral report notes that 60 percent of New Yorkers are immigrants or children of immigrants. It explains, in no small part, why his campaign resonates so widely in the city. Mamdani is the latest in a line of Indians who fought on behalf of immigrants. None played a bigger role in the Luce-Celler Act’s passage than JJ Singh, whom The New Yorker dubbed “One Man Lobby” in its profile. A businessman who served as the president of India League of America, Singh was one of only two South Asians who stood in the Oval Office when Truman signed the bill in 1946 (the other South Asian, MOA Baig, joined Pakistan’s embassy in DC). Sabrina Singh, JJ Singh’s granddaughter, served in the Biden administration, most recently as the Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary. Ironically, JJ Singh, who went back to India in 1959, didn’t become a US citizen. But Dalip Singh Saund did become one in 1949. There were other South Asian immigrant activists in that era—such as Tarakanath Das and Mubarek Ali, to name a couple—but it was Saund, the holder of a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, who rose to prominence, becoming the first Asian American to be elected to the House of Representatives. This was back in 1957. Even more impressively, Saund won two consecutive terms and lost his third election bid only after suffering a stroke in 1962. In comparison, having six Indian Americans in the House today may not seem as extraordinary. For one thing, they’re all Democrats, as was Saund. Bobby Jindal is the only Indian American Republican to have served in the House. Kamala Harris, another Democrat, served in the Senate. WebQoof Recap: Misinformation Around Israel-Iran Conflict, Zohran Mamdani & MoreAlthough the current period is distant from Saund’s time, it presents its own set of problems for minority and non-white candidates like Mamdani. As authoritarianism rises in the US, the far right and the GOP—which, in many ways, has become a far-right party—directs increasingly vicious attacks against them if they’re Democrats. “A lot of people are saying he’s here illegally,” Trump said, falsely questioning Mamdani’s legal status. “We’re going to look at everything.” Mamdani is a naturalised US citizen. Remember what Trump had said about Obama and Harris when they were running for office? That’s not all. Mamdani has to contend with Hindu right-wingers who, like right-wingers in the US, play the “terrorism” card.These crude attacks, while predictable, only add to the xenophobia Mamdani faces in the mayoral contest. Some in India have denounced him for identifying as a Muslim! It’s as if his broader family background and upbringing, cultural milieu, and personal belief should be trumped by the fact that he has a Hindu mother, even if his father is Muslim. His parents, Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, are secular above all. Saund and JJ Singh, as Sikhs who didn’t wear turbans, were minority Indians as well.However, that didn’t stop them from being embraced by the larger Indian community, or indeed Sikhs who retained their turbans. Saund, notwithstanding the discrimination and obstacles he faced, didn’t have to deal with death threats and gun violence. American civilians today own around 500 million firearms. In the 1950s, according to one estimate, that figure was just 54 million.In Saund’s era, moreover, the brown minority in the US was so small and powerless that the white majority had no reason to feel insecure. Now we live in a world that’s been upended by nativism, authoritarian populism, and demagoguery. In his recent book, The World After Gaza: A History, Pankaj Mishra touches on these changes, which didn’t happen suddenly. “It has become particularly treacherous in the West, where the steady erosion of the inherited privileges of whiteness, and assertiveness of previously marginal peoples, has panicked many individuals and institutions into crude and reckless exertions of arbitrary power,” he writes.“This panic, caused by the spectre of impoverished and needy masses of non-Western ancestry, publicly expressed fears about immigration, Islamic fundamentalism and population explosions, or through a racialised vocabulary (‘welfare queens', ‘super-predators’), has been building up for some decades.” Pankaj MishraIt’s a dark time, and many would say the 'American Dream' is turning into an 'American Nightmare'. But Zohran Mamdani, to his credit, is not backing down. “His statements don’t just represent an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you,” Mamdani said in response to Trump’s verbal assault. “We will not accept this intimidation.” (Murali Kamma is a managing editor and writer based in Atlanta, Georgia. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)Trump's Birthright Citizenship Stand May End 'The American Dream' For Immigrants

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Trump's 'Worst Nightmare' Mamdani Symbolises the American Dream for South Asians

Zohran Mamdani's campaign in NYC primaries highlights immigrant rights amidst rising authoritarianism in the US.

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Topics: United States New York Mira Nair