Many Older Aapi Adults Are Foreign-born. They're Tough On Immigration Too, A New Poll Finds

There are sharp generational disagreements among Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders when it comes to how the U.S. should handle mass deportations, with older AAPI adults - many of whom are themselves immigrants - taking a much tougher stance on unlawful border crossers, according to a new poll.

The survey, released Wednesday from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research , finds that just 20 of AAPI adults under 30 favor deporting all immigrants living in the country illegally, compared to just over half of AAPI adults ages 60 and older. The rift among AAPI adults is wider than the divide among the general public, with younger AAPI adults less in favor of the hardline position than young adults generally, and older AAPI adults slightly more likely than older Americans overall to support mass deportations.

Coming off an election year full of uncompromising rhetoric around immigration and the border, there is a sense among many - including within Asian American communities - that the country cannot afford to provide resources for people in the U.S. illegally, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, executive director of AAPI Data and researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. But the split between older and younger AAPI adults could defy conventional wisdom about how immigration attitudes work.

The assumption might be that older Asian Americans, many of whom were born outside the U.S., would be more liberal on the issue because they're closer to the immigrant experience, Ramakrishnan said. But the data suggests that older AAPI adults, who may have put their migration experience in the rearview mirror years ago, have less sympathy for people who are in the country illegally. It's younger AAPI adults - who are more likely to be native-born - who want a more lenient approach.

The poll is part of an ongoing project exploring the views of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, whose views are usually not highlighted in other surveys because of small sample sizes and lack of linguistic representation.