Their Immigrant Parents Voted for Trump. Now Trump Is Cracking Down on Immigrants.

When Olivia came out to her parents as queer, they were both accepting, something she expected since her mom’s brother is gay. However, her parents were worried about how others would treat her. “They said to me that they know gay people are targeted for their identity, and they want me to be safe,” Olivia says. “Which is really interesting because now we are being targeted, but they’re voting for the people who are doing the targeting.”

Olivia says that one of the primary reasons her parents voted for Trump was his stance on the economy and taxes because her father is a small business owner. “I think the biggest thing for them is probably the economy,” she said. “I think they believe him when he says that he’s going to make things better for the working class, for the middle class, and that he’s going to cut taxes.” Despite the toll that the recently imposed tariffs have taken on the economy, Olivia says these views haven’t changed.

Thirty-year-old Aimee, who also asked to withhold her last name, says she went through something similar. Her parents, Vietnamese immigrants who came to the US when they were young, are also business owners who support Trump largely because of his stance on taxes, even though some businesses are already struggling with the administration’s flood of policy changes. Yet both of her parents support abortion access and protecting the LGBTQ+ community, she says. “I just feel like a lot of their views are very liberal, but because they are business owners, they voted for him because of the taxes mostly,” she says. “And I don’t think that is justified, especially when they have two daughters.”

Aimee and her sister grew up in New Jersey, and about a decade ago, her parents moved to Florida, where, Aimee says, her parents’ community is mostly Republican. Fox News is on constantly in their home, but it wasn’t when she was growing up. This was the first election where Aimee’s parents voted for a Republican president. They had voted for Democratic presidential candidates up until November.

Chioma, too, says there’s plenty of complexity to be found in her parents’ relationship with Trump. While her parents are loyal Republicans, they dislike Trump as a person. They also support diversity and inclusion policies, which the administration has demonized, and they’re supportive of Chioma going to a Historically Black College.

If there’s anything that Sophia, Chioma, Maitry, Olivia, and Aimee have in common, it’s that they’re still asking their parents why. They have learned to pick their battles, but they’ve also found ways to talk about the issues they care most about with respect and empathy.

Still, these women can’t help but ask, what if? “I always wonder if all of this was happening 15 years ago when she didn’t have papers,” Olivia muses of her mother. “Would that change anything?”