Donald Trump has got a historic victory in the US presidential election. He is the first President after the Second World War who has returned to power after a gap of 4 years. After the victory, Trump said that he is going to make history by winning all the swing states in America.
Swing states are those states where the difference in votes between the two candidates is very less and can go either way. Blue states are those states where Kamala Harris's Democratic Party has influence. The states that vote for Trump's Republican Party are called Red States.
Trump has won 5 of the 7 swing states in these elections and has a strong lead in the remaining 2 states (Nevada and Arizona). Despite such a huge victory, Trump has not been able to win even a single blue state.
Let us understand, based on the data in the story, why Trump could not win even a single blue state?
1. Impact of illegal immigrants Among the 20 states that Kamala Harris has won, 4 are included where the population of illegal immigrants is the highest. Out of the total 6 states with the highest population of illegal immigrants, Trump was able to win only 2 states.
Trump and the Republican Party have a strong stance against illegal immigrants, so the immigrant population votes for Kamala Harris. Kamala has won all those states where illegal immigrants have increased the most while she was the Vice President.
The number of illegal immigrants had decreased during Trump's tenure. On the other hand, their population has increased during Joe Biden's presidency.
According to Pew Research data, when Trump became President for the first time in 2016, the total number of illegal immigrants in America was about 1.17 crore. Whereas when Trump left office in 2021, it dropped marginally to 1 crore.
Then during Biden's tenure, the population of illegal immigrants increased from 1 crore to about 2 crore. California is the only state where the number of illegal immigrants did not increase. However, California is still the state with the highest number of illegal immigrants.
According to Pew Research, there are two biggest reasons for the lack of increase in the number of people coming to America illegally during Trump's tenure –
The first is the construction of a wall on the Mexico border and the second is the return of Mexican immigrants. In fact, Mexico has the largest population of illegal immigrants in America. In 2022, these immigrants constituted 37% of the total population. India comes third in terms of illegal immigrants in America. There are a total of 7 lakh 25 thousand illegal immigrants of Indian origin in America.
2. Compulsory voter ID The 20 states where Kamala Harris has won are all those states where no photo-voter ID is required to cast a vote. Here vote can be cast without photo-voter ID. On the other hand, Trump has won 9 such states.
Actually, in America, election systems and its rules come under the states. Therefore, the rules related to elections are different in different states. Out of total 50 states of America, there are only 9 states where photo voter ID is mandatory to cast vote. Kamala has not won in any of these.
How much impact will Trump's America First policy have on India: It will be difficult for Indian professionals to get H1B visa, China-Pakistan may get support.
The question is how will be India's relations with Trump who is returning to power with the slogan of 'Make America Great Again'.
Graphics Source: NavJivanIndia | VaskarAssets
