Pauline Lee is the daughter of immigrants who came to the United States as teenagers.

“When they came here, they were poor,” she recalled.

They initially worked in entry-level jobs before they first studied and built a successful career in California.

Lee takes pride in her family’s immigration stories and the fact that they came to the United States legally.

“For me, illegal immigration is one of the biggest problems because you also provide many of our own resources for these illegal immigrants, which should be reserved for our own Americans,” she said. “It’s a real problem.”

Retired attorney Lee is active in Republican politics in Nevada. In November, about one in 10 Asian Americans in the state voted for President Trump in November. It was a huge swing compared to four years ago, when more than six Asian voters supported Joe Biden.

During the first 100 days of his tenure, President Trump has taken measures to combat immigration and end higher education and the federal government's diversity program. The actions were conducted after the election, and Trump expanded his support among non-white voters—including groups directly affected by these policies.

Lee said at lunch that many of her Asian American friends also thanked Trump for rejecting the diversity initiative, often known as Dei.

"What I'm going to say now is that as a parent, my kids have to do more colleges than other kids to get to certain colleges," Lee said.

Lee said when her adult kids applied to college, counselors took them out of the Ivy League, warning them against too many other best performing Asian students.

Las Vegas City Councilman Francis Allen-Palenske heard a similar frustration.

“I think most Asians feel like when colleges go through this review process, the race of students should not be released, so in the discussion, if there is something like this, it is definitely parity in the discussion,” she said.

Allen-Palenske's mother came to the United States from South Korea and was previously a Republican state legislator. She said the transition from Asian Americans to Republicans in Nevada is also related to economic problems.

"Gas prices, inflation, the ability to buy a home, especially in southern Nevada, have changed over the past 15 years," Allen-Palenske explained. "Las Vegas is probably one of the best places to buy a home in the country, and 15 years ago, ownership of a home was very achievable. We can't say that right now."

James Zarsadiaz, a historian at the University of San Francisco, observed that economic concerns have driven the shift to a large extent.

“Nevada has a strong working class and lower Asian American, many of whom work in the hospitality, gaming industry,” he said. “So, I think they feel pinched on the gas pump in the grocery store.”

When it comes to Trump's economic policy, Rachel Puaina, a local teacher, her husband and four adult children, is union workers, said Trump stood up in the United States.

"Is this what you voted for? Yes, that's what we voted for." "Tariffs. I've been thinking about doing this for over 20 years."

She acknowledged that Trump’s tariffs have caused stock market fluctuations, but she said Americans should be prepared to “suffer” for a while and should provide jobs for Trump’s policies.

"I looked at the stock market. Yes, it was plummeting," Puaina said. "And I was thinking, that's why we allowed them to do this to us for how many years?“

Puaina's parents immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines, and he also supports Trump's immigration policies, including his push to reconsider citizenship with the right to birth.

“In terms of citizenship, I think we have to have stricter restrictions on it,” she said.

Las Vegas's wild representative Schayden Gorai believes he is Asian American and said he believes many in the local Asian community agree with Trump.

"Many of them are immigrants from other countries and they did the right way. They went through this process themselves. I think they just wanted to be treated fairly." "There is a right way and a wrong way. They do things the right way, and they think everyone should do the right way and get the same way."

Historian James Zarsadiaz said that for some Asian Americans who have links to immigration, these experiences have attracted Trump's comments.

"They don't think immigration is a racial issue. They think it's a matter of fairness or a matter of law and order," he said.

But for some Asian Americans here, uncertainty surrounding Trump’s deportation policy has caused fear.

At the Asian Culture Festival in Las Vegas, a woman named May - a naturalized citizen born in the Philippines - said Trump's efforts to eliminate citizenship with the right to birth were worried.

"I think I'll be the next one... do you know what I mean?" she asked.

May asks us not to use her last name because she has a family member who is seeking citizenship and she is reluctant to speak publicly.

"I'm just worried... just because he went through the right channels, he could be deported," May said. "It's like a little uneasy."

Nevada represents a more obvious example of greater change. In November, Asian American voters across the country asked Trump about six points compared to 2020.

That said, it is not clear whether Trump can maintain this support. In a poll released by the Public Religion Institute this week, only four Asian Americans said they approved Trump’s performance so far.