Today’s stories start with Asian American voters in Texas, whose changing party ties might just shape their state’s midterms. Somehow, this happens as President Donald Trump has nominated just one Asian American judge since the beginning of his second term, while Vice President JD Vance wants H-1B visas reserved for “actual geniuses.”
Courts are taking up a Sikh trucker’s stabbing in Wyoming and a Filipino American’s killing in Virginia. On Capitol Hill, a detained scholar’s wife asks Trump to raise his case with Chinese President Xi Jinping while House chairs seek sanctions over Southeast Asia’s scam networks.
We close the issue with overseas news. North Korea rebuffs pressure of its own, and a study links its tests to earthquakes years later. In Tokyo, Ichiro Suzuki, 52, pitches against Japan’s top high school girls.
Featured
Asian Texans move toward GOP and could sway November’s statewide races
AAPI voters in Texas have moved toward Republicans since 2022, and research from Asian Texans for Justice shows how far. Interestingly, the change looks different in Houston than in Dallas-Fort Worth.
The research also measures how AAPI Republicans view the MAGA label and how motivated AAPI Texans are to vote before a race that could help decide Senate control.
What else we’re tracking
Trump’s AAPI judicial picks plunge from 13 to 1
Only one of President Donald Trump’s second-term judicial nominees is Asian American. The decline could also narrow the Asian American field for a future Supreme Court seat.
Vance says H-1B visas should go to an ‘actual genius’
Vice President JD Vance has defended tightening the H-1B program without Congress, saying he believes the administration is right on the law despite a court fight over its $100,000 fee. Federal data shows who received most approvals in fiscal 2025.
Sikh trucker stabbed 17 times leaves hospital
A California man faces an attempted first-degree murder charge in the rest stop attack on a Sikh truck driver. Investigators in Wyoming, a state without a hate crime law, have not determined a motive amid safety concerns.
Filipino American widow recounts Walmart assault that killed her 77-year-old husband
A Filipino American widow said her husband’s argument with a teenage employee at a Walmart in Virginia did not end when they walked away. One parent’s attorney disputes the upgraded charge.
Wife of US scholar detained in China urges Trump to press Xi for his release
A Chinese American academic’s wife told lawmakers how her husband went missing after landing in China and what consular visits have revealed since. She hopes President Donald Trump will raise his case with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week.
US lawmakers seek broader probe into Southeast Asia’s scam networks
Two House Republican chairs asked the administration to weigh sanctions on 28 targets, including two Cambodian ministers. Cambodia says it cleared its scam compounds, but a trafficking victims’ aid network says up to 20,000 people may have ended up elsewhere.
Kim Jong Un’s sister: Only ‘idiots’ expect North Korea to give up its nukes
Kim Yo Jong dismissed calls to denuclearize after the U.N. nuclear watchdog reported their new uranium enrichment capacity. Pyongyang fired two short-range ballistic missiles days later and has laid out why it plans to keep expanding its arsenal.
North Korea nuclear tests reactivated faults, triggered earthquakes: study
A new study mapped 1,399 earthquakes over 17 years around North Korea’s Punggye-ri test site. What researchers found about the years after the last known blast there could complicate efforts to monitor former test sites.
Ichiro Suzuki, 52, completes 127-pitch shutout against Japan’s high school girls select team
For a sixth straight year, Ichiro Suzuki took on Japan’s best high school girls, and he had no intention of going easy. The Hall of Famer explained why full effort matters and how he felt by the late innings.
Why read Issue #261?
In much of this issue, Asian Americans’ concerns compete with officials’ other priorities. A detained U.S. citizen’s case must vie for attention at a summit expected to cover trade and Taiwan, and Washington’s interest in stable ties with Cambodia could limit sanctions on Southeast Asia’s scam networks. At home, Vice President JD Vance frames H-1B limits around protecting American workers, while only a third of AAPI Texans say Washington represents their interests well.
Voting is the most direct way to push those concerns up. In Texas, shifting party ties have made AAPI voters a competitive bloc before a Senate race that could help decide control of the chamber … and maybe even the country later.
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The Rebel Yellow is supported in part by funding from The Asian American Foundation (TAAF). Funders do not influence story selection, reporting, or editorial decisions. All editorial content is independently produced by The Rebel Yellow team.